A recent wattle field day organised by NCT Forestry provided an ideal opportunity for local tree farmers to pick up some pointers from the wattle “experts” who have been working with wattle for decades. The field day was hosted on Elands Farm near New Hanover in the KZN midlands, owned by Terry Wolhuter.

Chris Chapman reports that the key takeaways from the field day were:

• NCT’s woodchip export operation at the port of Richards Bay is back up and running after the devastating fire destroyed the facility just over a year ago. The demand for wood chips is strong, and green and black wattle timber are among the preferred species by international customers.

• The demand for wattle bark is strong, preferably fresh bark stripped from mature black wattle and delivered on the same day. UCL and NTE are starting to accept limited quantities of green wattle bark. Wattle farmers in the Eastern Cape have also been supplying dry stick bark to NTE, adding value to their crops. The wattle bark extracts are used to make tannins and adhesives for softening leather.

• Black wattle: Advances in tree breeding have developed several black wattle clones showing promising results for improved form and growth, as well as wattle rust tolerance and frost tolerance. Although wattle clonal development is still relatively early, there are clones available that will give growers improved performance over seedlings if well managed and planted in the right sites.

• Green wattle (A. decurrens) is a good option on some sites. It is more adaptable to a wide range of climatic conditions, is more tolerant of critical pests, the bark strips in the winter months, and produces more useable timber than black wattle. Although it produces less bark than black wattle, the bark factories accept limited quantities. The ICFR is ramping up a green wattle tree improvement programme, and NCT is planting it to replace some eucalypts on their farms.

• Growing wattle is not so simple. Get the basics right, like planting the right seedling or clone for the site, prepare good, uniform pits (25cm x 25cm), plant with water/gel in the rainy season, keep it weed-free for a year, do careful pruning and thinning – and you will reap the rewards.

• Pruning: Friedel Eggers of UCL advises pruning before the trees reach two metres. Use a skilled team with sharp secateurs or bow saws (not axes). Remove competing double leaders and dominating side branches with clean cuts. Be careful not to tear the bark while pruning. Do not over-prune.

• Blanking: Wattle grows fast. You must blank within three weeks of planting if the mortality of clones is above 10% or above 15% in the case of seedlings.

• ROI: The rule of thumb among foresters is that wattle bark sales should cover the cost of the harvesting operation. In contrast, the timber sales deliver the profit.

• The Forestry & Agriculture Biotechnology Institute (FABI) at the University of Pretoria has a diagnostic clinic to help identify pests and diseases affecting wattle. This is a free service for members of the Tree Protection Co-operative Programme (TPCP).