NCT's annual recognition of commercial growers farming their land responsibly and sustainably has become a benchmark achievement for the cooperative's members. Fairfield Estate, owned and managed by Matthew Crowe and his wife Karien, was announced the winner of the annual Commercial Tree Farmer of the Year award at NCT's recent annual general meeting.

Matthew is the fourth generation of the Crowe family farming the 1,127-hectare estate in Sevenoaks in the KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) Midlands, South Africa.

Family values are essential for Matthew and Karien. "It brings me immense joy that our sons, Jasper and Felix, share the same love for the land. Watching them grow into the rhythm of farm life is one of my proudest experiences, and I hope to one day pass on Fairfield to them, just as it was passed down to me," Matthew comments.

Commercially grown trees cover 982ha of the farm, comprising 480ha of Acacia mearnsii wattle seedlings and AF01/SF644 clones and 26ha of Acacia decurrens. The latter, known as green wattle, is sought after by local bark mills.

The area under Eucalyptus is currently 348ha planted to GxN and E. dunnii. However, Matthew is phasing out E. dunnii due to its susceptibility to damage by Gonipterus scutelatus (Eucalyptus snout beetle) and replacing it, depending on the site, with GxN, wattle clones, or green wattle.

Site-species and market matching

Matthew's outlook on silvicultural practices is not set in stone. He experiments with various planting spacings to observe how the trees grow and to determine the timber's quality and yield at rotation. For example, he has adjusted the rotation age of his GxNs to between five and six years, enabling him to supply a local pole-processing plant with smaller-diameter logs for fencing and building poles.

In a recently planted GxN2107 compartment, a small area was planted with the new GxN311 clone to compare its growth, stem form, yield, and susceptibility to pest and disease outbreaks, and to determine if it is suitable for Fairfield Estate.

Weeding operations are carried out either by cultural methods or herbicides. The interrow is wind-boxed, with dying vegetation serving as a mulch layer, and the line is hoed to reduce competition from weeds.

Harvesting and extraction

The harvesting operations are carried out by a local contractor who has been working on the farm since Matthew's father's time, using the tried and tested motor manual harvesting system.

Felled trees are left in the field to dry, which reduces cracking. They are sized for extraction according to the desired pole lengths and diameters and manually loaded for extraction. The poles are sorted on the farm before delivery to ensure the quality of the poles meets the market requirements.

The harvesting and extraction processes are carefully managed to minimise stump damage, ensuring a high coppice percentage is achieved.

Roads, residues and fire

Fairfield Estate's road network is well planned and constructed for efficient operations and fire protection. The roads are swept and cleared in winter, creating fuel load breaks that help slow down ground fires and ensure unhindered vehicle access.

Matthew is exploring various methods for managing his residues to avoid burning on sensitive sites. He decided not to burn the harvesting waste in a compartment that was severely damaged in a wildfire that destroyed the humus and organic matter layers. Instead, he left it as is and replanted it with the legume, green wattle. The decomposing material and the green wattle will add nitrogen to the soil, thereby improving its quality.

Open areas are well maintained with the majority in a maintenance phase, burnt biannually to promote good quality grass growth for the estate's herd of Bonsmara x Brangus cattle. Their grazing also reduces the fuel load and fire risk.

Social responsibilities

Between Matthew's operations and those of the harvesting contractor, there are 60 permanent employees at Fairfield Estates.

The estate's employees live in the local community and are transported to and from work. All employees and those of the harvesting contractor are trained in health and safety, fire prevention and firefighting procedures. They all have the correct personal protective equipment and know how to use it to protect themselves during firefighting and their daily work.

Assistance is given to the local school by mowing the school grounds and the soccer field. The farm dam is opened to the local schools for their annual fundraising fishing competitions.

Matthew has served as the Sevenoaks Fire Protection Officer and is a committee member of the Umvoti Agricultural Society. His advice is, "If you do your very best every day, you will succeed".

Source: NCT News & Views September 2025, edited by Joy Crane. Pics supplied by NCT.