If you’re involved in wood harvesting, you’ll remember well the major logging event, HarvestTECH 2019 that ran a couple of years ago. It ran in Rotorua, New Zealand and the event SOLD OUT well in advance of it actually running. It was by far the largest ever gathering of its type seen in New Zealand with close to 500 logging contractors, harvest planners, forestry managers and equipment and technology suppliers into the region’s logging industry attending.
Roll on two years. HarvestTECH 2021 is being planned with the two-day event running in Rotorua, New Zealand on 13-14 April 2021. The conference programme is already full. Registrations are now live and exhibition spaces, as expected, sold out six months before the event runs. It’s going to be another major turnout and after the major disruptions of 2020 (bush fires and a slow down through excess log inventories in Chinese ports at the beginning of the year, COVID-19 lock-downs and then a halt on log exports out of some Australian States into China towards the end of the year), it will be well overdue.
So, it’s going to be another huge turnout. All major key suppliers to local wood harvesting and log transport operations have put their hand up to be involved and include; McFall Fuel, Cookes, Eagle Technology, BOA, Duxon Donaldson, Randalls Equipment, AGrow Quip/John Deere, Tracplus Global, WorkSafe NZ, Porter Equipment, SouthStar Equipment, Lubricants NZ, Komatsu Forest, West-Trak Equipment, Finance NZ, DC Equipment, Remsoft, FISC, TDDA, TerraCat , Braford Industries, Footwear & Apparel, EMS, Husqvarna, Rearsense Warning Systems, Trimble Forestry, Waratah, Toi Ohomai, Seeing Machines, C3, Hydraulink, Shaws and Chainsaw & Outdoor Power.
“A few extras have also been added to the event this year for those attending” says Brent Apthorp, FIEA Director. “Topics like mechanised harvesting on steeper slopes, integrating automation & robotics into wood harvesting operations and best practices around ensuring the environmental sustainability (roading, stream crossings and harvest residues management) of logging operations will be covered. With a raft of new technologies being developed and adopted by some leading companies, the 2021 event will also be outlining new log scaling and measurement technologies, log docketing options through the wood supply chain, wood flow logistics and log transport innovations.”
“As an added bonus, the very popular forestry safety event run by the Forest Industry Engineering Association, Forest Safety & Technology 2021, is also being held at the same venue on the first day, Tuesday 13 April” said Brent Apthorp. This is going to enable delegates from both events to network during the breaks and it’s also going to capitalise on the large number of trade exhibitions that will be set up over the two days for those attending”.
And finally, with the uncertainty still surrounding travel and border restrictions that may or may not exist in April 2021 because of COVID-19, for the first time, live links from the New Zealand event will be set up for those unable to travel into Rotorua. We had in 2019 a large contingent of forestry companies and contractors come into New Zealand from Australia and North America. This means the full two-day event can be viewed in real time or if delegates are going to be tied up in the forest during the two days, each recorded presentation will be able to be viewed later.
Like 2019, it’s anticipated that places at the venue again will go very quickly. Full details on the programme along with registration information can be found on the event website, www.harvesttech.events/ht21
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