Tue, Dec 19, 2023 5:00 AM
Tough times in the logging business
Cushla Moir, known as Mum to the logging crew. Photo: Barbara Stuart
Barbara Stuart
Cushla Moir is an important part of the Moir Logging business handling all
matters from wages, accounts, health and safety to dealing with the bank
while husband Jason works on site with his crew felling trees.
Jason is a man undaunted by his partner’s capability. He states with pride:
“Cushla’s the real boss of the business. Nobody really knows how much I rely on
her and what she deals with. The whole crew appreciates how she looks out for them they call her ‘Mum’.”
Jason has been in the business of logging since he first began work in 1990. He
worked for Charles logging before he and Cushla set up Moir Logging in 2011.
“The current situation is harsh,” says Jason, “largely, due to the downturn in
logging returns as exports markets have slowed. Companies have laid off crews
and margins are slim. Recently we have been doing jobs and not making a profit
to keep our crew in work.
“We have a skilled, loyal team built over many years. A couple of guys have worked with us since the beginning and laying people off, then having to rebuild doesn’t make sense. Right now, the industry feels like a race to the bottom,” says Jason.”
Jason says 10 years ago the on-site challenge was health and safety everyone invested in good machinery to make the workplace safer. Nowdays it’s environmental with a greater emphasis on compliance.
Currently working above Mackay’s’ Bluffs at the end of the Nelson Boulder bank, Jason says the Spring winds have been cold and challenging and even though it’s a short trip to the port, trucking logs out through the Glenduan settlement causes anxiety for all parties.
“We focus on sticking to our safety plan and doing the best job we can for our forest owners. Our team did a great job at Ligar Bay after the 2011 flood and our aim is to repeat that. We can’t control the market however and if the market puts us all out of business there will be a crisis with no benefit to anyone. I just wish the market understood the true cost of production.”
Cushla says other crews are grappling with the same business challenges. “We are fortunate to be contracted by IFS because they work on a fixed price model which takes some of the pain out of the peaks and troughs of logging these days.”
matters from wages, accounts, health and safety to dealing with the bank
while husband Jason works on site with his crew felling trees.
Jason is a man undaunted by his partner’s capability. He states with pride:
“Cushla’s the real boss of the business. Nobody really knows how much I rely on
her and what she deals with. The whole crew appreciates how she looks out for them they call her ‘Mum’.”
Jason has been in the business of logging since he first began work in 1990. He
worked for Charles logging before he and Cushla set up Moir Logging in 2011.
“The current situation is harsh,” says Jason, “largely, due to the downturn in
logging returns as exports markets have slowed. Companies have laid off crews
and margins are slim. Recently we have been doing jobs and not making a profit
to keep our crew in work.
“We have a skilled, loyal team built over many years. A couple of guys have worked with us since the beginning and laying people off, then having to rebuild doesn’t make sense. Right now, the industry feels like a race to the bottom,” says Jason.”
Jason says 10 years ago the on-site challenge was health and safety everyone invested in good machinery to make the workplace safer. Nowdays it’s environmental with a greater emphasis on compliance.
Currently working above Mackay’s’ Bluffs at the end of the Nelson Boulder bank, Jason says the Spring winds have been cold and challenging and even though it’s a short trip to the port, trucking logs out through the Glenduan settlement causes anxiety for all parties.
“We focus on sticking to our safety plan and doing the best job we can for our forest owners. Our team did a great job at Ligar Bay after the 2011 flood and our aim is to repeat that. We can’t control the market however and if the market puts us all out of business there will be a crisis with no benefit to anyone. I just wish the market understood the true cost of production.”
Cushla says other crews are grappling with the same business challenges. “We are fortunate to be contracted by IFS because they work on a fixed price model which takes some of the pain out of the peaks and troughs of logging these days.”
