4 | FORESTRY » Venture Forestry Ltd Natural progression and hard work combined Mort based his company Venture Forestry Limited in the South Island with its current head office at Invermay. Virginia Wright Having grown up on a sheep and beef farm in South Otago Mort Shepherd always knew that was where he would like to return when the time came. On his return from overseas in 2008 he took a job with a forestry consulting company then decided to give it a go on his own a few years later once he hit his early 30’s. He’d been a graduate engineer with Carter Holt Harvey in Hawkes Bay, learning the forestry industry from the ground up, before working for several seasons in Canada rappelling out of helicopters as the first line of attack against forest fires. It was exciting work and while it didn’t stop him coming home to ‘get a real job’ as he says with a laugh, it no doubt fed into his decision to do something that involved the outdoors and kept him in the primary industries. It was an easy decision to base his new company Venture Forestry Limited in the South Island with its current Head Office at Invermay, just out of Mosgiel. Mort’s timing was good as the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) had not long been set up and there was work to be had measuring the forests in Otago and Northern Southland. He thinks the majority of the trees in question were planted in the last log boom in the early 90’s. Once the ETS began any forest owner with more than 100 hectares who chose to opt in, whether a farmer or a private forestry company, were required to measure the carbon stocks within their forest. “I set up a forest inventory business in 2011 really, going to predetermined locations and measuring stem (trunk) heights and diameters to calculate their carbon. • to page 5 Improved WDG formulation - more stable active ingredient and formulation - improved efficacy Easier storage and handling. Safer for operators Higher active ingredient content, 10 kg/ha – less product to handle Packed in 10 kg recyclable LDPE bags which makes for ease of rate calculations For selective weed control in forestry and non-selective weed control in industrial situations. Hexagard® is a registered trademark ofGrosafe Contact Grosafe on 0800 220 002 or email: info@grosafe.co.nz | www.grosafe.co.nz NEW RE L E AS E Exotic forestry can be a topic of conversation for almost everyone involved in agriculture. To meet New Zealand’s carbon sequestration goals, theoretically 380,000 ha will need to be planted. In other words, for a 600 ha sheep and beef operation, roughly 10 ha of planted forest could potentially o set around 10% of on-farm carbon emissions. Forests in the permanent category can use the stock change approach and attain carbon credits for as long as the forest is in the ground. David MacGibbon, Grosafe Group Chief Executive, says between carbon sequestration, record prices for sawn timber and forecasts projecting a quadrupling of global demand by 2050; the sector is poised to expand exponentially. Grosafe has worked with industry and forest establishment experts to understand the future needs for tree release solutions while recognising the practical issues facing some of the current products. Common themes of concern include supply chain disruption, mixing and handling of liquid products, application and storage problems. Responding to these issues, Grosafe has developed two innovative products. HexaGard® 750 and HexaGard 750 Extra are high strength granular formulations, combining two of the most preferred and proven herbicides used in the sector. Co-formulating ingredients into a Grosafe Group Launches New Forestry Release Option high-strength water dispersible granule has resulted in a stable formulation with improved e icacy. The higher active ingredient content means less handling and storage and easy calculation of the amount required for most sites. “The stability of the HexaGard formulations means perennial issues with mixing and applying liquid products are eliminated.” “Storage characteristics are vastly superior, so operators can now store any leftover product across seasons without fear of it settling out.” The safety aspect of being able to manage any spills of dry granules rather than cleaning up liquids has been welcomed by health and safety sta as well. Plenty of thought was put into packaging too. HexaGard 750 and HexaGard 750 Extra come in 10 kg recyclable bags, packed within a palletised cardboard bin, making it easier to quickly calculate the amount required, simplifying transport and recovering used packaging materials. “We are delighted with the feedback,” David MacGibbon says. “Being able to work closely with the sector, understand the issues and then respond by developing some innovative solutions has been very satisfying.” For details contact your Agrispray Agronomist or phone 0800 006 268 or contact Grosafe at info@grosafe.co.nz
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