From Roger May of Tomorrow’s Forests ...

Farm animals and the use of nitrogen fertilisers create emissions of greenhouse gases. Under legislation passed in Novem-ber 2009, NZ farmers will be required to record and report their emissions starting in 2012. Then from 2015, farmers will be required to pay for these emissions. There is an alternative. Farmers can plant trees on a small portion of their farms to off-set the emissions from stock by sequestering carbon dioxide (CO2) in the trees.

A computer-based calculator has been developed in Nelson to help farmers work out how to do this and to estimate the costs, savings and potential revenues from tree planting. This tool estimates the emissions from the number of cows, cattle, sheep and deer on the farm as well as the amount of nitrogenous fertiliser used (if any). The graph on page 5 shows the dollar cost of the emissions for each year through to 2037 .

The calculator is then used to design a tree planting programme to offset these emissions liabilities. Different species can be chosen and planted at different times in order to minimise both the area planted and the liabilities. The cost of tree estab-lishment is estimated (depending on species choice and the area planted) and the effective cashflow for each year is calcu-lated.
The tool can also be used to predict the value of additional carbon credits where farmers have the space for planting more than the minimum area of trees.

Note that these calculations do not include the costs of tending the trees as they grow or the value of timber from future har-vesting.

You can contact Roger on (03) 526 8719 or go to www.tomorrowsforests.co.nz