Beech Mast 2026 Forecast

Cue frenetic bookings to New Zealand

New Zealand’s Department of Conservation (DoC) has forecast a major beech mast in the 2025/26 summer that will lead to massive trout in the 2026/27 season, opening October 01, 2026.

Even the New Zealand Government is getting in early with increased funding for predator control. As much as they will lift their predator control program to alleviate the impact of the mouse population explosion, this will only focus on pockets of government land where indigenous fauna will not withstand the increased predation.

“The predicted beech mast will drop trillions of seeds, fueling a surge in rodents then stoats – with potentially devastating impacts on native birds, bats, snails and other species.”

DoC have released the following prediction map, showing moderate to heavy seeding throughout Fiordland and South Westland in New Zealand’s South Island and moderate seeding in and around the Kahurangi National Park further north on the West Coast.