VFF wants protection for agricultural land
Victoria’s peak farming body has warned that the State Government’s policy to invest $110 million in plantations in the Latrobe Valley should not damage local agriculture.
The policy, announced in the state budget, will affect Latrobe City, Baw Baw and Wellington shires.
Victorian Farmers Federation vice president Brett Hosking said incentives for timber plantations must not distort the land use market and push up prices, forcing agriculture out in favour of plantations.
“The Gippsland region is an important and reliable producer of valuable agricultural production and farmers need to be on a level playing field,” he said.
“The Latrobe Valley is prime agricultural land, and if the government does create a timber plantation in the area, it would be best achieved through the use of public land.”
The Victorian Association of Forest Industries, while welcoming the funding for plantations, said industry had no intention of hurting agriculture.
Chief executive Tim Johnston said VAFI wanted to work with local communities. “We are doing more work with local government. We are conscious we are part of the local landscape,” he said.
Mr Johnston said the need for more plantations was one of the needs agreed on by the forest industry task force. The task force, which consists of representatives from industry, green groups and unions, is investigating the future of Gippsland’s forest industry in light of threats to the survival of the Leadbeater’s Possum, which is listed as critically endangered.
Mr Johnston said he believed the government needed more information about soil types, rainfall, slopes and various locations in Gippsland. “Then we will be in a position to make investments in the ground. Gippsland has high quality and expensive land,” he said.
Agriculture Minister Jaala Pulford said the government was committed to supporting the long-term sustainability of local jobs in the timber and wood products industry.
“That’s why we will invest $110 million to establish more plantations. This is the first step towards expanding timber plantations in Gippsland,” she said.
“The government will work in conjunction with industry to expand Victoria’s plantation estate and increase the proportion of plantation-grown timber available to this important industry.”
Queries to the government included whether the government would take charge of the process or outsource to industry; would favour hardwood or softwood, or whether the plantations were aimed at the Heyfield mill or Australian Paper.
A report by BAEconomics last year found there was limited potential to expand plantations in Gippsland because of the high cost of agricultural land and perceived poor investment returns.
The report, prepared for the Australian Forest Products Association, said plantation investments did not generate the returns expected by mainstream investors under current economic conditions, even though the land base exists in Gippsland for “significant expansion”. A key factor was the high price of land.
The study concentrated on the Latrobe Valley, which it defined as Latrobe City, Wellington Shire and Baw Baw Shire. The region has 90,000 hectares of plantations, 89 per cent of the plantations in Gippsland.
The region’s hardwood plantations are on 33,000 hectares of land, while softwood plantations, mostly radiata pine, take up 62,000 hectares.
The report said the Victorian Government had identified land in the region that may be suitable for conversion to plantation. However the sector faced big challenges, including water usage and stress, land availability, and plantation quality and transport.
A 2011 Poyry report said plantation expansion in Gippsland had been limited in the previous decade, even when much capital was available from forestry managed investment schemes.
This was due to poor economic return on investment; high land costs of more than $4000/net planted per hectare for freehold land and more than $250/ha per year on a leased basis; community opposition to plantation expansion; and low scale economies due to small properties.