Farm Forestry New ZealandTrees for Shade and Shelter
Shelterbelts of trees can increase pasture productivity by providing a warmer microclimate. These trees can also yield valuable timber or fibre and can increase overall farm income.
By providing shade for stock, trees on farms reduce stress on animals and improve the environment, thus improving productivity.
Tree Grower articles
- A diverse sustainable dairy farm and forestry landscape (Access: NZFFA membership)
Murray Downs, February 2022
Trees in agriculture, and in particular a dairy farming landscape, are a hard sell, especially when it starts to take up the productive area of a paddock. The question for the… - Cattle want shade trees in summer (Access: unrestricted)
Keith Betteridge, February 2014
A severe drought, the best winter in years, then wet spring soils, fallen trees and shelterbelt damage – what more will be thrown at us? Farming was never promised as… - Alexander Trust shelterbelt spacing trial (Access: unrestricted)
Paul Silcock, May 2013
Shelterbelts suffer from many of the ailments which exposed, open-grown radiata crops on fertile farmland are often accused of possessing. Rapid growth rates and unbalanced crowns which are exposed to… - Tree shelter is important (Access: unrestricted)
Wink Sutton, November 2011
Farm foresters are aware of the importance of shelter on farms and it may seem inappropriate to raise the subject of shelter in this magazine. However some farms, perhaps many,… - Shelter design – what is best for your land? (Access: unrestricted)
Hawkes Bay Regional Council, May 2011
This article is the first in a feature on shelter which will run in the next few issues of Tree Grower. The main purpose of farm shelter is to protect… - Agroforestry – the Tikitere experience (Access: unrestricted)
Martin Hawke, May 2011
In the mid to late 1970s no farm forestry visit to the Bay of Plenty was complete without a visit to the Tikitere agroforestry trial. Within a decade or two… - Indigenous shelter planting (Access: unrestricted)
Bruce Winter, February 2009
Our sheep farm of 196 hectares at Spar Bush, Invercargill is an amalgamation of several smaller farms. We ended up with several old homesteads which had macrocarpa planted around them.… - Remember the four Ps: Planning for successful shelter systems (Access: unrestricted)
Ron Hinton, November 2008
The establishment of effective shelter systems, for dairy farms as well as any other farm, is a complex process deserving considerable planning and research before ringing the fencer or visiting… - Dairy farm planting for shelter (Access: unrestricted)
Neil Cullen, November 2008
On many of the dairy conversions undertaken in the south, the first victim is often the farm’s existing trees. Sometimes there are valid reasons for removal of these trees. They… - Natives and those problematical pivots (Access: unrestricted)
Mark Robins, November 2008
I retired from farming a few years ago after living in the Ruapuna district of Ashburton. Trees have always been of great interest to me, an interest nurtured from my… - Trees combat erosion and protect stock (Access: unrestricted)
Mike Halliday, May 2008
Continuing our series of articles profiling the farm forestry model in action. We present here a case study showing another practical example of how trees can be integrated into the… - A planned shelter system on the Hunter property at Maheno (Access: unrestricted)
John Prebble, February 2005
Situated three kilometres south of Maheno on either side of SH1 is the Hunter family property. John and Dorothy Hunter have farmed this 241-hectare property since 1962 when they took…
Trees on Farms Videos
- Trees on Farms Videos: Trees for Shade and Shelter
Dairy, sheep and deer farmers talk about the benefits of shade and shelter for stock. Most animals have trouble if they overheat, and seek shade in summer. In winter they…
See also:
Headlines
- Trees on Farms: Making better use of information resources September 2013
The project aims to provide farmers and land managers with better access to existing good quality information about establishing and managing trees. The project involved three interrelated phases: surveying farmers,… - Poplars and Willows - Central Hawkes Bay workshop, February 2012 January 2012
A Fresh Look at Poplars and Willows Poplars and willows - they’re the arboreal workhorse of our rural landscape, holding hillsides and river banks together, providing shade, shelter, timber and… - Workshops promote diverse benefits of trees on farms September 2011
A new three year programme of regionally-based workshops launching this November will help pastoral farmers and their advisors identify the economic and environmental benefits of planting trees on their properties… - Farm Foresters Need Certainty, Says NZFEA Trust-MAF Scolarshop Report June 2011
Long-term enterprises such as forestry need to be protected from "short-term misguided political decisions", says Bay of Plenty farmer John Mackintosh in a special report prepared for the New Zealand…
Blogs
- Tree shelter is important: Wink Sutton's Blog, November 29, 2011
Farm foresters are aware of the importance of shelter on farms and it may seem inappropriate to raise the subject of shelter in this magazine. However some farms, perhaps many,…
Other sources of information
- Dairy shelter on the Canterbury Plains »
Goulter, C. (2010). Dairy shelter on the Canterbury Plains (SFF Project L09/023). Reviews current literature and explores how shelter and shade influence production in a dairy farming system on the Canterbury plains. Considers what value is there to replanting shelter trees on Canterbury dairy farms. - Land Management series »
Hawke’s Bay Regional Council. Several short brochures for landowners on various aspects of shelterbelt design and management in hill country.\ - Restoring your patch »
Southland Community Nursery. Practical information on designing and establishing a shelterbelt using native species. - Shelter for Lambing sheep in New Zealand: a review
New Zealand Journal of Agricultural Research, 2006, Vol 49: 395-404 - Shelter and welfare of pastoral animals in New Zealand
M. W. Fisher (2007), New Zealand Journal of Agricultural Research, 50:3, 347-359
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