Forestry set to play key role in farming’s future

‘‘Farmers would have to to change the design of their systems.’’

Forestry is poised to play a key role on farms as new limits around nutrients and carbon emissions are put in place.

This would require fresh thinking and a revision of the future of livestock farming, former Scion chief executive Warren Parker told industry professionals at the New Zealand Institute of Primary Industry Management’s Waikato branch’s recent annual meeting.

Farmers would have to to change the design of their systems to fit within new environmental limits if they were to maintain their social licence, he said.

Significant land use change would also be needed in some catchments to meet the new standards and there was some negotiation to take place around the rate and nature of this change.

‘‘That’s a big debate in Waikato,’’ he said.

Forestry could play a key role in helping farmers get under a nitrogen cap, much like it had in Taupo, as well as being able to store carbon. The log industry was also booming with export prices for logs at record levels and demand not slowing.

Current prices were very attractive for small woodlot or forestry owners. There had been about 4.3 million tonnes harvested in Northland per year, but that was set to drop off to 2 million in 2026. That raised the question of where these logs would come from.

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