| 71 IFS embraces all aspects of forest management including establishment, silviculture, ETS evaluation, reporting and brokerage, harvesting and marketing. FORESTRY IFS Growth: NZIF In the three decades that Graeme and Dyann Dodds have owned Southland based specialist forestry seedling operation, Leith ield Nursery, the business has grown from just under 2 million seedlings a year to 11 million planted this year. The company is located just out of Edendale and supplies seedlings to many of the larger forestry companies including Wenita, Port Blakely, Venture Forestry, Ernslaw One, Calder Stewart, PF Olsen and IFS Growth. “We’ve been working with IFS from the day they started operations, which is about 20 years ago now,” says Graeme. “When Dan Minehan was at Lincoln he pruned and planted trees for me so I’ve seen him grow up, start his business and expand it. They are a very good company to work with and by far my biggest client, taking 38% of my seedlings out of the nursery.” While Leith ield Nursery predominantly grows Pinus radiata, it also grows about 2 million Douglas ir and 500,000 Eucalyptus each year. “We’re probably the biggest seedling nursery in the South Island now,” says Graeme. “We supply Otago/Southland but we also send trees into North Canterbury, and Douglas ir to the North Island.” All trees are planted from seed by Leithfield Nursery precision vacuum drill. The trees are harvested the following winter. “Throughout the year you’re spraying and undercutting the roots, wrenching them and lateral pruning them. You are conditioning them so that when they come out of the ground the roots have developed into a good short root mass, so that they transplant well. It takes us about eighty days to process the bare rooted trees during harvest — pulling them out, grading them, trimming the roots, putting them in boxes and despatching them to the customer. From the end of May through to the end of September we will process between 140,000 and 150,000 trees a day. With the volume of our stock, Otautau Haulage has based three trucks at the nursery and they are delivering trees to planting sites full-time around Otago/Southland.” Re lecting upon the success of Leith ield Nursery, Graeme says you have to provide a quality product that works for the client, and to do that you need good people around you. “The trees have to go out on the hill, survive and grow. Over the years I’ve had very good teams and you don’t get a good team unless you pay them well. During harvest we employ about forty sta all up, eighty percent being regulars.” For well conditioned, healthy bare-rooted seedlings contact us to discuss your requirements. 230 Kamahi Road, East, Edendale, 9893, Southland Lyndon Mills 027 200 6080 lyndon@leithfield.co.nz www.leithfield.co.nz WELCOME TO LEITHFIELD NURSERY
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