48 | FORESTRY PF Olsen Ltd: 50th Anniversary Marginal land ripe for trees T from page 46 A proud legacy: company founder, Peter Olsen, above left, and, right, current CEO Ross Larcombe at the Seed orchard - 1996 . T Seed bank- page 50 “You become very close your customers over that 28 – 30 year plus period, and it becomes more than just a business relationship. There are some clients that we initially had a relationship with their parents and now its moved onto the second generation. “Our contractors are also an extension of PF Olsen. If people feel PF Olsen has done a good job, it’s more that our contractor has done a good job. It is very much a partnership relationship with our contractor workforce.” Regional offices are based in Rotorua, Gisborne, Waipapa, Whangarei, Napier, Masterton, Wellington, Whanganui, Nelson, Blenheim, Christchurch, Timaru and Dunedin. Around 47 staff are also based throughout Australia, mainly involved in agricultural management transitioning land out of forest and into agriculture. Peter died in 1999 leaving behind a legacy of not just developing his company but contributing to New Zealand’s forestry industry, and that now reflects on many of the company’s staff that serve on industry boards, particularly in respect to the environment and health & safety. Now predominantly owned by staff and exstaff, which Scott says underlines a real sense of ownership and wanting to do the right thing for the company, PF Olsen Ltd has enjoyed on-going management stability with only four CEO’s since its foundation. When Peter died the mantle of senior leadership was taken over by Peter Clark who had worked very closely with Peter Olsen. “When Peter retired in 2018 Te Kapunga Dewes was engaged as CEO until 2020 when Ross Larcombe was appointed. Ross has worked for PF Olsen since he left University over 30 years ago. Many of our team have worked their way up through the company.” PF Olsen’s core customer base includes farmers, councils, investors, Iwi and a number of government agencies like Pamu — previously known as Landcorp — one of the company’s oldest clients. Nelson City Council and Tasman District Council have also been with PF Olsen for many years. As a Forest Management company the company is involved in all aspects of forestry from land preparation, forest establishment, silviculture, harvesting, log cartage and marketing, project analysis, feasibility analysis, and resource consenting. “We have positioned ourselves as a company that can offer the best financial solution for a landowner who wants to put part of the land into trees. If farmers want to plant trees on parts of their land we can advise on tree crop and regime and calculate the returns taking into account tree crop and carbon credits. “We think that trees are always part of the optimal land-use solution but we don’t agree with trees being the only solution, with the entire farm being planted up in exotic forest. We certainly think there are more marginal land areas that could be planted up and want to see New Zealand doing a better job at that but we absolutely whole-heartedly agree that the better pastoral land should be left to farming. That is the advice we give to farmers and overseas investors.” Scott says when approached by investors looking to buy a farm PF Olsen recommends that the best farming land is subdivided off and offered to a farmer, often a neighbour, with the more hilly areas put in trees. “That is what is best for NZ Inc, and that is what we should all be doing. Some farms are purchased by investors who are advised to plant the entire farm when a mixed land use is often the best outcome, and even worse if they are planting a permanent exotic crop for carbon and not planning to harvest. That is often not the best solution and pine is not a long rotation species so it’s not the best for that anyway. Many people also don’t understand and factor in future risk of permanent exotics. We’re working with investors who are doing carbon averaging. You plant and harvest the trees but collect the carbon units in the first rotation.” PF Olsen would like to see more New Zealand farmers and land owners look at their whole farm and see which areas could be planted up, without losing much pastoral productivity, but gain from tree crop and carbon. “That adds financial resilience and stability to their farm. Because there’s an annual return from the carbon you can service debt or factor the revenue into farm succession planning. The annual cash flow from carbon provides a means to pay out children who do not want to go farming, or who might want to farm somewhere else. We think that trees on farm should be an integral part of the business portfolio.” 021 523 429 kinzettforestry@gmail.com P E FORESTRY ROADS, SKID SITE PREP, HARVESTING Kinzett Forestry Ltd Johnson FORESTRY SERVICES From Christchurch to Southland - Steve Johnson - 027 234 3877 • Training & Assessment • Upskilling Courses • Schools Training • Planting / Pruning • Woodlot Management • Thinning & Release Spraying Azwood Energy’s forestry clean-up service We partner with landowners and forest managers like across New Zealand with a cost e ective forestry clean-up service. Our mission is to enhance the environment by harnessing natural residues. 0800 299 663 www.azwood.co.nz Enquire Today Learn more about our environmental clean up service
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NDc2Mzg=