Carbon farming: Bellamy Station reduces overall stock numbers for trees

Evans Flat farmer Roger Cotton examines a young radiata pine planted last winter as part of Bellamy Station’s carbon farming initiative. Photo / Richard Davison

A Clutha farmer says carbon farming is a matter of personal choice, and need not impact agriculture negatively if done with care.

Roger Cotton and his brother Stuart run the family-owned, 1200-hectare Bellamy Station at Evans Flat, about halfway between Lawrence and Beaumont.

Until early last year, they farmed traditional stock for the area, in the shape of sheep and beef, amounting to about 7000 stock units.

But last winter the brothers made a “lifestyle” decision to reduce overall stock numbers and start carbon farming instead.

Cotton said he was aware so-called carbon farming - growing trees to acquire valuable carbon credits - was a touchy subject for some, but it was the right decision at the right time for him and his family.

“Stuart and I are both in our mid-50s now, and we were looking at ourselves and with an eye on the future succession for the farm and asking ‘What are we doing here and what do we want to achieve?’

“That was probably spring 2021, and by last winter we were planting out 265 hectares of pine and Douglas fir to farm carbon for the emissions trading scheme.”

Farming stock alone, full-time, was no longer economically sensible, and did not make sense in health and lifestyle terms either, he said.

The farm had reduced stock numbers by 1200 ewes - about 17 per cent - roughly paralleling a 22 per cent decrease in stock land usage, now turned over to trees.

“You get sick of driving round in the tractor seven days a week, 12 hours a day. We thought of selling the land we eventually planted, but why not allow it to continue to be productive, just in a different way?”

Cotton said the land used for trees had been chosen carefully.

“I think concerns about the sort of land being used to plant trees are valid. We’ve used land that was less productive. Steeper, less accessible terrain on the margins of the station. And we’re still farming animals.”

The economics of carbon farming were too good to ignore, he said.

Once mature - in about three to four years - carbon credits from the trees would offset a $50,000 yearly loss on the stock side by a factor of 10.

“There are variables, not least the price of carbon on the open market, but our projections show the 265 hectares yielding $8 million over the 16-year lifespan of the project.

“At the end of the day, the farmers own the land and make the best decisions for their farms and their families.

“Given how tough farming is in many ways at present, I don’t think you can blame people for diversifying.”

Cotton said he had outsourced the planting and management of the trees to Forestry Management Group.

Capital costs totalled $500,000, planting at 833 stems/ha density for the pine, and 1250 stems/ha for the fir.

Outsourcing meant additional work from the tree side of the business amounted to only a few emails and calls.

Overall, the partial move to trees had changed the way the brothers looked at farming, he said.

“There’s been a significant impact on quality of life. We’re under less pressure, and perhaps just have more time on our hands to do the things that weren’t being done.

“I wouldn’t say my wife [Andrea] has noticed I’m any less grumpy, but the real rewards will come 10, 15 years down the track.”