Kate Acland: Beef + Lamb Chair on the rising concerns as farming land is sold off for forestry

Rising concerns from the farming sector as more land is sold off for forestry.  

Beef + Lamb's new research reveals more than 51,000 hectares have been sold since the end of 2022.  

It estimates almost one million stock units are lost for every 100,000 hectares planted. 

Chair Kate Acland told Mike Hosking the issue isn’t forestry as such, but rather the ETS settings.. 

She says there absolutely is a place for trees and forestry within farming, they just need some sensible limits.  

LISTEN ABOVE 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
New numbers on our deforestation and where the more trees
is hurting farming. Fifty one thousand hectares our productive land
has been lost in the last couple of years. Twenty
twenty two a forestation happened at double the Climate Change
Commissions recommended rate. And I suspect that's because it's easy.
Of course, beef and lamb chair. Kate Acklin's with us
on this, Kate, morning to you morning mate. Of all

(00:20):
the things that you guys deal with on the land
at the moment, from the cost of living crisis to
the cost of fertilizer, are shipping and banking and all
that sort of stuff, where does this forest thing sit?

Speaker 2 (00:31):
Well, look, it's usually concerning it fifty one thousand hectares
in the last couple of years, but two hundred and
sixty one thousand hectaares since twenty seventeen, and that whole
farm that has been bought with the intentional or planted
already into forestry. And I guess for us to concern
is we know that for three hundred thousand hectares that
we lose, that's around a million sheep that are lost

(00:53):
out of the system.

Speaker 1 (00:54):
Okay, so I've got my land. I've got three hundred
and fifty hectares. I put it onto the market. Somebody
comes along and go, I'll give you what you want
for it. What do I do? Knowing it's going to
go into forestry, what do you want me to do?

Speaker 2 (01:06):
Yeah? Look, and that is absolutely the challenge. And I
think what's driving this Actually it's not forestry as such.
It's actually those that the utes settings that are driving
the carbon farming. So we just need some sensible limits.
You know, we're not anti trees. Were Actually there is
absolutely a place for trees and forestry, and you know
the best place for trees is to incorporate them within

(01:28):
our farming system. So it's just about making sure we
get the policy settings right.

Speaker 1 (01:32):
Mcclay's in charge of it. He says they're still working
through it. Do you believe they're working through it in
a way that will conclude in a way that makes
you happy or you just don't know.

Speaker 2 (01:43):
Well, their pre election manifesto did set out what was
a pretty sensible platform, and that was putting a moratorium
on whole farm conversions on those land classes one to five,
which is the really productive land. And they're just putting
some restrictions on land class six, which is where a
lot of your hell country sheet and beef, you know,
a lot of you breeding country.

Speaker 1 (02:01):
It was always going to come to this though, when
you talk about the Climate Commission. If you can simply
plant a tree to make your contribution to climate, you're
going to, aren't you? Because it's easy as well.

Speaker 2 (02:12):
It is the easy option, but I guess the question
is it the best option for New Zealand. A forestry
absolutely has a place, but what we want is mosaic landscapes.
We don't want a blanket landscape of pine trees, No,
we do not.

Speaker 1 (02:23):
Do you have any indication when the government are going
to make some sort of.

Speaker 2 (02:26):
Decision on this, Look they have indicated before Christmas, so
you know we're hopeful that will be well.

Speaker 1 (02:32):
Christmas is close, so let's stand by for it. Kate,
appreciate it. Kate Acklin, who's the Beef and Lamb New
Zealand Chair. For more from the Mic Asking Breakfast, listen
live to news talks. It'd be from six am weekdays,
or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio