High praise for the forest and timber industry feature event

“I’ve been involved in events like this for many years, all over the world and AUSTimber 2012 is the best I have experienced.” That quote from Robert Sanders, Market Development Engineer/Demo Operator, Caterpillar, summed it all up for the four-yearly feature event for the forest and timber industry, held on a specially designed site about 22km from Mount Gambier (the forestry capital of South Australia).
With the accommodation, spending and general visibility of AUSTimber attendees in Mt Gambier and the surrounding district, local people were impressed with the size of the event and the geographic extent of the industry and its participants.
Dozens of others were also high in praise of the event that “had it all”.
The specially laid out forest walk through the huge array of specialist forest machines gave a close-up insight for many who had never seen such forestry work before and it gave others a chance to see what the opposition was up to.
Every facet of work was covered.
Organisers should be commended on the ease of access to virtually all areas, and to those who exhibited in the pavilions there seemed to be an almost never-ending stream of people checking out the services on offer.
The special biofuel and bioenergy section attracted a great deal of interest.
Right from the outset, the AUSTimber 2012 site was a hive of activity and the pace didn’t slacken off until the final bell.
One industry stalwart made particular mention of the number of family groups taking in all the work sites … “it was the first time I’ve seen so many family groups going through and that normally on a Saturday at events such as this they are packing up by midday. Families were still strolling by at 3pm”.
“It was great to see all the manufacturers and operators supporting this event,” said one contractor, “it shows that this industry has still got a lot to offer.” Preliminary estimates put the attendance at 5,500.
AUSTimber 2012 had it all … kicking the week off was the two-day symposium “Precision Forestry in Advance”. This Symposium is one of a sequence held every couple of years in different locations around the world, which attract an international audience of precision forestry practitioners, academics and providers.
The Precision Forestry in Advance theme focused on looking forward into new precision forestry developments with a link to some operational methods. Topics covered software tools and decision support systems, monitoring systems, data analysis and planning systems. The keynote address was delivered by Rob de Fegely, newly-elected President of the Institute of Foresters of Australia (also representing Cloudy Bay Sustainable Forestry).
Then came the Australian Forest Contractors Association Hall of Fame function. Stalwarts and pioneers of the industry were given due recognition of their commitment, dedication and professionalism at the third induction since the Hall’s foundation.
Next on the busy schedule was the ForestWorks-sponsored Precision Forestry in Action conference which featured speakers from around the world. Again, a world-class list of speakers addressed an estimated 200 delegates at the day-long conference. The John Deere-sponsored luncheon gave the forestry machinery manufacturer the chance to highlight its 175 year history.
The Caterpillar-sponsored welcome dinner was held on the Thursday evening and, as is usually the case, the function was also home to the much-vaunted charity auction (this year’s recipient of the $50,000 raised was ac.care). More than 600 people attended the function at which Michael Milton – world and Australian record holder, Australia’s fastest skier ever – regardless of limb count, cyclist, trekker, triathlete, Paralympian, Olympian – was the guest speaker. He is a man who doesn’t know the meaning of boundaries. His life, his achievements and his goals can only serve as an inspiration to us all. Senator Richard Colbeck was the after dinner speaker and with his vast knowledge of and understanding of the forestry and timber industry his message was warmly welcomed.
The first day of the expo at the site saw Caterpillar sponsor a breakfast at which it launched its new 568LL, Australia’s first new 500 Series Cat Forest Machine.
Logset also released its new 10F Forwarder (a sale for which was finalized during the event).
Komatsu Forest released the 300 Forest Extreme, the 400 Forest Extreme, the TimberPro 840B long length hardwood system, and the Valmet 398 Softwood Head.
Waratah Forestry Attachments also used the occasion to showcase its new H625C harvester head.
Friday night saw Komatsu Forest play host to a huge gathering of people to celebrate the Australian company’s 21st birthday.
The final day of the expo was again action-packed with the constant harvesting, forwarding, stacking, haulage and chipping plus the Komatsu Forwarder Competition and several other competitions. (There’ll be more on this in the coming edition of Australian Forests & Timber News … the publication that uses the paper you produce).
Some months back David Quill (AUSTimber 2012 general manager) was asked how he thought AUSTimber would function amid a sombre economic climate. His response: “We can make this work.” And that was certainly the case!