BOP farm forestry gathering to focus on big issues

Photo / File

Issues for land owners around converting pasture to forestry will be discussed at a Bay of Plenty event this Friday.

The Bay of Plenty branch of NZ Farm Forestry will hold a field day at Manawahe to go over what branch chairman Graham West says are "significant land use issues of today".

The programme will cover off incentives and grants, what to plant, whether to prune, carbon credits, insuring trees, grazing stock, tax implications and land use appraisals.

The venue is Viv Barr's Vista Farms property at 431 McIvor Road, where a 112ha block is being subdivided off for conversion to forestry.

Vista Farms is a 825ha dairy grazing block with close to 200ha of pine trees and some redwoods already planted on the steeper land.

West says the intention of the property owner is to protect the native bush area, consider pruning 20ha of six-year-old pine trees planted in 2013, create a passive long-term investment and spread the asset base away from the dairy farm, and re-plant the grazing land into pine trees with a managed contract for the life/part-life of the trees.

In the afternoon the event will incorporate the Bay of Plenty branch of the NZ Farm Forestry Association AGM, including an update on planning for the annual conference in Rotorua in May.

The field day, which starts at 10am, will include a barbecue lunch and drinks at 12.30pm at the neigbouring property of Graham Leaming.