Making money from trees

A free seminar organised by the Department of Primary Industries (DPI) will focus on the economics and marketing of farm timber on Friday, December 10 at DPI Attwood.
Planting, management and harvest costs all add up, and the concept of “How much a tree owes the grower” will be discussed by Braden Jenkin, a forestry consultant from Gippsland.
The results from a detailed economic analysis of a 25 year-old agroforestry trial comparing various pine stocking rates and designs both with and without sheep production, will be released.
The study will be explained by Bill Malcolm, an Associate Professor of Agricultural Economics from the University of Melbourne.
Marketing logs for niche products will be explained using the example of high quality hardwood veneers in a global context.
The potential to use overseas processing to make our timber more competitive on a world market will be outlined by Will James of George Fethers & Co – a veneer marketing company.
Some sound practical advice on marketing small plantations will be also offered by a timber consultant who will share his experiences of selling small plantations of both pine and hardwoods.
The SMARTimbers co-operative will also share its experiences in the supply chain of timber marketing.
Modern methods of electronic selling of logs and timber will be demonstrated by DPI’s Rhodey Bowman using the MarkeTree site developed by the Australian Forest Growers Association.
The free seminar is open to all interested in farm forestry. For further information and bookings, contact Rhodey Bowman, DPI Tatura, (03) 5833 5957 or [email protected].