Top tree tips at farm workshop

Trees and how best to incorporate them into farmland is the topic of a workshop being organised by Beef + Lamb NZ next month.

Trees within Farms: Opportunities with Carbon will be held at the A&P Showgrounds in Railway Street, Helensville on Monday, August 21 at 10am.

Those attending will learn about different ways of integrating trees into a farm system, especially hill or high-country properties with marginal land, as well as essential information on the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) and climate change.

“The workshop focuses on opportunities to integrate trees on farms and, in doing so, generate a return from the ETS, and/or localised tree-planting, or landretirement funding programmes,” a Beef + Lamb NZ spokesperson said.

“Farmers will leave the four-hour workshop, which includes a case study, with a clear idea of which options they wish to explore further.”

The workshop will cover:

• An overview of climate change and policy issues.

• The Zero Carbon Bill and ETS.

• The ETS definition of ‘forest land’, opportunities and trade-offs.

• On-farm carbon sequestration – the role of trees and soil.

• Carbon units – how they work.

• Greenhouse gas emissions in the context of NZ farming.

• Funding options.

• Which tree species – exotic and indigenous –where, and why.

• Riparian planting and shelter belts.

• Understanding farms’ natural capital and opportunities to build resilience into business. The free workshop includes lunch, but attendees should consider taking a drink bottle.

Registration is essential – visit https://beeflambnz.com/ events