Amuri Hills Forest Partnership
Progress Report

Radiata Pruning Investment
10 February 2002

 

Pruning your Radiata well underway

As reported in July last year your three Radiata pine stands were approaching the optimum size to begin the value adding operation of pruning. The Hopefield stand HF2 was to be ready first and this received its first lift in early summer.

The other two stands, the smaller Glens of Tekoa one GT1 and the large Leslie Hills one, LH1 were estimated to be ready later this year. However we had the Partnership's Consultant inspect them in December and he said we could go ahead and prune them now as they had grown considerably over the previous year. So a majority of GT1 has just been completed and in a week or two LH1 will be started.

The audited plots from HF2 show the stand is performing ahead of the original forecast, meaning the average tree is taller and less tapered, which is good. The average pruned height was 3.3m as against 2.7m. We do not have the figures for GT1 yet but it and LH1 may well have grown so well in the second half of last season and the first half of this one to have caught up so be right on or ahead of predictions. It should be no surprise to you that this season's growth has been tremendous. The slowing of growth during drought in recent years has now been fully compensated for.

All this means that as originally forecast seven years ago, this year the Partnership will probably require about $1,500 per unit. This can only be a fairly rough estimate at this stage because accurate mapping of the fully stocked areas of GT1 and LH1 has not been completed, although it is underway now. We also do not yet know what the average pruned heights will be. Since the cost is a factor of total stocked area times the number of trees pruned per hectare times the number of metres pruned, it can vary quite a lot. Our current estimate assumes similar figures for stems pruned and average height as achieved for HF2.

As funds are needed right away for the work done on GT1, the balance of the sum due for HF2, mapping and very shortly for pruning LH1, we must ask for an immediate interim contribution.
Your Committee has agreed a levy of $1,000 per unit and according a request for this in enclosed. Please send it in right away if you can as there are bills outstanding already. A full budget and last year's audited accounts and your 2001 Tax deduction Certificate will follow in about two months.

Website & Email Addresses

Those of you connected to the Internet will be able to see some past and more recent photos of your stands on our website at www.warrenforestry.com as well as other information like a page on our latest issue, 'Mt Whitnow Forest Partnership'. (We will be sending you a complimentary copy of the Investment Statement shortly)

If you have an Email address we would be grateful if you could give it to us on the payment slip when sending in your current contribution as in due course we can send reports to you that way as well as more photographs.

If you have any queries about anything, or want more information, please don't hesitate to contact us at any time.

Charles Etherington
WARREN FORESTRY Ltd
Manager for the Partnership Committee

Warren Forestry Ltd, New Zealand forestry investment provider
Warren Forestry Ltd, New Zealand forestry investment providerWarren Forestry Ltd, New Zealand forestry investment providerWarren Forestry Ltd, New Zealand forestry investment provider