As the march of pine trees across productive farmland continues to snuff out jobs and undermine rural communities, David Hayes is also increasingly concerned about the risk of fire.
The Federated Farmers Wairarapa president and keen pilot says when he flies his aeroplane north or east from Masterton, it’s pines up the ranges and coast as far as he can see.
“I’m talking contiguous, joined-up forestry. It really makes me wonder how far a wildfire could spread in a dry summer.”
Hayes recently spent a few weeks in rural British Columbia, Canada, where the local economy is based primarily on agriculture, forestry and tourism.
“It’s also a province that’s been suffering from the devastating impacts of large-scale forest fires,” he says.
“Our forestry types and management may be different, but I couldn’t help but see a stark warning for us here on the east coast and other dryer parts of New Zealand where we’re seeing a lot of radiata planted.”
His particular concern is carbon forests, which may not have the fire breaks, thinning and firefighting resources of foresters growing radiata pine for timber.
“Farmers have every right to make their own decisions on how to use their land.
“For sheep and beef farmers right now, the attraction of diversifying into growing trees on harder land is very understandable.
“The issue Federated Farmers has is with those large-scale corporate farms owned by international investment entities,” Hayes says.
“They have no real links with the local community. On too many blocks they’re planting the trees, closing the gates, and sitting back to reap the carbon revenue.”
Beef + Lamb NZ’s latest stock number survey records a 10% decline in sheep and beef numbers in the last three years.
A major driver has been conversion of sheep and beef farms into forestry to reap Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) benefits.
In the three years between 2019 and 2022, about 180,000 hectares of whole sheep and beef farms were sold into forestry.
Earlier this month Hayes attended a regional land management forum that drew Fire and Emergency New Zealand (FENZ) and forestry representatives from the lower North Island.
“Everybody there thought carbon forests are a problem, including the production forestry guys.”
Hayes says FENZ is stepping up communication with rural landowners and foresters, setting up Local Advisory Committees in each region.
“The ones they struggle to connect with are the landowners and the forest owners on those carbon farms.
“There is concern about the lack of fire-fighting capability on those farms, the lack of water ponds, buffers and so on.”
As with farming, forestry profits are down and labour is tight.
“So, they’re having to do different things, such as using chemical killing for thinning out the forest,” Hayes says.
“You end up with these dead trees, still standing for three or four years, rather than lying on the forest floor where it’s wetter. That’s got to lift the fire risk.”
A phrase used at the forum struck Hayes as something farmers need to keep in mind: ‘Your neighbours’ risk, is your risk’.
“A fire in a forest adjoining farmland has obvious risks for farm fences, livestock, buildings – and our people.”
The reverse is also true, of course.
FENZ says, over the past 10 years, 65% of New Zealand wildfires were caused by escapes from agricultural burns, cooking and camping fires.
“Warnings about controlled burn-offs, machinery exhausts in long grass, sparks from plough blades and so on may be doubly important if your farm neighbours forestry,” Hayes says.
There’s now strong evidence that while replanting of previously forested areas continues, planting on new areas of farmland has slowed.
An MPI survey has found the area of planned new forestry planting in 2025 could be 41% less than in 2022.
Government tinkering with ETS settings and talk there will be no further forests on land use classes (LUC) 1-5, and a potential 15,000ha forestry quota for LUC 6, appears to have spooked investors.
Hayes says while the Government ponders forestry and ETS policy moves, it also needs to consider obligations on carbon forest owners to manage fire risk.
“Surely it’s reasonable to insist investors cashing in on carbon income take measures similar to production foresters, such as fire breaks and access to water ponds, to limit the fire risk to themselves and neighbours?”
Federated Farmers, New Zealand’s leading independent rural advocacy organisation, has established a news and insights partnership with AgriHQ, the country’s leading rural publisher, to give the farmers of New Zealand a more informed, united and stronger voice. Federated Farmers news and commentary appears each week in its own section of the Farmers Weekly print edition and online.
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