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Forest sharefarming concerns

When Andrew Murray and Amber Swinney signed up 163 hectares for the Forest Products Commission (FPC) to plant and manage eucalyptus trees, it was to be their retirement nest egg. Source: Cogeneration and Onsite Power Supply

The Frankland farmers thought having a 20% stake in a State Government sharefarm was a safer option than a managed investment scheme, and they were allowed to graze sheep in the plantation.

But after posting consecutive losses, in 2010 the FPC was restructured to focus on its core business of supplying wood to the forestry industry.

Two separate tender processes failed to find a buyer, with bids declined based on WA government tendering policies and guidelines.

The FPC has more than 600 contracts with farmers from Moora to Esperance for hard and soft wood plantations.

It has been six years since the trees were planted on Andrew and Amber’s property, and the trees are a year overdue for pruning and thinning.

Everything else to do with the contract has been A1 including payment, but not maintaining the trees affects our 20% stake despite the FPC saying it will maintain best practice, Ms Swinney said.

In hindsight, the couple wishes they had not signed up with the State Government timber project.

It’s not been as much of an asset as it should have been, Mr Murray said. It was supposed to diversify the farm income with the opportunity for a duoculture agricultural system, not monoculture.

The trees are due for harvest in 2026, but the FPC has the option to extend growth for a further five years.

The last the Frankland farmers heard from the FPC was in May, when a grower update was posted. The letter assured growers that the FPC would honour contracts and meet obligations to landowners.

FPC general manager David Hartley said the organisation was pursuing opportunities and markets for low-grade thinnings of the sharefarm estate, such as in combined heat and power plants.

This potentially will enable a cheaper source of fuels for local industry and enable plantation thinnings on a commercial basis, Mr Hartley said.