YOUR LEVY AT WORK
PHONE AND TALK! Words by Anne Hardie
Some of the RSE team at Golden Bay Fruit get to meet rugby star Sam Whitelock
Trust your gut instinct if you think someone is struggling, and get in the car and visit them or phone them for a chat. That’s the advice from All Black Sam Whitelock who put on his Farmstrong ambassador hat to talk with Motueka growers who had suffered brutal losses from the Boxing Day hailstorm. One of the reasons he joined the nationwide well-being programme for the rural community was that he had witnessed challenges faced by his own family. Several years ago his parents lost a lot of their stock during a salmonella outbreak on their dairy farm and struggled with the trauma and stress it caused. He witnessed the pressures of working in an isolated environment with long hours and no time for a work-life balance. Today he visits groups around the country in between his rugby, and having studied plant science at university, knows a thing or two about horticulture. On his fleeting Tasman visit, he wanted to know about the challenges in the region which had gone through a tough season. Apple and kiwifruit growers around the table with Sam described a year that began with the Covid-19 lockdown, followed by ongoing government regulations being thrust upon them and the challenges of international markets. 10 NZGROWER : JUNE 2021
That had all been manageable with a great crop of fruit shaping up in the orchards, until Boxing Day delivered another blow. To have such a good crop demolished by a hailstorm left growers heartbroken, said one of them. Many were reluctant to revisit orchards after the storm because “they were toast.” But they had to, because the workload in a bad year is double that of a good year. Following huge losses this year, growers said they still don’t know what the crop will look like next year after the damage to trees and vines.
Many were reluctant to revisit orchards after the storm because “they were toast.” But they had to, because the workload in a bad year is double that of a good year They also described labour as a “massive, massive concern” and feel the government is disinterested in the pressures they face. Growers have to show leadership when the going gets tough, but there is no-one for those leading growers to go to for leadership, with no support from the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) or other government sectors.
