Back by poplar demand

A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.

Opinion

The One Billion Trees programme is a good idea, however a fodder tree like willow or poplar would do the same job as pine but better.

The areas we have already planted in pine are as much as our roads can handle and population can staff. Silviculture is stretched to the limit now. Our main market, China, could fold up at any time.

What a mess we could leave our next generation. It takes a long time to get grass to grow after pine trees have been harvested, compared to grass already under the poplar tree.

Poplar is a good timber. I have used a lot for battens and rails and today, 40 years later, they are as good as any pine. They are light and easy to work with, and poplar furniture looks good as well.

Their main asset, though, is in the leaf fall and two-tier farming.

Floods and drought are ever present, and the different varieties of poplar shed their leaves at different times of summer/autumn. Some start in January right through to my favourite the Yunnanensis that sheds its leaves during May, June and early July. It is ideal for cows calving and sheep lambing.

Poplars also have some beautiful autumn colours that are about to be eaten as stock fodder. Poplars are hardy through droughts, help erosion control, provide shelter and shade, and allow continued grass growth right up to the tree trunk.

A good target to aim for is one tree per stock unit. We have 600ha, 100ha of really rough area in pine etc. The 500ha in grass etc we would have one of those fodder trees per a stock unit all weather, 5000 to 5500 stock units.

Look up the valley from the top of Otoko SH2 for an example of the poplars. Maybe you could rest up with a marijuana joint.

The GDC have poplar poles. I advertised we had some poles to give away last season and advertised the same this season. One lifestyler wanted five or six. I helped her and she left with 20.

Ray Newman