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Private Forests Tasmania was front and centre at one of the state’s largest gatherings of red meat producers last week. PFT sponsored a Primary Session at the 2025 Red Meat Updates conference at the Tailrace Centre, Riverside, with the theme: “The influence of change on cost of production in red meat businesses.” Source: Timberbiz The session was chaired by PFT CEO Dr Elizabeth Pietrzykowski and featured a thought-provoking discussion facilitated by Felicity Richards and included insights from farmers James Knight (Sisters Pastoral), Georgie Burbury (Burbury Ag), and Midlands farmer and PFT Stems for CO₂ project grant recipient Dougal Morrison. Mr Morrison, a fifth-generation farmer from St Peters Pass, shared his family’s experience integrating forestry into their farming enterprise — a decision driven by careful analysis and long-term thinking. Following the harvest of a former Gunns eucalyptus nitens plantation, the family assessed their options: convert the land to pasture or replant with trees. They decided to establish Pinus radiata plantations, recognising the species’ suitability to Tasmania’s Midlands climate and soil conditions. “The land wasn’t ideal for pasture,” Mr Morrison said. “We weighed up the economics and decided replanting and claiming carbon credits made more sense — especially with support from two Private Forests Tasmania grants [a round 2 Integrated Farm Forestry grant and the Stems for CO₂ grant].” The new plantings will support both carbon sequestration and future timber production — and more importantly, Mr Morrison said, contribute to a succession-ready farm for the next generation at St Peters Pass. With 405 hectares of plantation and 30–40% of the property retained as native forest, the family applies a “right tree, right place” approach, using marginal land that’s not viable for grazing or cropping. Mr Morrison was candid about the learning curve. “I’m not a forester,” he said. “I’d strongly encourage anyone looking to plant or manage trees to get professional advice — on everything from species selection and planting to carbon and long-term management. PFT is a great place to start if you want pre-commercial guidance.” He also pointed to research showing the broader benefits of integrating trees into farming systems — from improving lamb survivability and pasture growth to enhancing water retention and providing shade and shelter for livestock. But his message was clear: “Don’t rush in. Understand your goals and work with a forestry consultant to plan properly”. For Mr Morrison and his family, trees on underperforming land aren’t just an environmental investment — they’re a strategic, economic decision that aligns with long-term, whole-farm planning.

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Victoria’s State Government is refusing to act on lack of firewood supply in rural and regional Victoria, including East Gippsland, according to Gippsland East Nationals MP, Tim Bull. And he says it is a problem that is very simple to fix. Source: Timberbiz Mr Bull, who wrote to Environment Minister, Steve Dimopoulos yet again on this matter, said the lack of understanding of the problem was extremely frustrating. “The one thing we should never run out of in this area is firewood, but it is the Government’s policies and overall lack of understanding of the situation has determined this outcome. “To make matters worse, the Mr Dimopoulos’ response states ‘firewood is a limited resource with unpredictable availability and demand can exceed supply’. “What rubbish. We have record fuel loads in the bush, debris everywhere, but government policy denies it being collected and used,” said Mr Bull. “The winding up of the timber industry significantly impacted supply as residual timber provided a lot of product to the market, and the government also removed the firewood timber coupes from contractors. “Combine this with the fact it has not extended public firewood collection periods (which it has the power to do) and we have a perfect storm.” Mr Bull said that some contractors were now bringing in firewood from interstate to meet demand, which “is just craziness in a place like East Gippsland”. “The Minister’s response also states, ‘the Victorian Government recognises supply availability is placing additional stress on people who rely on firewood’ – yet he won’t make the simple policy changes to address the matter.” Mr Bull said there were three simple, practical steps the government could take now to address the issue. “Announce an extension to the firewood collection periods, open up more collection areas to the public and return firewood coupes back to contractors who hold a commercial firewood licence,” he said. “Rather than trot out waffle that it is a limited resource (when it is most certainly not) and admit it is placing stress on people – just change the policies to fix the problem. “This of course is the same Minister we told free camping would not work time and again, which he pushed back before finally backflipping and making the changes we asked for. He needs to do the same here.”

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