Vineyards desperate for workers
Pruning in prime winegrowing region starts early to make most of limited workforce
New Zealand’s most valuable winemaking region is short of about a third of its workforce heading into the labourintensive pruning season. Pruning is about to start and Marlborough vineyards still require 1200 new hires to make up the total 3700 workers needed through the winter months.
The figures, generated on April 1, come from NZ Ethical Employers (formerly Master Contractors), an industry group for labour contractors in horticulture and winemaking. Labour contractors supply more than 95 per cent of Marlborough pruning hands.
Chairwoman of the body, Tanya Pouwhare, said the labour situation remained dynamic but she didn’t think the gap could be filled by Kiwis.
“I’d say we won’t have the labour unless we get another border exception [for Recognised Seasonal Employer scheme workers].”
Pouwhare said despite the still leafy vines that make cutting difficult, pruning would begin as early as this week in an extraordinary effort to stretch the work across as many months as possible and make the most of the limited workforce. Traditionally, pruning runs from June to August.
Pruning must be complete before spring growth on the canes begins, typically in September, and despite the early start there is still a strong likelihood machine pruning will be deployed due to the dearth of workers.
“That’s a very poor option. Basically they run a barrel pruner through the vines and it just cuts everything in its path right down to the wire. Essentially, it turns the vines into a hedge.
“It creates a much greater risk of pests and diseases. Those vineyards would require a whole new management system and there is a lot of labour required later on to open the canopy up.”
Pruning is more labour-intensive than harvesting in the wine industry, where machinery is used extensively to pick the crop.
Philip Gregan, CEO of wine industry advocacy group New Zealand Wine, said the labour shortage and the consequences were “very significant”, but it was too early to put a dollar figure on the cost.
Gregan expected labour shortages in other winegrowing areas, including Nelson, Hawke’s Bay and Otago. However, he said the situation in Marlborough would be the most acute because it was by far the most extensively cultivated of the growing regions and had a relatively small local population.
Marlborough produces some threequarters of both New Zealand’s wine and its wine export revenue; last year total exports topped $2 billion.
Unemployment in Marlborough sat at just 2.4 per cent in the Stats NZ reading for the December quarter, 2020, well below the national rate of 4.6 per cent — a figure so low that economists generally consider it represents full employment. Vineyard wages are higher this year, typically starting at $22.10 per hour, and the Government is offering extra payments to help defray costs like accommodation for Kiwis who take up the work. Despite that, contractors say persuading Kiwis to relocate to Marlborough, where accommodation is typically limited to shared rooms and facilities, has been an uphill battle.
Vineyards are among a wide range of primary producers that have suffered from a chronic shortage of labour, especially acute since early harvests began in September.
Last month, the apple and pear industry warned the labour shortfall would result in a 14 per cent reduction — worth $95m to $100m — in its exports this year.
Before the pandemic, Immigration NZ anticipated that 14,500 Recognised Seasonal Employer (RSE) scheme workers from the Pacific Islands and 50,000 backpackers on flexible working holiday visas would help to make up the estimated 40,000 temporary workers needed for harvesting and other work through the 2020/21 horticulture season.