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ForestX's comment





A recent meeting of nearly forty bankers, accountants and solicitors in Hamilton confirmed forestry as an important diversification for farmers to consider in developing a more resilient cash flow from their property. It was further confirmed that understanding the major drivers of forest profitability was needed to avoid the mistakes of the past. Three simple criteria apply: location, location and location. Forest location within a farm affects harvesting and roading costs, location near markets affect transport costs and location within New Zealand affects productivity and wood properties. For many farmers part of their property will be running too few stock units to cover costs and could be better suited to forestry. Land meeting the criteria may be planted for both log and carbon income. Land not meeting the criteria might be planted for carbon income alone.