Forest Talk

As a young girl, Haley Adamson always preferred Caterpillars to butterflies but it was moving from earthmoving into building forestry roads that made the biggest change in her life.

Having a dad who ran an earthworks contracting business certainly smoothed the path for her into a career driving heavy machinery, but there is nothing automatic about following in her dad’s footsteps.

As Haley points out, there are plenty of other forestry and eart..... more

Forest Industry Contractors Association (FICA) CEO, Prue Younger, will retire from her role early next year, after six years at the helm.

During her time as FICA’s CEO, Ms Younger has led the organisation through both prosperous and challenging periods for forestry contractors, including the pandemic and significant log market downturn - as well as some highlights like the 2022 FICA Fast and Forward Forestry Expo bringing together various parts of th..... more

At school as an 11-year-old, Darrin Kealey’s dad walked into class in his gum boots saying he needed him to come and drive a bulldozer as he’d got one of his trucks stuck. And that’s how his career in machine operation began.

Refinements in machinery have come a long way since then and Sumitomo’s reputation for stability, smoothness and fuel-efficiency puts it amongst the frontrunners in that refinement. Darrin went into farm and civil excavator work..... more

Log exports had a slow start to the year however, the sector recovered to return to forecasted volumes ahead of a market slowdown in June, the recovery contributing to Port Nelson’s resilient 2023 financial year results. Despite challenging trading conditions the Port achieved a $4 million dividend for the community.

Underlying Net Profit after Tax result (NPAT) (excluding one-offs and property valuations) was $7.7 million, down $0.1m on the budget p..... more

“Everyone wins when we can support growth in our wood products sector and at the same time tackle our climate change challenges,” says Wood Processing and Manufacturers Association Chief Executive, Mark Ross of the 2023 Timber Design Awards held this month.  

“Collectively the winning projects shine a light on the role that wood construction can play to increase the demand for use of our domestically produced timber and addressing our sustainabi..... more

Safety-conscious organisations from New Zealand and Australia have been recognised for working hard to reduce incidents involving at-work drivers and vehicles during the ninth annual Australasian Fleet Champions Awards. 

The awards, run by Brake, the road safety charity and supported by Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency, acknowledge companies and individuals who have implemented successful initiatives, products or services to tackle fleet safety. ..... more