Tairāwhiti farm conversion stats 'alarming' says Beef + Lamb NZ

The scale and pace of sheep and beef land purchased for forestry has been higher than first thought, according to latest research by Orme & Associates on land-use change. Iconic properties like Huiarua Station (pictured) on the East Coast have been lost to forestry. File picture

New research shows the scale and pace of sheep and beef land purchased for forestry is even higher than first thought.

An updated Orme & Associates report on land-use change from pastoral farming to large-scale forestry shows the amount of land sold in 2021 soared 66 percent compared to the previous year.

Beef + Lamb New Zealand (B+LNZ) CEO Sam McIvor said the report will be alarming for farmers, rural communities, and wider New Zealanders, who are already concerned about the conversion of food-producing sheep and beef land into carbon farming.

“The Orme & Associates report was commissioned by B+LNZ two years ago to track the amount of land purchased for afforestation and taken out of pastoral production.

“It initially showed more than 52,000ha of land was purchased for forestry interests in 2021,” he said.

“However, the latest revised data shows that figure to be more than 63,000ha, a 66 percent increase on 2020 and up from 7000ha in 2017.”

Uncertainty over policy changes led to a decrease to 36,000ha in 2022, but Mr McIvor said that figure was likely to increase because of the backlog of applications sitting with the Overseas Investment Office (OIO).

“This takes the total to more than 200,000ha of sheep and beef farms bought over the past five years, which is a significant concern for the sheep and beef sector and rural communities,” he said.

“The scale of change is far more than what is recommended by the Climate Change Commission and will have a negative impact on rural communities, food production and export income, which affects all New Zealanders.

“New Zealand is one of the only countries in the world that allows fossil-fuel emitters to offset 100 percent of their emissions,” he said.

“The Government is currently consulting on changes to the Emissions Trading Scheme, and it needs to act.

“B+LNZ is not anti-forestry. There is absolutely a place for it and for some offsetting. We know many farmers are interested in integrating trees into their farms, but there is a need for some balance.

“Though less than the sheep and beef industry, forestry does create jobs and export revenue. In contrast, carbon farming doesn’t create jobs or add export returns.

“Production forestry, in combination with carbon forestry, can often be integrated into sheep and beef farms without loss of food production.

“We also recognise the unique circumstances of some Māori landowners who can never sell their land. This is a legitimate instance where carbon credits from offsetting should be available.”

Mr McIvor said the impact of land use change was now being reflected in livestock numbers, with Statistics NZ’s 2022 Ag Census data showing the national sheep flock to be 25.3 million as of June 2022, a drop of 400,000 from the previous year with numbers likely to fall further due to new plantings.

The Ministry for Primary Industry report, Afforestation and Deforestation, which focuses on larger scale planting, supports the findings from B+LNZ.

“While whole farm sales seemed to have slowed last year, new plantings continued at pace with another 64,000ha of new forestry planted in 2022,” Mr McIvor said.

“MPI has also surveyed foresters’ intentions for 2023 and estimates a further 88,000ha of new planting in 2023. This data reinforces how quickly farms are being converted.

“The Government must urgently work with the sector to implement limits before it’s too late.”

■ The Orme & Associates report can be found at https://tinyurl.com/5n8c9czm