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Scoop
a day ago
- Business
- Scoop
Farmers Still Rushing To Convert Land To Forestry
Article – RNZ Whole farm-to-forest conversions continue, according to a new report released by Beef and Lamb New Zealand. Gianina Schwanecke, Producer/Presenter Whole farm-to-forest conversions continue, according to a new report released by Beef and Lamb New Zealand. The research, carried out by Orme and Associates on behalf of Beef and Lamb, found close to 40,000 hectares of sheep and beef farms had been sold for forestry since September last year. The report also confirmed 29,518ha had sold in 2023 and 30,483ha in 2024. It brings the total amount of farm-to-forestry conversions since January 2017 to more than 300,000-ha. Beef and Lamb estimates this has resulted in the loss of more than 2 million stock units since 2017. Chair Kate Acland said the data underpinned longstanding concerns about whole farm-to-forestry conversions. 'The numbers show whole-farm sales for conversion to forestry for carbon credits are continuing at pace,' she said. 'What we're really concerned about is whole farms, really good productive land getting planted into trees.' The research showed Hawke's Bay, Wellington and Wairarapa remained preferred locations, while Southland had also seen a notable increase. There was a significant slowdown in the Gisborne region, likely due to the environmental impacts of adverse weather events such as Cyclone Gabrielle and tightened harvesting conditions being set by regional councils. Acland said they were not against incorporating forestry within farms, adding if most farmers planted 10 percent of their least productive land in trees, they could still maintain production. 'We're very supportive of incorporating trees within farms. and I think there's a real opportunity here for farmers to be part of the solution.' This week the government introduced new legislation to restrict farm-to-forest conversions on Land Use Classification (LUC) 1-6 land. Under the changes, which will retroactively take effect from December last year when the policy was originally announced, up to a quarter of farms can be planted in forestry for the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS). There will also be a ban on full farm-to-forest conversions entering the ETS for actively farmed land and an annual cap of 15,000ha for forestry entering the ETS for lower quality farmland. Acland said while the government putting restrictions around whole farm to forest conversions was positive, she wasn't sure it went far enough. 'Anecdotally we're still hearing of a significant number of farms being sold this year, despite the government announcing the limits last year. 'We're concerned that some sales are continuing on the basis of intent to purchase land before the limits were announced. We urgently need the government to tighten the criteria around proof of intent to purchase.' Additionally, she was particularly concerned about class 6 land, which she said was 'some of the most productive sheep and beef breeding country'. Acland said carbon forestry had a comparatively 'short-term return' when compared to sheep and beef. 'I think we need to recognise the importance of the red meat sector for the economy of this country.' Federated Farmers national president Wayne Langford echoed some of these concerns, saying the country was approaching critical mass for sheep production. He said the new forestry conversion rules were moving 'slowly'. 'We're gonna see more processing plants close, we're gonna see a lot more communities close down unless we do something about this issue across the country.' The legislation is now before Parliament and is to come into force October 2025.
Scoop
2 days ago
- Business
- Scoop
Farmers Still Rushing To Convert Land To Forestry
, Producer/Presenter Whole farm-to-forest conversions continue, according to a new report released by Beef and Lamb New Zealand. The research, carried out by Orme and Associates on behalf of Beef and Lamb, found close to 40,000 hectares of sheep and beef farms had been sold for forestry since September last year. The report also confirmed 29,518ha had sold in 2023 and 30,483ha in 2024. It brings the total amount of farm-to-forestry conversions since January 2017 to more than 300,000-ha. Beef and Lamb estimates this has resulted in the loss of more than 2 million stock units since 2017. Chair Kate Acland said the data underpinned longstanding concerns about whole farm-to-forestry conversions. "The numbers show whole-farm sales for conversion to forestry for carbon credits are continuing at pace," she said. "What we're really concerned about is whole farms, really good productive land getting planted into trees." The research showed Hawke's Bay, Wellington and Wairarapa remained preferred locations, while Southland had also seen a notable increase. There was a significant slowdown in the Gisborne region, likely due to the environmental impacts of adverse weather events such as Cyclone Gabrielle and tightened harvesting conditions being set by regional councils. Acland said they were not against incorporating forestry within farms, adding if most farmers planted 10 percent of their least productive land in trees, they could still maintain production. "We're very supportive of incorporating trees within farms. and I think there's a real opportunity here for farmers to be part of the solution." This week the government introduced new legislation to restrict farm-to-forest conversions on Land Use Classification (LUC) 1-6 land. Under the changes, which will retroactively take effect from December last year when the policy was originally announced, up to a quarter of farms can be planted in forestry for the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS). There will also be a ban on full farm-to-forest conversions entering the ETS for actively farmed land and an annual cap of 15,000ha for forestry entering the ETS for lower quality farmland. Acland said while the government putting restrictions around whole farm to forest conversions was positive, she wasn't sure it went far enough. "Anecdotally we're still hearing of a significant number of farms being sold this year, despite the government announcing the limits last year. "We're concerned that some sales are continuing on the basis of intent to purchase land before the limits were announced. We urgently need the government to tighten the criteria around proof of intent to purchase." Additionally, she was particularly concerned about class 6 land, which she said was "some of the most productive sheep and beef breeding country". Acland said carbon forestry had a comparatively "short-term return" when compared to sheep and beef. "I think we need to recognise the importance of the red meat sector for the economy of this country." Federated Farmers national president Wayne Langford echoed some of these concerns, saying the country was approaching critical mass for sheep production. He said the new forestry conversion rules were moving "slowly". "We're gonna see more processing plants close, we're gonna see a lot more communities close down unless we do something about this issue across the country." The legislation is now before Parliament and is to come into force October 2025.
Reuters
25-02-2025
- Automotive
- Reuters
Dassault Systèmes partners with Apple to put industrial 3D software on Vision Pro
Feb 25 (Reuters) - Dassault Systèmes ( opens new tab on Tuesday said that it has worked with Apple (AAPL.O), opens new tab to integrate Apple's Vision Pro into its 3D software, which is widely used in manufacturing, life sciences and urban planning. France-based Dassault Systèmes has hundreds of thousands of customers who use its software to design cars, airplanes and factories, according to the company. It creates what are known as "digital twins" of real-world objects and places, recreating them with a high enough degree of accuracy that designers and engineers can make changes to the digital version and be confident that those changes will work in the real world. Dassault Systèmes said that starting this summer, the company will release an app called "3DLive" that will allow engineers and designers to collaborate on a 3D model in real time and remotely. Tom Acland, chief executive of the firm's 3DEXCITE unit, said possible real-world uses could be helping find potential problems in accessing manufacturing machines for maintenance long before they are installed on a factory floor, after which rearranging them could be far more expensive. "Those things tend to only get discovered very late in the process," Acland told Reuters. "But if you could allow the maintenance engineer to walk into the line of equipment before it arrives, they can start to design those maintenance procedures before the equipment ever arrives." Dassault Systèmes' app will require deep collaboration with Apple because it represents 3D models with the level of scientific accuracy required by tapping into the Vision Pro's sensors and computing power, which comes from the same chips used in Apple's Mac computers. Hashing out problems with, for example, aircraft designs requires more accuracy than other apps like video games. "It's not just a gimmick - it's actually a very powerful tool for engineers and designers to make decisions," Mike Rockwell, vice president of Apple's vision products group, told Reuters. "You're able to make these decisions earlier in the process, and that can save you huge amounts of money and time and rework."
