Latest / Best of Business / Jamie Mackay: The Country host addresses backlash from farmers as Southland farmland set to be converted into forestry

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Jamie Mackay: The Country host addresses backlash from farmers as Southland farmland set to be converted into forestry · Best of Business

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  Speaker 1: You're listening to a podcast from News Talks be follow
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  Speaker 1: this and our wide range of podcasts. Now on iHeartRadio.
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  Speaker 2: Let's talk about rural things. We've got Jamie McCain from
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  Speaker 2: the Country on the line, how Jamie good Andrew Now
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  Speaker 2: in south people are up at arms? Are farms being converted?
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  Speaker 3: Well, not just our farm set. Lots of farms down
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  Speaker 3: here and certainly lots of farms on the east coast
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  Speaker 3: of the North Island as well, have been converted from
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  Speaker 3: effectively good pastoral farms to forestry and or carbon farming.
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  Speaker 3: This particular one I know very well on the Southland
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  Speaker 3: are born and bred. It's on the northern slopes of
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  Speaker 3: the Hokanui Hills. If you were driving, for instance, from
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  Speaker 3: Gore to Queenstown, it's a lovely drive too, you would
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  Speaker 3: pass it. This is a farm that shouldn't be going
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  Speaker 3: to trees. Of course, the government has stepped and changed
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  Speaker 3: the rules, or they announced a change in the rules
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  Speaker 3: in December of last year. They'll come into force probably
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  Speaker 3: about October this year. But they can't stop stop stuff
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  Speaker 3: that's underway already. But this is a beautiful farm. The
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  Speaker 3: entire operation is apparently seven three hundred hectares. It's not
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  Speaker 3: only sheep and cattle breeding, but it's also a finishing
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  Speaker 3: farm where you fatt and stock. It's got cropping arable,
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  Speaker 3: you know, good enough to grow crops, and also dairy farming.
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  Speaker 3: The whole lot is apparently being holess. Bowlus are planted
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  Speaker 3: into pine trees. It's wrong. It's not being planted for
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  Speaker 3: production forestry. It's being planted for the carbon credits. You'll
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  Speaker 3: get two clicks on it. But a lot of the
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  Speaker 3: local farmers are quite rightly saying this is not right.
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  Speaker 3: It's going to be an eyesore, it's going to be
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  Speaker 3: a blight on the environment. And I think quite a
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  Speaker 3: bit of government money was spent on this particular farm,
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  Speaker 3: which is a lovely farm of tailed sheep there and
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  Speaker 3: mustard as a young guy, was spent on this farm
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  Speaker 3: in the seventies to develop it. And the likes of
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  Speaker 3: Groundswell co founder Lorri Patterson, who also owns a big
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  Speaker 3: sheep and beef station down there, says he's none too
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  Speaker 3: toughed with it, and I think that's the general consensus
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  Speaker 3: of people down there.
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  Speaker 2: I'm right there with you. You know, these forests, they're
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  Speaker 2: just a mirage. They're not really affecting or improving the
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  Speaker 2: environment in any way, shape or form. In fact, they're
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  Speaker 2: making it worse, as you quite rightly said. Hey, Jamie McKay,
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  Speaker 2: thank you so much for your time today. Have yourself
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  Speaker 2: a great night.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, hey, Andrew, National Lamb Day on Saturday. Hopefully the
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  Speaker 3: supermarkets will come to the party. I haven't seen any
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  Speaker 3: evidence of it yet, but go and taste some lamb.
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  Speaker 2: Oh, no problem, Jamie. I will thank you for more
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  Speaker 2: from News Talks ed B.
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