Forest Talk

The first summer Fieldays at Mystery Creek at the end of last year saw numerous visitors despite the wet and blustery weather. 

The event was officially opened with a pōwhiri and the rising of flags, followed by a ribbon-cutting ceremony led by the society’s President, James Allen, Minister for Trade and Export Growth, Damien O’Connor, and cut by Tumuaki o te Kiingitanga Hone Thompson. 

With punters braving the forecasted torrential r..... more

The bigger they are the more challenging it becomes when electrifying vehicles and equipment to reduce carbon emissions.

Infrastructure company Fulton Hogan has just flicked the switch on a ground-breaking fully electric mobile asphalt crusher, believed to be the first in Australasia.

The Belgian-designed Keestrack R3e, supplied by Equip2, is now being used in the company’s Auckland asphalt recycling plant.

The asphalt recycling plant is ..... more

This month features a photo essay by historian, Ron Cooke, extracted from his book Logging the Punga which he co-authored with the late Ken Anderson and Audrey Walker. The 390-page book covers a detailed history of the Manunui branch of the enterprising King Country sawmilling operation of Ellis & Burnand. Serving as a follow-up to Trevor Coker’s feature on ‘How Steam Haulers Opened up the Bush’ (NZ Logger, May 2018), the focus here is on some of their ste..... more

An array of new innovations around electric, hydrogen and diesel-hybrid powered vehicles, truck automation and platooning continue to roll out in the area of log transport.  Right now, there’s a huge amount of interest by larger fleet operators and already, a number of firsts for fuelling log trucks in this part of the world are underway and have been planned for early 2023.  

The Forest Industry Engineering Association (FIEA) says it’s for..... more

“The past two years have been extremely challenging for some industry sectors but the pandemic has also created new business opportunities. Our primary industries – forestry, viticulture, agriculture, and fisheries - along with the science and technology and construction sectors have been the foundation of Marlborough's strong economic performance,” says Councillor David Croad.

With this in mind, Marlborough’s Economic Wellbeing Strategy 2022-32, the..... more

Late last year, Forestry Minister, Stuart Nash unveiled the Forestry and Wood Processing Industry Transformation Plan (ITP) at Fieldays - a roadmap for the forestry and wood processing sector. 

New Zealand exports about 60% of harvested wood as logs for other countries to process and add value. In contrast, the 15% exported as value-added wood products return over 40% of total export revenue. The ITP charts a course to turn that around.

Sc..... more