Icfr Central Regional Interest Group Field Day
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ICFR CENTRAL REGIONAL INTEREST GROUP FIELD DAY Date: Wednesday 5 th March 2008 Venue: Goede Trouw and the Mondi BP Nursery, Piet Retief Time: 08h30 for 09h00 PROGRAMME 08h30 Meet for at Goede Trouw (Philip & Michelle Day’s farm) for tea and coffee InInIn-In ---fieldfield Presentations Regional Interest 09h00 Welcome to the field day TWK Group rep Introduction to Goede Trouw, the economics of growing 09h05 Philip Day MCC wattle and the Mimosa Central Co-operative (MCC) 09h20 Travel to the field stop 09h30 Black Wattle Production Seed Orchard Update Sascha Beck-Pay ICFR 10h05 Sirex in South Africa – the status of the threat and its control Philip Croft ICFR Pitch canker in mature pine stands and new threats from 10h35 Jolanda Roux FABI abroad 11h05 Travel to the Mondi Nursery, Piet Retief (Cooldrinks on arrival) Indoor Presentations Value of ICFR research to the Forestry Industry, highlighting 11h35 Colin Dyer ICFR future trends 12h05 Nutrient supply and demand in hardwood crops Steven Dovey ICFR 12h35 Breeding of improved Eucalyptus nitens Tammy Swain ICFR 13h05 Lunch kindly sponsored by TWK, NCT and CTC Directions to Goede Trouw (Philip & Michelle Day’s farm): • Take the Wakkerstroom road out of Piet Retief, past the turn off to the Mondi and TWK nurseries. • Travel for approx 15km along this road, and then at the sign to Philip and Michelle Day’s farm, Goede Trouw, turn right. (ICFR signboard will be up) • Travel along the tar road until you reach the farm, (FM radio tower landmark). The next ICFR Regional Interest Group Field Day will be held at Seven Oaks, UmvotiUmvoti,, KwaZuluKwaZulu----NatalNatal on Tuesday 18 ththth March. For more information contact Keith Little ([email protected]) ICFR Central Region Field Day © ICFR 2008 Page 1 An introduction to the Goede Trouw & KrKrooooonplaasonplaas farmfarmssss Philip Day ([email protected]) Introduction Goede Trouw and Kroonplaas farms are close to 2000 ha and are farmed by the partnership, K.B.Day & Sons. 700 ha is under timber and the rest is utilised for cropping (maize and soya) and beef, in equal proportions. We have an abattoir on the farm and we mill maize meal. The timber component is split roughly as follows: • 100 ha wattle • 300 ha eucalypts • 300 ha pine The wattle and eucalypts are grown on a 10-year rotation, predominantly for pulp, and the wattle bark for the tannin industry. The pine is grown on a 25-year rotation for sawtimber. Wattle has been and still is the most profitable of the three species per hectare. Although pine has long been the “Cinderella” of the three species, it has, in the last three years, come into its own. At present, pine sawtimber gives wattle a good run for its money. As a comparison, Philip will present the costs and income from the three species. Figures are derived from submissions to the Forest Economics Services (FES) who analyse the data and provide a comparison with other panel members and regional groups. Philip has used last financial year’s figures, escalated costs by 10%, and used present timber prices. R/ton Wattle Pine Eucalypts Timber Price 500 450 360 Growing 53 27 37 Harvesting 43 20 41 Transport 123 33 115 Overheads 58 58 42 Total Cost 277 138 235 Nett Profit 233 312 125 R/ha Profit potential If MAI sold 2 750 2 475 1 340 These figures clearly show the difference in profitability between the three species. The Mimosa Central CoCo----operativeoperative (MCC) Philip Day ([email protected]) The Mimosa Central Co-operative (MCC) is the wattle bark industry in South Africa. The members consist of NTE Ltd and the Union Co-op Ltd, who own the processing factories. The Union Co-op factory is situated in Dalton and NTE has a factory in Hermansburg and one in Iswepe. Growers are shareholders in these manufactoring facilities and therefore share in the profits in the end product via dividends. Bark production used to be the driving force in the wattle industry in South Africa in the past, but today, the timber has assumed that role, as it is a sought after species in the Japanese pulp and paper markets. In recent years, the surge in the international vegetable tannin market and the growth in the South African share market, has resulted in bark being a very attractive product for wattle growers. As we talk today, the manufacturers are running at full steam and need all bark in the country to be supplied in order to meet the export orders. The traditional and more important products from wattle bark extract are for the vegetable tan market. South Africa nevertheless developed an alternative product called Bondite, so as not to be so dependant on the world vegetable tan market, which up until a few years ago was a declining market. Bondite is used predominantly as a resin for the chipboard and plywood board industry. More than 95% of the wattle extract is exported to countries all over the world. Some of the more important markets are India, Italy, China and Australia, the latter being for the Bondite market. MCC is responsible for the development of new products and the marketing of our products all over the world. Being an export market, the returns are very dependent on international exchange rates. It takes roughly 5 tons of timber to produce 1 ton of bark and at R600 per ton for the bark, this makes an important contribution to the bottom line of wattle production. MCC makes a significant contribution to research via the ICFR to ensure that we maintain our position as world leaders in growing wattle. Black Wattle Production Seed Orchard update Sascha Beck-Pay [email protected] Institute for Commercial Forestry Research, P O Box 100281 Scottsville, 3209 Summary Currently all improved black wattle ( Acacia mearnsii ) seed is produced by seed orchards situated at Bloemendal. This seed is superior to that used in commercial line sowing operations, providing growers with potentially higher timber and bark yields. As these orchards are very old and their continued seed production cannot be guaranteed, new production seed orchards (PSOs) have been established on a number of other sites, and are currently, or will become productive within the next year or two. Establishing PSOs outside of Bloemendal also safeguards against the possible total destruction of the seed-supplying capabilities of this programme. With PSOs on sites other than Bloemendal, it has become necessary to develop a set of guidelines to help landowners with establishment, management and seed collection from these orchards. A detailed orchard management plan has been developed, outlining these issues and addressing the cost of seed orchard management, specifically with respect to reimbursement of landowners for having the orchard on their land. In this way the supply of improved black wattle seed to the South African wattle growers will be sustained into the future. In brief, the costs of establishment, weeding, thinning, general site maintenance as well as sweeping operations, will be borne by the landowner. All costs incurred for the above mentioned operations should be recorded, as this will provide an accurate estimate of the cost to the landowners per kilogram of seed. At present this amounts to R220/kg seed, which does not include seed cleaning or treating costs (which will be done at Bloemendal). To cover the costs of the orchard management as well as seed cleaning and treating, a selling price of R350/kg has been set. Should any of the variables, such as seed yield, change dramatically, the Acacia Research Steering Committee will make recommendations to the Industry to re-evaluate the price. As of February 2006, the ICFR has taken over from the Mimosa Central Co-operative (MCC) in selling all black wattle seed (commercial and select/improved). All money collected by the ICFR from seed sales will be accounted for by orchard (with a specific code), and these proceeds will be used to re- imburse landowners for the orchard contributions. Any surplus will be channelled back into the ICFR to be used solely for black wattle tree breeding research. The ICFR will keep a record of when orchards are swept, how much seed was swept per orchard, where the seed comes from and germination percentages. Seed will then be sold per orchard with all this data. All the families in these PSOs are improved families which have undergone progeny testing. There are 12 PSOs which will be supplying the Industry with improved seed. Eight of these twelve PSOs were established in the late 1990s and have started to come on line as of 2005. Six of the eight new PSOs are situated outside of Bloemendal. Each orchard will be swept every three to four years and approximately two orchards will be swept per year. Prior to a sweeping operation, a seed count will be conducted by the ICFR, and provided there is approximately 50 kg seed per hectare, the orchard will be swept. It is critical to ensure that maximum seed is swept and properly sieved, and that the operation runs smoothly. In addition, the following must be adhered to: • Prior to sweeping operation (May/June), the forester in charge prepares the site as outlined in the document; • Staff sweeping the orchards have the correct equipment (provided by the ICFR); • Staff sweeping the orchards are trained for a day by Bloemendal staff OR sweeping will be contracted out to the Bloemendal staff; • The sweeping operation is closely monitored to ensure that only seed within the orchard boundaries is swept; • Seed is clearly labelled and sent to Bloemendal for cleaning and treating; and • All costs incurred for the management and sweeping of the orchard are recorded.