Map: Potential regional supply catchments to support a sustainable hardwood industry. The circles show an indicative 40km radius catchment, centred on a possible processing site location.
A report produced for Hawke’s Bay Regional Council and the Hawke’s Bay Regional Investment Company (HBRIC) - ‘Assessment of afforestation and future wood processing opportunity with non-radiata species – Wairoa District’ (Peter Hall, Scion 2020) - includes a comprehensive analysis of the implications of a small-medium scale hardwood processing operation. The area of durable hardwood forest required to be planted over the next 30 years to sustainably supply either a small or medium processing operation (e.g. a sawmill and associated remanufacturing) is estimated as follows:
The study demonstrated that the northern Hawkes Bay region could benefit significantly from planting sufficient forests for a future integrated sawmill and remanufacturing operation. The economic implications of a small sawmill are estimated as follows:
If this can be scaled up the cumulative national benefits generated by 12 wood supply catchments supplying regional hardwood processing industries could add over $1 billion per annum in GDP and provide thousands of jobs.
More detailed analyses for regional wood supply catchments are underway, starting with two of the key regions that have supported NZDFI, Wairarapa and Hawke’s Bay. Regional proposals are being developed in partnership with the Greater Wellington and Hawke’s Bay Regional Councils with future processing sites identified in Masterton and Wairoa respectively. In both these catchments, proposed planting targets of 5,000 hectares of forest would require less than 2.3% of the total potential land identified.
Details of the Wairarapa proposals are here, along with a new video featuring Wairarapa growers and their land management advisers.
The regional proposals will be presented at two workshops in the Wairarapa and Hawke’s Bay in the autumn of 2021. A third workshop is planned in Marlborough in winter/spring 2021.
New on-line ‘Guidelines for Growers’ are being created for potential growers, forest managers, consultants and regional land management advisers.
The resources comprise a series of modules including:
The resources include new videos, downloadable handouts, and links to other sites and resources where relevant.
A recent application to the WIDE Trust for funds to assist with developing our extension resources was successful. We are grateful to the Trust for their support.
NZDFI’s tree breeding and forestry consultancy team has visited a number of trial sites over the past few months.
Three of these visits were to assess tree growth and form in breeding populations. Two assessments were made in Marlborough - at the E. globoidea at Avery’s and E. quadrangulata at Cuddon’s, both planted in 2011. Also the E. quadrangulata planted in 2016 at NZ Redwood Company’s Paparoa forest near Taumaranui was assessed.
Two additional visits were made to install new permanent sample plots (PSPs) in species demonstration trials planted in 2018 - at the NZ Redwood Company’s Paparoa forest and at Pāmu’s (Landcorp) Kapiro farm in Northland.
UC’s wood quality research team have also been working in two of our breeding populations to take thousands more cores to assess heartwood development and durability.
Thanks are due to all landowners for their continuing interest and in some cases assistance with trial assessment.
SOme results from two of these recent assesments are presented below:
The Avery trial located south of Seddon, Marlborough, was planted in 2011. This is on one of NZDFI’s driest sites with average annual rainfall of 638mm and periodic summer droughts typical of the area. The trial has excellent value to NZDFI in helping identify the top families for drought tolerance and productivity in low rainfall areas.
The trial includes one of three E. globoidea progeny trials (breeding populations) planted in September 2011 to select superior genotypes of this species for future deployment, the other two sites being Juken NZ Ltd’s Ngaumu forest (Masterton, Wairarapa) and the Atkinson trial (South Wairarapa). These three sites provide a broad representation of genetic diversity and express the adaptability of genotypes across different environments.
Assessments for straightness and form were completed in blocks that had 14 or more trees with DBH measurements (equating to approx. 40% survival in the block). Initial analysis has identified that top families already identified at both the Juken NZ’s Ngaumu trial and Atkinson’s trial were also surviving and performing well on this site.
UC’s wood quality research team was also recently at Avery’s, taking cores to test for heartwood quantity. Further analysis of the family data from all three sites is planned once the assessments of wood properties from the cores have been undertaken. The entire Avery trial has now been marked up and thinned.
The NZDFI video team (Paul Millen, Harriet Palmer and Daniel Bozcniewicz) were the other recent visitors to Avery’s in December, filming two videos featuring E cladocalyx and E globoidea.
Our thanks go to Fraser Avery and family for their on-going support of NZDFI work.
The Kapiro demonstration trial was planted in 2018 on an area of paddock and former woodlot. Here the average annual rainfall is 1600 mm and being in the ‘winterless north’, provides a stark contrast to some of our drier trial sites such as Avery’s.
The trial was assessed in late November with the trees just over two years of age. Data analysis has revealed that early tree growth of all species at this site has been the most productive recorded so far in any NZDFI trial of this age. The trial includes reps of a range of different seedlots of E. bosistoana, E. globoidea, E. macrorhyncha and E. quadrangulata to test their relative performance. All species have exceptional height and diameter growth. E. quadrangulata, which is known for its rapid early growth, was particularly impressive with E. globoidea not far behind. Some trees were over 8 metres in height!
Due to this rapid growth the trial will be low-medium pruned in February.
Thanks to Gordon Williams, Pāmu’s forestry manager and John Hallgarth, Kapiro farm manager who assisted in establishing this trial.
Eucalyptus quadrangulata is the third principal species of NZDFI’s tree breeding programme. Recent work has advanced identification of superior families and development of clonal propagation techniques.
In the past six months two assessments of our E quadrangulata breeding trials have been completed, at Cuddons, Marlborough (planted in 2011), and NZ Redwood Company’s Paparoa trial in the central North Island (planted in 2016). Cores have also been collected by UC wood quality team from the older trees at Cuddons. Both trials were marked up and have been thinned.
Our thanks go to the Cuddons and Jack Burgess (NZ Redwod Company) for their on-going support of NZDFI work.
The E. quadrangulata clonal work is based on the 2016 plantings made at Murray’s Nursery, Woodville. These trees were sampled to evaluate growth strain and other wood properties in very young trees. Seventeen families with below average growth strain and above average growth have been propagated from coppice regrowth of trees felled for wood quality assessments.
The Paparoa trial data has been used to narrow down the family list, and the top ten families selected for further propagation, with a target of 5,000 rooted cuttings to be ready for planting in trials in spring 2021.
The E. argophloia archive at Proseed.
E. bosistoana seed orchard at Proseed.
A native bee visiting E. bosistoana flowers.
A bumblebee visiting E. bosistoana flowers.
Newly potted cuttings in Forest Tubes.
My first objective will be to evaluate tree breeding as a tool for managing the collapse of NZDFI Eucalyptus globoidea and potentially E. quadrangulata, ultimately improving the quality of the NZDFI breeding stock. I will also investigate drying methods and the mechanisms behind the drying with a focus on collapse development.
As part of work towards my first objective, I assessed the Cuddon E. quadrangulata breeding trial by coring over 400 trees in October 2020. Heartwood quantity was measured from the cores. Preliminary analysis of the data suggested heartwood quantity is under genetic control in this trial and not strongly correlated to tree diameter, indicating the need to consider heartwood quantity as an independent trait to DBH. Collapse was detected during drying in some of the core samples. Extractives content, volumetric and tangential shrinkage, recoverable collapse and basic density will be measured soon.
In November 2020 I visited the Avery E. globoidea breeding trial, where we cored around 2700 trees. Heartwood quantity was measured and the core samples showed a good amount of heartwood. Preliminary analysis of the data suggested heartwood quantity being under genetic control in this trial and correlated to tree diameter, opening up the possibility of genetic improvement. Collapse was prominent in the E. globoidea cores and should be partly under genetic control. Other properties will be measured soon.
The next step will be assessing the 2011 E. globoidea trial located in Juken NZ’s Ngaumu forest.
Coring E. globoidea at Avery's trial site.
Labelling samples in the field.
Undried E. globoidea cores with heartwood dyed pink after application of methyl orange.
Prediction of extractives content using NIR.
Classic leaf roller damage with tip held together by webbing and the larvae feeding inside.
Similar damage by leafrollers.
Happy New Year for 2021. New Zealand was lucky to have a Covid-free summer break until late January, so I hope you enjoyed a relaxing holiday as I did!
Paul and trial site host Warwick Lissaman while making a video at the Lissamans site in December.
We made significant progress in the second half of 2020 with both the NZDFI consultancy team and UC’s wood quality team out in the field assessing and managing our trials. It’s always exciting to gather data in new trials and this was particularly so in November when we measured the incredible growth of trees planted in the two-year-old trial at Pāmu’s Kapiro farm in Northland. Neither Ruth McConnochie nor I have ever seen this level of productivity in any other NZ eucalypt trials. As a consequence we plan to establish new trials this year at Kapiro and at another nearby Pāmu farm.
Propagation has also been completed by the three nurseries that are producing the NZDFI’s first 300,000 Xylogene seedlings under our 1BT project. While most of these are already booked there are a limited number of E. bosistoana seedlings and clones still available for planting in spring this year. Anyone interested should email info@nzdfi.org.nz as soon as possible.
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For more information about any of the work of the NZDFI, contact: info@nzdfi.org.nz
