Trial Site Name: Phoebe

Owner/Manager:

Robb Macbeth

“The concept of planting eucalypts on Phoebe Plains (a 250 ha irrigated dairy farm) originated from the possibility that they could potentially strip nitrogen from soils over time, thus offsetting the environmental impact of nitrate leaching from the property.

After initial conversations with the UC School of Forestry, and some astute input from Paul Millen, the concept rapidly moved to using NZDFI species in the 1.3ha trial site which is in a dry corner of a pivot irrigated block.

Next steps (aside from the normal NZDFI work) will be to attempt to demonstrate whether the trees are effective in stripping nitrogen from the soil, although the science required to do this is still being developed. One added side effect of the trial will be to get a lot dairy farmers scratching their heads as to why a piece of perfectly good dairy land has been planted in trees."

Robb Macbeth

Location:

Phoebe Road, Cheviot, North Canterbury

Trials established

1. Species Demonstration trial (2014): E bosistoana, E camaldulensis, E globoidea, E longifolia, E macrorhyncha, E quadrangulata, E tricarpa

Latest activities and outputs

Phoebe has been hit hard by the North Canterbury drought of 2015-16, so the resilience of these young trees is being seriously tested.

Photos of trial site