Timber News from Sunshine Seedling Services
In 2024 the forestry sector will be focused on sustainable management, value addition, and innovation to ensure the continued growth and success of the industry.
The effects of global markets have impacted the sales of our timber products, and exports are under pressure with many of our growers having their deliveries reduced. However, our growers have taken the opportunity to look at site species matching and have revisited what species are grown for which markets, we have seen an increase in wattle plantings as growers are changing gum and sugar cane compartments to wattle.
It is evident that wattle pulp and bark are the preferred species and by far offer the best return per hectare. Currently the demand exceeds the availability.
The 2023/ 2024 planting season has been a season where we have all faced some challenges. Firstly, a very dry start to the season, then excessive rain, extremely high temperatures near drought conditions and then a devastating fire at NCT. Even with all these challenges the plantings did proceed.
This past season we have had some production constraints on the wattle clones, and we were not always able to supply the quantities ordered in the ordered time slots. We would like to apologise for this and let you know that we have put measures in place to ensure we don’t have a repeat of the problem.
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- The plantings of SP644 and AF1 show a huge amount of promise and have outperformed the commercially available seedling stock both in terms of growth and rust tolerance in every trial. They is more susceptible to frost damage than the seedlings and frost areas should be avoided. SP 644 is certainly a good choice if you are in a high rust area.
- Due to the increase in seedling costs growers should look at lower plant populations (3×1.8), however it is important that each grower does trials on his farm to see if it is suited for his climate, soil type, management plan etc. We do recommend that standard wattle is planted as a control. With the improved growth and uniformity, it makes economic sense to reduce the population as there would be no need for the thinning operation. From our observations this past season SP 644 and AF1 planted in the late November to the end January have not performed as well as those planted outside of this window.
- Orders must be in by the end of June 2024. Our production will then be allocated proportionally and where there is a shortfall on your order, we will top up with the selected wattle CSO1 if available.
For the frost pockets, SSS have a mix of Frost clones. At this stage the Frost tolerant clones have reduction in volume compared to your standard wattles planted on the same site. These clones are therefore specifically for frost areas and will do better than a seedling in frost events.
These frost clones allow the grower to plant wattle in areas where traditionally only Eucalyptus species were planted allowing specie rotation on the farm.
SSS also have a package the GxN clones which have proven themselves over the past few years not only in growth and uniformity but also exceptional yields. It must be noted that the GxN must not be planted below 1200mt as it has in some instances shown to be susceptible to Leptocybe invasa. This coming season we will have limited amounts of the new GxN clone 350 which we will be planting on high productivity GxN sites.
We are pleased to announce that we are making significant progress on the multiplication of a new range of Eucalyptus clones that will be available as commercial trials this season.
As your preferred nursery we are pleased to make available some new species that will assist in your endeavours to maximise the return per hectare. We offer the following:
GxL222 -Grandis x Longistrata
- Suited for drier sites without frost.
- Good density and an alternative for Dunnii on some sites
- Has a less heavy canopy than a GxU but can handle more heat than marginal soils.
GxS211 -Grandis x Smithii
- Possible to plant at lower altitudes without having to worry about root borne diseases.
- Not as dense as Smithii but denser than Grandis
- Altitude 800-1000 MT.
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This season we continue with the three-tier pricing structure:
Order price: The list price; an order has been placed but no deposit has been paid yet.
Order price + deposit paid: The listed price, less 10% if a 1/3 deposit is paid for seedlings before the 30th of June 2024.
Being part of the TWK Group has necessitated that our credit policy aligns with that of the group. TWK as a registered credit provider and are subjected to an NCR audit each year and must adhere to their policy & processes. It is therefore necessary that a new credit application is completed by all our clients. Confidentiality is of utmost importance so all credit applications must be emailed to Chelly – csmythe@twkagri.com. Chelly will be in contact with all customers regarding the credit applications. An important point on the credit applications is the Credit Limit, ensure that you apply for adequate credit to cover your purchases. A simple calculation: Take the months when you have ordered the most seedlings, calculate the value of the seedlings add the tray cost, then multiply by 3. This should in theory cover the credit required.
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