4 | Forestry, trucking part of diverse business Ed Kight is the fifth generation of his family to work the land at Akitio, and he sees his role as taking care of the land for future generations. Akitio Station, which was originally bought by Ed’s family in 1876, sits along a long coastal ridge on the east coast in Tararua. Ed and wife Jenny have 3600 hectares at Akitio Station, along with around another 1400 at other nearby sites, which they use for sheep, cattle, forestry, carbon, and some tourism. Ed made his first steps into forestry back in the 1980s, and he says the decision has been pivotal for the financial well-being of the business. He says the decision to plant forestry was in part spurred by an experience in 1983. In the decade or so prior there had been a major nationwide push encouraging farmers to clear bush and turn it into pasture for sheep and cattle production. He says they followed that advice and cleared around 1500 hectares. The last block they developed was in 1983, which they cleared of scrub, heavily fertilised, regrassed and fenced it up. He put a mob of sheep on the land, but beforehand he weighed a sample of them. “A month later, I weighed them again, and they’d lost weight on this newly developed and highly inputted area of land. I could see immediately that it was unsustainable, there was no point in us actually grazing in this way.” He says that was one of the catalysts for accelerating the forestry development in land that wasn’t ideal for sheep and cattle. The forestry interests also led to the Kight’s setting up Akitio Trucking after being regularly frustrated at logging trucks not showing up when expected. Initially the trucks were intended just to use on the Kight’s forestry land to cart logs to Napier, but they quickly saw the services were in demand further afield. RURAL PEOPLE » Akitio Limited: Ed & Jenny Kight Rachel Graham Akitio Trucking now operates over 30 logging trucks with its main hubs in Napier and Masterton, and it operates throughout Hawke’s Bay, Manawatu and Wairarapa. The Kights supply lamb to Coastal Lamb, and Ed says it’s one of the many organisations with an eye on how to ensure the product is produced as sustainably as possible. In keeping with that Ed has taken steps to ensure that on paddocks near the Akitio River the river is fenced off from the stock, and they have planted up gullies and creeks to provide a biological filter. Ed says for him one of his frustrations with the Government’s recently released on-farm emissions levy is that it ignores the positive steps being taken by many farmers. “They are just introducing an industry wide broad-brush approach without taking any recognition of those that are actually doing an extraordinarily good job.” He says he’s very proud of all they have achieved at Akitio and want it to continue to be sustainable for many years to come. “We are only stewards of the land for a period of time, and you want to try and leave the land and the asset, in a better state than when we took it over.” Akitio Station sits along a long coastal ridge on the east coast in Tararua. Please call us for a free, no obliga�on assessment of your trees. We will maximise the return on your Forest Office: 06 327 5263 | John Turkington: 0274 458 410 | Email: john.turkington@xtra.co.nz John Turkington Forestry | 252-254 Broadway | P.O Box 98 | Marton • Harvesting • Log Marketing • Forest Management • Carbon Forestry • Forest Valuation • Establishment • Silviculture • Earthworks • Resource Consents Matt Chapman Dannevirke Tyres 2021 LTD Bridgestone Tyre Centre | 166 High Street Dannevirke | 063747431 Director 24/7 CALL-OUT SERVICE We service all tyres, from pushchairs to loaders, trucks, tractors and everything in between. Largest range of Stock in the Tararua. The last block they developed was in 1983, which they cleared of scrub, heavily fertilised, regrassed and fenced it up. with soil enhancing biology to improve farm production, 0800 4 DICKIE (0800 43 42 54) www.dickiedirect.co.nz Get In Touch To Find Out More
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NDc2Mzg=