Lack of workers bites apple growers
Hawke’s Bay apple grower and owner of the Yummy Fruit Company, Paul Paynter, has been pulling up trees and dropping orchard leases, faced with not having enough labour to pick the crop.
Now mid harvest, Paynter is still short about 140 pickers and he is losing more every week.
He estimated the region was short about 13,000 workers to complete the apple harvest, at a cost to the regional economy of $100 million.
He would be making more hard decisions about getting rid of trees this winter, he said.
The effects of the Government’s policy to limit the number of exemptions for Registered Seasonal Employers (RSE) workers, mainly from the Pacific Islands, this year to just 2000 due to border closures had now hit home for growers.
Government initiatives to attract Kiwis had not proved effective, he said.
‘‘With the best intentions they have called it horribly wrong and our region will suffer the consequences. As a business owner you’re better off to be a little bit smaller and get the job done, rather than sticking your neck out and losing a lot,’’ Paynter said.
Grower Dave Llewellyn said he would leave about 15 per cent of his crop behind because of staff shortages. It would be uneconomic to do a second pick and hard to find the staff to do it.
Pickers were understandably choosing to take the easier jobs, he said.
He had also heard from a few growers who were considering pulling out their trees to lease or sell their properties, rather than risk another bad season.
Apples and Pears chief executive Alan Pollard said despite not yet being at the peak of harvest, ‘‘its fate is pretty well sealed’’ as growers made tough decisions about what fruit to pick and what fruit to leave on the trees.
Efforts to attract labour were ongoing, and included working with the Ministry for Social Development (MSD) to tap people on home detention and parole, and even high school kids for after school work.
Hawke’s Bay Fruit Growers Association president Richard Pentreath said normally a crop like gala apples would get two or three picks but fruit was maturing fast this year and there were half the number of pickers needed.
‘‘[As a result] growers are saying, ‘OK, just take off everything that you can. Anything that looks like it’s ready’.’’
Overall, Hawke’s Bay growers were probably getting 70 per cent of the potential crop. The remaining 30 per cent were either being left on the trees or would be used in juice or food processing, for little return, he said.
‘‘There’s no doubt returns will be significantly down, and that’s
The Hawke’s Bay region was short about 13,000 workers to complete the apple harvest, at a cost to the regional economy of $100 million.
across the board. Bigger growers are the worst affected because of the multiplier effect of having huge orchards.’’
Pentreath said pickers’ pay had gone up significantly. Pickers were generally paid on a contract rate. The average rate per bin was $35 to $40 last season. That had increased to $45 to $55 this season, he said.
MSD group employment general manager Jayne Russell said the seasonal employment scheme, which offered up to $200-a-week for accommodation costs and a $1000 incentive payment for workers who completed jobs of six weeks or longer, had attracted interest from 182 people countrywide, and 87 people had taken on work.
‘‘The numbers of people taking part in the scheme are still building, however, [they] are running lower than expected.
‘‘People are picking up seasonal work without seeking financial assistance from MSD,’’ Russell said.
Growers and pack houses were increasing wages and improving working conditions, making seasonal work more attractive, she said.
Paynter said his labour costs had increased by $4.5m in the past four years. He said the industry had grown successfully for the past decade, but he feared that was about to stop as growers downsized.
Even before the borders closed, the RSE issue had been a political football, with growers finding out on a yearly basis how many workers they could expect. This made it difficult to plan and make investments such as RSE accommodation, he said.
A policy framework that allowed growers to plan would be welcomed but historically it had felt ad hoc and opaque, he said.