More farms sold for forestry

The Overseas Investment Office [OIO] has listed the sale of six Wairarapa sheep and beef farms for the purpose of being turned into pine forests in the past year.

Between February 18, 2022, and January 25, 2023, five sheep and beef farms have been sold to Austrian companies, and another to a company based in Singapore.

Of all farms sold to international buyers, five were in Masterton and the sixth was near Martinborough.

The land sold to international companies to become productive pine forests totalled more than 5163ha.

The recently-purchased forests outnumber all 153 registered land covenants of protected forest on farmland in the region, which New Zealand Farm Forestry said covers about 4500ha.

All international sales were approved by Toitu Te Whenua Land Information New Zealand. Three farms were recorded as being sold to Cerberus Vermogensverwaltung in the past year – the properties formerly called Earlyhurst, Birch Hill, and Te Awa farms.

The company has purchased five New Zealand farms in total; the other two in Hawke’s Bay and Waitaki, respectively.

Johannes Trauttmansdorff-Weinsberg bought the former Te Maire farm, first purchasing 445ha with approval on February 18, 2022, with a further 236ha of land purchased at the same site with approval on July 7, 2022.

Since 2019, Johannes Trauttmansdorff-Weinsberg has bought seven New Zealand farms to convert to forestry, including some in Gisborne and Taranaki.

Singapore-based company Alpha Ally Three Limited purchased just-over 835 hectares of land located at 624 and 816 Mangamahoe Central Rd, Masterton, with approval on September 19, 2022.

The most recent farm to sell was over 161ha of land on Whangaehu Valley Rd, sold to Heilig Assets NZ Limited.

The decision to allow the sale was made on January 25.

The OIO withheld the asset value of the land under the Official Information Act.

Despite the mention of New Zealand in the company’s name, it is based in Austria.

OIO said Heilig Assets had applied for consent under a special test relating to forestry activities.

The land is currently used for sheep and beef farming, but Heilig Assets intends to “develop the land into a commercial pinus radiata forest and use it exclusively for forestry”, OIO said.

Once planting is complete, about 86 per cent of the land will be used as a commercial forest.

“The remaining area of land will be made up of existing native bush and scrub, infrastructure, and buffer land, which will include riparian and boundary setbacks,” OIO said.

OIO also listed a sale of Hawke’s Bay land to the company, with the decision to allow the sale made on September 15, 2022.

Farmer David Holmes said he has no issue with people buying farms for productive forestry, but it is permanent forests that he takes issue with.

He said it seemed international buyers were purchasing farms with the official intent to harvest the trees, but it could be a loophole for carbon farming.

Holmes said that the government needed to change the rules to ensure this does not happen.

Local farmer and Federated Farmers meat and wool chair Mike Butterick said the number of farms sold to international buyers was no surprise.

“It actually confirms what we’ve always stated – that there’s a significant disconnect between what locals know versus when data is officially captured, and we’ve been ignored by the government.”