Bruce, Catherine and Ben Winter, Spar Bush, Winton, Southland branch July 2014
The Winters farm sheep; Bruce Winter discusses his shelter plantings, his approach to planting and managing young plantings, and how his shelter plantings benefit sheep production. A wide range of…
Michael Anderson, Hokanui, Southland branch July 2014
Michael Anderson has been planting trees for many years on this 490-hectare all-sheep farm. He now has 42 ha of woodlots, plus QE II covenants, shelterbelts and amenity plantings. Plantings…
Ann Irving, Waimatua, Invercargill, Southland September 2015
Anne Irving and her husband farm sheep and deer on this relatively exposed Southland farm where shelter is highly valued. Anne stresses the importance of establishing proven species for shelter…
Stan Rutherford, Invercargill, Southland September 2015
A small, intensive lambing unit, where shelter is vital for the high lamb survival achieved. Shelterbelts are carefully designed to minimise winter paddock shading while providing effective year-round shelter and…
Forestry and timber processing in the south: A quiet achiever (Access: NZFFA membership)
February 2020
With the 2020 Conference just around the corner it is an appropriate time to introduce you to the forestry scene in Southland and the rest of southern New Zealand. Forestry…
Sixteen years of passion and tree planting a formidable task (Access: unrestricted)
Bob Wishart, August 2010
The first bus full of conference attendees tried to take a short cut approaching John Purey- Cust’s property, with near dire consequences. But this in no way simulates what John…
Scottish surprise at Mt Surprise (Access: unrestricted)
Dougal and Di McIntosh, August 2010
Saturday morning of the Invercargill conference, and another sunny day in Southland. Farm foresters crowded into four big comfortable buses to head across the Waimea Plains to Alistair and Kate…
White Hill wind farm (Access: unrestricted)
Harley Gray, August 2010
After our visit to Graham and Heather Milligan’s farm we had lunch at the Dipton Hall where we had presentations from Ernslaw One and Meridian Energy. Ernslaw had a problem…
Ernslaw One Douglas fir plantation (Access: unrestricted)
Chris Bossley, August 2010
Over lunch at Dipton Hall, on yet another fine day with the usual apologies from the locals for the weather, we were told about Ernslaw One’s vision for Douglas fir.…
Eucalypts grown for seed (Access: unrestricted)
Lesley Christian, August 2010
There is probably no other member of the NZFFA as well known to our membership as Graham Milligan – his booming voice, bushy beard and bare knees make him instantly…
Processing the Southland timber resource (Access: unrestricted)
Parnell Trost, February 2009
Southland has a well established timber processing industry, with several of the leading mills operating for more than 70 years. The timber industry has been one of the reasons for…
An investment in forestry down south (Access: unrestricted)
Alistair Wilson, February 2009
For a number of years I had a desire to grow some trees. By the early 1990s my wife and I had gained the confidence and financial stability to think…
Me and trees in Southland - Earning the money (Access: unrestricted)
John Purey-Cust, February 2009
Some time in the early 1970s when working for the old Forest Service in Southland my mind turned to practising what I preached − to plant trees as a long…
An introduction to the Southland region (Access: unrestricted)
Gary Morgan, February 2009
The Southland Region covers an area of approximately 2.3 million hectares. Southland’s coastline is 3,400 km long and stretches from Brothers Point in the Chaslands on the east coast to…
Farm forestry in Southland - An introduction (Access: unrestricted)
John Purey-Cust, February 2009
As Gary Morgan’s article on page four makes clear, there are few places in Southland where the structure of the country makes forestry an absolute necessity, few places where the…
Fieldays Forestry Hub to demonstrate that forestry is a solution Monday, November 28, 2022
A range of solutions to farmers’ current problems will be on display in the Fieldays Forestry Hub near Hamilton between 30 November and 3 December, says Farm Forestry Association president,…
Innovative uses of forestry and wood products unveiled at Fieldays Thursday, November 24, 2022
New and innovative uses of forestry and wood products will be on display at 35 stands in the Fieldays Forestry Hub near Hamilton between 30 November and 3 December, including…
Pine conspiracy needs reality check Thursday, November 10, 2022
Farm Foresters are saying journalists and commentators need to educate themselves about the reality of plantation forestry. The FFA President, Graham West says ‘Frequent anti-pine rants on Newstalk ZB and…
Farming’s forestry hysteria Sunday, October 30, 2022
Beef &Lamb NZ and Federated Farmers media release on recent results of an opinion survey on forestry offset adds to the misuse of information that’s building alarm and public hysteria…
Foresters ask James Shaw if the government wants more trees or not Tuesday, October 11, 2022
Foresters are saying a suggestion by Climate Change Minister James Shaw to centralise buying carbon credits in central government, and decoupling the Emissions Trading Scheme from forestry, is a message…
NZFFA submission on Industry Transformation Plan Thursday, October 06, 2022
The Ministry for Primary Industries has issued a draft Forestry and Wood Processing Industry Transformation Plan. This is a welcome contribution and appears to be well researched, but we feel…
RECOGNITION FOR FORESTRY’S HIGHEST ACHIEVERS IN 2022 Sunday, September 18, 2022
This week at an awards dinner held in Auckland the New Zealand Institute of Forestry (NZIF) announced the winners of its three most prestigious awards. The 2022 recipients are acknowledged…
Wooden cities key to cutting worldwide carbon emissions to combat climate change Tuesday, September 13, 2022
The Forest Owners Association President is predicting massive increases in the worldwide demand for engineered timber construction. Grant Dodson has told delegates at the Forest Institute Conference in Auckland today…
Forestry Transformation Plan could be ‘game changer’ Sunday, August 21, 2022
Forestry Transformation Plan could be ‘game changer’ for New Zealand economy and for combating climate change The Forest Owners Association says the Forestry and Wood Processing Industry Transformation Plan has…
New campaign launches to attract more people into forestry careers Wednesday, August 10, 2022
A new recruitment campaign called ‘Find Your Fit In Forestry’ aims to draw attention to the varied career opportunities available in the growing forestry industry. A sector-wide initiative, the campaign…
Trees on Your Farm – Pilot Workshops Friday, July 01, 2022
In May, members of the NZFFA held three pilot workshops in the lower North Island aimed at encouraging hill country farmers to grow more trees. The format was a day…
Federated Farmers struggling with both the law and arithmetic Thursday, June 30, 2022
The Forest Owners Association says Federated Farmers have got their sums wrong on the rate of forest planting and don’t understand the law on overseas investment either. FOA is responding…
‘Smart spade’ one of new technologies for forest silviculture project Thursday, May 05, 2022
A ‘smart spade’ which identifies exactly where to plant a tree seedling is just one of the new technologies in the seven-year $25.5 million Precision Silviculture development project. The newly…
Forest Owners call for forest trade mission to India Monday, April 11, 2022
Forest Owners call for forest trade mission to India following approval of new fumigant for log exports The Forest Owners Association wants a delegation of government ministers to urgently go to…
Joint efforts under way after unwanted pest detected in Tauranga Wednesday, March 30, 2022
Biosecurity New Zealand is working with primary sector and Te Tiriti partners after a single confirmed egg mass belonging to the moth pest the fall armyworm was found in Tauranga.…
Forest Biosecurity update March 2022 Thursday, March 10, 2022
Check out the latest Biosecurity newsletter which gives an update on the biosecurity surveillance system, pitch pine canker, red needle cast, tortoise beetles, a new ladybird (always good) and the…
Forest Owners says IPCC doesn't back Anne Salmond Wednesday, March 02, 2022
The Forest Owners Association says highly qualified reservations in the latest International Panel on Climate Change report, do not back anthropologist Anne Salmond’s claims that New Zealand should switch exclusively…