Friday, March 29, 2024

ALTERNATIVE VIEW: Poor image causes staff shortage

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It seems 2019 will be the vanguard year for massive forestry plantings.  Forestry Minister Shane Jones announced his intention to plant one billion trees.
To date, 30 students throughout NZ have received scholarships since 2018.
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That will take a million hectares – just over 9% of our total farmland. 

The intention is to have a carbon zero economy by 2050, which I believe is excessively ambitious. 

On one hand I’m concerned about good pastoral land going to forestry and on the other I’m heartened by Jones’ statements that only land suitable for forestry and nothing else will be planted.

The reality is that I’m aware of good pastoral farms with easy contour and a reliable rainfall being planted in forestry.

That will reduce local job opportunities and put rural communities and their infrastructure at risk.

My reading of the Government’s plan is that land suitability is a strong consideration and I support that.

Planting pine trees at the level the Government envisages will have its problems. not the least of which is the calibre of our forestry contractors and consultants. 

My initial experience in Wairarapa was all bad, from outright misinformation to charging for a job and not doing it.

Other companies have promised to harvest at a certain date and not turned up.

The industry has massive image and performance problems it needs to address.

Fortunately, I found a contractor who did take the job seriously and we successfully and profitably milled a forest.

An issue with the forestry initiative is that you don’t get any income for upwards of 28 years except for the ETS and we need a lot more decisions on the intricacies of that scheme and we need them now.

The Government’s cap of $25 a tonne of carbon is unrealistically low and needs to change. We also need a floor price.

The limiting factor in the development of major forestry that Guy Farman of Farman Turkington Forestry sees is the lack of skilled workers. He says it is a massive problem.

He has 10 crews and all could use more skilled workers.

There are only two options to fix the crisis. One is to import skilled workers from places like North America or Europe.

The second is to train locals and that is where Farman has made a strong commitment.

In Wairarapa we have YETI, the Youth Training and Employment Initiative about which I’ve written.

It’s a team approach involving the education system, local employers and central and local government.

The aim is to get school leavers work-ready. 

Farman has been involved but says there are problems, mainly with the work ethic but “we’ll have to keep on trying”. 

“We’ll throw more resources at it. We need to get young people excited about forestry.”

He said some skilled machine operators can earn $100,000 annually operating machines that could be worth over $1 million.

His immediate fix to the skill shortage problem was to employ two qualified trainers, who also look after health and safety compliance.

They are tasked with getting people competent to work in the sector.

Another option is to employ ex-military personnel.

It’s not the skilled harvesters who will frustrate Jones’ plans in the short term. It will be getting people to plant the trees.

Unlike harvesting, planting isn’t seen as a skilled occupation. It is hard work.

Good planters can earn $300 a day for three to four months. After that they can earn similar money pruning and thinning. 

An issue for the industry, according to Farman, is the lack of planting from 2000 to 2010 when the ETS started.

That will mean a drop in wood supply, which might lead to a lot less wood available for export with the risk China will find a substitute source of pinus radiata.

Other than that Farman is confident of the future of forestry.

“China is really strong and seems to be ongoing for quite a few more years yet. I’ve been to China, met people and researched the industry. I’m confident of our future there.

“There’s also a growing demand for clear wood in China, the United States and Europe.”

Farman believes national environmental standards for the industry are a good move but one size doesn’t fit all. They should reflect local conditions.

He’s employing an extra staffer, charged with environmental compliance.

“We’re doing okay at the moment but we have to do even better in the future.” 

My view is the limiting factor to forestry is adequate staffing and that largely depends on the image of the industry.

The wider forestry industry has a long way to go to improve that image but now is the time to make a start.

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