Biochar (file image). Photo: CC BY-SA 4.0/ K.salo.85
Pārengarenga Incorporation (PINC), based in Te Kao, is hoping for funding for more trials to prove the case for an $8 million biochar production facility to deal with up to 17,000 tonnes of forest waste from upcoming harvests.
The mess left by piles and piles of forest debris on East Coast beaches is etched in the mind of many after Cyclone Gabrielle last year and there have been calls to find better ways to harvest and remove waste sustainably.
Turning it into biochar is a possible solution, proponents say.
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On-farm trials at PINC over the past few years, with funding from the Ministry for Primary Industries, have shown several potential benefits for the charcoal-like product which is made from smouldering woody offcuts in large kilns.
Those involved in the trials found stock lapped up extra feed containing biochar, gaining weight, and worm counts dropped. It also helped soil retain moisture.
Overseas research has also shown soil health improves with biochar added.
The process of making biochar is an ancient practice said to mimic the earth's natural cycle. It locks away carbon instead of releasing it, and has been recognised as a form of carbon sequestration by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
While pretty convinced of its benefits, more research is needed to definitively prove biochar's potential for improving the farm's pasture for some 4000 shareholders, according to PINC General Manager Barry Bouton.
"It's loamy, sand country. So biochar in particular, would add to the soil health considerably in terms of what we can grow and the growth rates of our pastures themselves."
Barry Bouton, general manager of Pārengarenga Incorporation Photo: RNZ/Sally Round
Dan Henderson, Forestry Operations Manager, is among those who could see the benefits after earlier trials, pointing out piles of slash to Country Life, on a tour of the forest.
He said the carboniser used for the trials was simple enough to use but labour intensive, "cut the wood, poke it in, burn it, shovel it out, put it in a bag and send it down the road,"
A bigger operation would be more efficient, operating 24/7.
"The new (carbonisers) they'll come along pick all that stuff up, you dump it down here in a big area, it'll get picked up, in-fed and dried at the same time as going in, chipped and then burnt, your products coming in and out."
Mike Wikitera, Dan Henderson and Tutangiora Nathan of Pārengarenga Incorporation's forestry arm Photo: RNZ/Sally Round
With the next cycle of mature trees coming up for harvest, there is going to be plenty more slash to get rid of, he said.
Bouton describes biochar as a gamechanger, saying an application is in with the New Zealand Agricultural Greenhouse Gas Research Centre for several more field trials to determine pasture growth rates and benefits if biochar is added.
He said 7000 tonnes of slash could be turned into 1600 tonnes of biochar a year, with PINC's sheep and beef farm big enough to take it all.
"That's not the end game. We would be wanting to put it onto the market, but it's an immature market.
"Hopefully we develop national markets for biochar to be used on other soil types where the benefit can be maximised."
Piles of slash after harvest Photo: RNZ/Sally Round
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