Farm Forestry New ZealandAnnual NZFFA Conference Hawke’s Bay – Napier War Memorial Conference Centre April 9 to April 13
NZFFA, New Zealand Tree Grower February 2024.
What to expect
The theme is Resilient Landscapes which is rather fitting given the year of challenges much of the country has faced. On the first day of the conference the action groups will meet. Eight of them have booked time slots for discussions and remember, anyone can attend these meetings.You do not need to be a member of any of the action groups.
The AGM for the NZFFA and the Councillors’ meeting is in the morning of the next day Wednesday 10 April.The afternoon has a selection of workshops where there will be a good line-up of speakers including –
- Julia Jones, former head of analytics at NZX and previously KPMG farm enterprise specialist
- Mark Mitchell, Hawke’s Bay Regional Council principal advisor on biodiversity
- James Powrie from RedAxe Forestry Intelligence
- David Cranwell, promoter of Himalayan oak
- Damion Wise, Pan Pac Forest Products forests operations manager
- Graham West, Land Use Solutions
- Peter Davies-Colley, forest harvesting
- Paul Millen, New Zealand Drylands Forest Innovation research manager.
There is more information below about three of the speakers David Cranwell, Mark Mitchell and James Powrie.
Thursday is the first of the field days with visits to Napier Port, Pan Pac Whirinaki and Plant Hawkes’ Bay. In the evening is the awards dinner where the Farm Foresters of the Year, the Michael Hay Memorial Award and the New Zealand Landcare Trust Award will be presented. Friday are field days to Tuki Tuki, Elsthorpe and Otane and on Saturday the field day is to Cape Sanctuary.
For those of you who have already registered to attend, you have nothing else to do except arrive. You can also find the registration form here.
Some of the conference presenters
David Cranwell
Making a difference one acorn at a time
David Cranwell has a very holistic view of life and has the patience to ensure he makes a difference. The 80-something-year-old from Havelock North has become a campaigner for the little appreciated Himalayan oak. His love of the Himalayan oak came after he ‘discovered’ one at Eastwoodhill Arboretum.
He spent two years trying to obtain one for himself but had no luck.Then, as fate would have it, he was sent to India through his work with the Apple and Pear Board.There he discovered the Himalayan oak was in danger of disappearing.
David figured he could collect acorns from India, grow and sell the trees in New Zealand, with the money raised going to the Ranichauri Eastwoodhill Trust to support communities in India.The trust works alongside the Himalaya Consortium for Himalaya Conservation in education, water projects, tree planting and other aid. It is a tiny trust, comprising six people who annually raise around $10,000.
Himalayan oak
The evergreen Himalayan oak is a tough, resilient tree which grows well in dry soil but is particularly fast growing in areas with good rainfall and free draining soil.The trees have a strong, deep root system so are ideal for land stabilisation. At night the roots continue to absorb water from deep in the soil some of which is then released to the shallow soil layers which other plants can use.
Around 20,000 Himalayan oaks have been planted from Northland to Bluff and are showing their value in many ways. Garth Eyles from the Hawke’s Bay Regional Council oversaw the planting of the oaks at Lake Tutira where the poplars were flattened by a slip but the oaks stayed standing. Pan Pac have put in a trial block at Whirinaki and they are also being used as shelter belts. If the trials are successful, and early signs are promising, it could add a whole new dimension to the tree not only for land stabilisation, carbon sequestration, and for quality hardwood timber.
Mark Mitchell
Much to consider for trees on farms
The Mitchell family are five generations deep into farming in the Esk Valley.They have lived through the big floods and severe weather of the last century and now this one – 1938, 1963, cyclone Bola in 1988, in 2018 and cyclone Gabrielle in 2023. Now it is Mark Mitchell’s turn to rebuild and restore their land and infrastructure.
The 270-hectare property is a mix of beef, sheep and deer, with cropping on the flat. Of these flats, 20 hectares were destroyed by cyclone Gabrielle and the top block lost tracks and has numerous slips. Mark estimates they have lost around five-and-a-half kilometres of fencing and had 23 slips damage deer fences. He is grateful he does most of his mustering by drone due to the challenges of getting around the farm.
Mark is Hawke’s Bay Regional Council Principal Advisor Biodiversity and Biosecurity. He has taken time off from his work to rebuild the farm. He is philosophical and says farmers generally just pull their socks up and crack on, but is somewhat thankful that he has lived through other serious weather.
He is now rebuilding the soil and infrastructure so they are more resilient.The biggest challenge is that it is not a one-off, you rebuild, but do not know how many more floods and storms we may get which is challenging and frightening.The aim is to rebuild the land to future-proof it and try to turn this into an opportunity, a clean slate to attempt to in work with mother nature as much as possible.
The damage from cyclone Gabrielle was quite different from the weather in March 2018.Then 90 per cent of what came down the river was pine and they had very little sediment.This time there was significantly more willow and popular and loads of silt.The increase in willow and poplar was due to the creeks and rivers being so high and strong that they ripped entire trees out of the ground.
Planting
The planting on the Mitchell farm has been carried out over generations.When Mark retired some marginal land six years ago he looked at all sorts of options when planning what to plant. He ended up planting 20 hectares of radiata pine of which he lost about 20 per cent from slips and silt, but says even with hindsight he probably would not do much differently.
When it comes to holding soil on the hills Mark says old native vegetation seems to hold the best. In his view is the most durable and has the most biodiversity value.
He has deer fenced a 20-hectare native remnant on his own farm and undertakes pest plant and animal control. Resilience comes in many shapes and forms, but Mark is keen that everyone learns from the past, and what to plant where could be one of the most important decisions made on a farm for the future.
James Powrie
Holistic farming and forestry
James Powrie has had 15 years in corporate forestry and another 15 on the fringes making waves of a different kind. He is passionate about the environment and trees, and a gatherer of information which is critical to forest farming for the future and to ensure the survival of some rather special native plants, most notably kakabeak.
James is the current chief executive of the Hawke’s Bay Forestry Group but also works as project manager for RedAxe Forestry Intelligence and heads the Urban Kakabeak Project. He spearheaded Hawke’s Bay’s woody debris survey after cyclone Gabrielle. It has produced interesting results, which he will outline during the conference.They discovered that the woody debris across beaches and rivers in the Hawke’s Bay region does not, in most cases, contain a high level of harvests residue.
In addition, the report shows it is mostly inaccurate to use the term slash when referring to causes of damage to infrastructure across the region. More closed-canopy forest would help prevent record flood peaks, sedimentation and landslides in future. Permanent indigenous forest cover could well be a preferred local option for some but it is expensive to establish, vulnerable to pests and slow growing. Radiata pine provided some similar benefit for most of the time while giving a cyclical and frequent financial return.
The study dovetails with the Pakuratahi Land Use Study from the 1990s and published in 2006 but is now being carried out again using today’s technology to obtain more useful data. It compared a forestry catchment with a farm catchment during a logging cycle and until the new crop had established and closed canopy. At the end of last year, the study started again in the same catchment but also adding a 60-hectare native catchment next door.
Urban Kakabeak Project
The Urban Kakabeak Project is very dear to James’ heart.The kakabeak is listed by the Department of Conservation as nationally critical which is its highest threat category. It means kakabeak is at immediate risk of extinction in the wild.There are challenges for the plant. It is eaten by nearly everything, other than possums and only lives for around 10 years.
James is part of a collective who gather wild origin seeds to improve the genetic diversity of kakabeak being grown and build a community of care for the plant. His focus is on the wild variety as there may be differences between the kakabeak from the wild and those purchased at a garden centre where they have been bred for different characters.The shrubs in the project are being grown in collections within predator fenced areas to give the kakabeak every chance at regenerating in future when our browsing pests are under more control.
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