Te Puke Times

Growers ‘devastated’ by frost damage

KIWIFRUIT: Fruit loss described as ‘catastroph­ic’ by some growers with much of the damage not yet known

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Amajor kiwifruit packhouse estimates it could suffer a 10 per cent fruit loss next year after a polar blast damaged some bud-bearing vines. One grower described the recent frost as “catastroph­ic” while another, who lost half of their crop, was wondering how to pay contractor­s the $50,000 owed for work done this season.

Other orchardist­s had “lost the lot” but the full extent of the damage would not be known for some time.

An industry body group said some growers had reported “severe impacts” in the Bay of Plenty and other growing regions following the heavy frost.

Kiwifruit is a $3 billion industry that has faced numerous challenges this year including higher levels of rejected fruit, lower grower returns and a chronic labour shortage.

Trevelyan’s Pack & Cool managing director James Trevelyan said the frost had destroyed 75 per cent of his own orchard on Brown Rd in Te Puke.

“We have never had frost there before . . . there are places I have been surprised it has frosted and others where I think, fair enough.”

Trevelyan’s, the largest single-site kiwifruit packing operation in New Zealand, was still assessing the cost to its growers and the harvest next year.

“Initially, we thought it may be a 10 per cent fruit loss but it may be higher than that. We are trying to get a handle on it now.”

Trevelyan said it was “tough” as the vines were not as floral this year, volumes were down and costs had increased.

“We are a margin-based business and it affects everyone right the way through the whole chain. Obviously, growers are devastated . . . everyone feels the pain all the way through.”

A Bay of Plenty green kiwifruit grower, who asked not to be named because they were “devastated”, said they checked their vines yesterday morning and 50 per cent had been damaged by the frost. They did not have insurance.

“So it’s hell if you work for a year then turn around and you’ll have no income next year.

“We are now wondering how we will get through, we just got our winter pruning done last week which leaves you with not much change out of $50,000 on top of other bills.

“We are worried about those big bills that need to be paid and it’s affecting our health and stress levels.”

That grower knew of another orchardist whose entire orchard was impacted by the frost.

Pa¯pa¯moa kiwifruit grower Rob Thode said he was up six times during the night and early morning of the frost tending to his vines to make sure his water systems were working to prevent the frost from taking hold. That diligence paid off, however he said other growers he was aware of were not so lucky.

He believed a significan­t volume of the crop had been lost, although he said that would be determined in the coming weeks.

“It was really, really bad. The result for some orchardist­s who didn’t have frost systems in place will be catastroph­ic, they will lose their whole crop,” he said.

New Zealand Kiwifruit Growers Inc chief executive Colin Bond said the extent of the frost damage was diverse with some “unfortunat­e growers reporting severe impacts while others have none at all, and many in-between”.

It had received reports from growers across the Bay of Plenty and in other growing regions.

“Ultimately, the full extent of the damage, in terms of what this means for many individual growers as well as the total volume of fruit produced including the financial ramificati­ons for the industry will not be known for quite some time yet.”

Bond said some impacts from frost were immediatel­y identifiab­le, such as leaves dying.

However, other issues may only be noticeable as late as when the fruit matures towards 2023 and reject fruit were consequent­ly found.

Generally speaking, kiwifruit vines in the Bay of Plenty had flower buds on them at the moment, with flowers opening and pollinatio­n taking place over the coming weeks, Bond said.

“These flowers will then form the kiwifruit. Vines are especially delicate during pre-flowering and particular­ly susceptibl­e to damage from frost.”

The last similar frost event was in 2002 when there were widespread frosts impacting growing regions, with some orchards heavily hit while others went unscathed.

Private frost insurance was available and Zespri did not have an insurance fund for growers impacted by frost, Bond said.

Zespri chief grower, industry and sustainabi­lity officer Carol Ward said it did not offer frost insurance as growers voted to remove this some years ago.

“The recent frost has provided yet another challenge in what’s already been a really tough year for the industry. We’re continuing to assess the level of damage and our grower teams are working closely with NZKGI to ensure there is pastoral care available for affected growers and to provide informatio­n on how to best manage frost-damaged vines.”

Michael Franks, chief executive of Seeka — New Zealand’s largest kiwifruit grower, told RNZ the damage it had seen from the frost had come from growers in Katikati, Te Puna, Tauranga, Te Puke, Edgecumbe and O¯ po¯ tiki.

“We were fortunate we had warning, so we had done assessment­s and brought helicopter­s in for orchards that didn’t have frost protection.”

Franks said it would be a while before the full extent of the damage was known and it was doing assessment­s. ■

 ?? Photo / NZME ?? Regenerati­ve agricultur­e and organics focus on the soil and the billions of living organisms that live in just one teaspoon of it. They are about feeding the soil biome rather than simplistic chemical inputs.
Photo / NZME Regenerati­ve agricultur­e and organics focus on the soil and the billions of living organisms that live in just one teaspoon of it. They are about feeding the soil biome rather than simplistic chemical inputs.

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