New Zealand Tree Crops Association

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GROWING TREES IN PASTURE

I took over the family farm near Feilding in the early 1950's. It was typical of the farms in the area. One advantage it had was good water.

But you were limited as to tree growing. For example, the Abies would not grow there. One season, the poplars had their leaves stripped in a November gale, and stripped again in March.

The neighbours included one actively helpful, four neutral, and one actively hostile. We have the same mix here in our new place.

In 1984 we decided to look for a new place, with less work and the ability to grow good trees. What came up was 260 hectares of rough country, price $150,000, which included a fairly new 4 stand woolshed and a livable cottage.

There was much gorse, but 30 hectares of bush and a one hectare lake. We bought, August 1984, just when banks were not lending to farmers and just right to see the demise of government assistance towards tree planting.

The local council did not have any restrictions on forestry as a land use but that didn't stop them from being bloody minded. They were preoccupied with gorse removal. I had dealt with gorse by tree planting for over 30 years so knew it was not a major problem. But here we had a weed inspector saying poplars could not outgrow gorse. Yeah, right.

We had checked the rainfall with two locals - about 900mm per year, a bit on the low side but with little salt spray and less wind than we were used to it should be adequate to grow trees.

We decided to only have sheep. Bigger animals require a lot more expense; cattle don't eat gorse,they also cut the turf, allowing gorse seedlings a place to grow. Goats were deemed to risky, their bark-stripping and ability to reach up high being a problem.

Our early plantings; poplar poles from 1984 to 1989, after 1985 as many as we wanted from "Plant Materials" plantation area, mainly protected by electric fence.

In 1984, 8 hectares of Pinus radiata were planted above the main track, so we could build in the centre of the farm allowing views directly up the Turakina Valley to Ruapehu.

The next year two small blocks of Cupressus lusitanica were planted, including some genuine Mexican ones ex Ian McKean. Lower down the slope some redwoods were planted.

In 1987, we fenced off two 15 hectare blocks of bush. They became Q.E. covenants, on the advice of Eddie Suckling. One block was fenced off to include another block of plantation forest, with a covenant which specifies the right to harvest the planted pines.

Next year, another block of pines was planted, with some Eucalyptus regnans on the south face.

The three pine blocks were contract planted but from then on we did our own planting.

In the first few years we had a local who came and did possums. They were kept under control but he gave up, and the population built up to 1000 plus. When we came to live here in 1994, we had to blitz them. Over about five years we got the number down and from then on it became just a matter of putting bait out around our boundaries.

More recently, we have a deal with the regional council-they provide bait, we put it out. Our intention, zero tolerance of possums. Yes it can be done, don't ask me why most farmers can't do that - no big deal putting bait out as you go around the place.

In 1989 Blair Haggit of Ministry of Forests did a site index survey, coming up with a site index of 38 metres. Whether that had any effect on the 1990's planting boom around here I don't know, but large areas to the north of us went into forest, to the extent that the wet period of 1992 did more damage than the flood of 2004.

In 1998 we were given about 30 cuttings of Toa poplar plus ten of another clone, the latter proved to be brittle. Toa became our mainstream planting for several years.

In 1989 we were given 25 poles of hybrid Poplar deltoides x ciliata clones. They also became a mainstream planting. Then we set up a poplar nursery to grow our own trees - most were expected to earn their place by producing at least one saw log.

From 1994 onwards we tackled a north facing hill, too dry for poplars so in went eucalyptus species. Once we had got the technology sorted out for getting individual trees established in pasture we branched out into all sorts of things.

One local nurseryman said "You gotta have one of these". Yes, we have a hill of "gotta have one of these". We also fenced off about half a hectare for conifers, not strictly trees in pasture but to keep weeds out the cocksfoot and lotus.

From this introduction I will continue on in TreeCropper 63, to the specific groups of trees - Poplars,willows and Alders, Eucalyptus and Acacias, Quercus and the likes, the redwood family and conifers.

See Hew McKellar's Timber Farm - Timber farming, by John Dean - TreeCropper 63, page 31

Notes and photos from Hew McKellar - webbed by Les G