The Orchardist | May 2021

Page 50

YOUR INDUSTRY

Bruno with young feijoa plants under cover

Nursery innovations to solve labour crisis Waimea Nurseries near Nelson is gearing up for its busy winter period when it lifts trees for customers and it expects to be short of up to 30 seasonal staff. By Anne Hardie The nursery which supplies commercial growers around the country, usually employs about 200 staff through winter including up to 140 seasonal staff. But its development manager Bruno Simpson says the business is tracking to be chronically 15 people short and up to 30 this winter. That may mean the nursery’s lifting period for trees may go on longer, customers will have to wait longer before they can plant those trees and the next growing season may be delayed. He says the travel bubble with Australia may actually make the seasonal labour shortage in New Zealand even worse.

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The ORCHARDIST : MAY 2021

“Personally I think the biggest risk is we will lose a lot of Kiwis.” Plus, he says seasonal workers on working holiday visas may decide to head to Australia, and the tourism industry here in New Zealand which is cranking up staff numbers again, is suddenly becoming more competitive for labour. At the same time, there isn’t a travel bubble with the islands for Recognised Seasonal Employer (RSE) scheme workers to come and go. “The challenge for us is we don’t know what we are going to end up with,” he says. “The mitigating factor for us is our time is less critical (than harvesting fruit).”


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Articles inside

MetService update: Dryness in the eastern North Island

3min
pages 74-75

Trimax Mowing Systems: A Uniquely Kiwi Way to Power Your Performance

2min
pages 78-80

Monitoring hardware now included with Frost Fans

2min
page 77

Regen?

3min
pages 63-64

Introducing Ag-Data driven agricultural decision-making

2min
page 76

2020-21 export market review

2min
page 62

2020–21 New Zealand market review

5min
pages 60-61

Primary ITO qualifications enhanced

2min
pages 56-57

Not enough Kiwis to fill labour gap

4min
pages 54-55

Dynamic agri-tech industry highlighted

2min
pages 52-53

Nursery innovations to solve

4min
pages 50-51

Fund aims to eradicate Hepatitis B in Vanuatu

5min
pages 48-49

Reduce the risk of hailstorm damage

1min
page 47

NZGAP Environmental Management System (EMS) add-

2min
page 46

Picking a good supply chain manager – what are the main

4min
pages 44-45

Level 6 diploma studies now

4min
pages 42-43

New Chief Executive joins Summerfruit NZ

2min
pages 40-41

The National Horticultural Field

3min
pages 38-39

Charity match raises $50,000 for community

2min
pages 30-31

Horticulture just one option for

5min
pages 34-35

Helicopters and picnics lead Tauranga avocado orchardist to go coastal

5min
pages 36-37

Dr Jim Walker: Taking New Zealand apples places

3min
pages 26-27

Pineapple harvest in Northland

5min
pages 28-29

Miniature fruit making major leaps forward at Rockit™

3min
page 25

Biosecurity Business Pledge gathers momentum

3min
pages 10-11

Fantastic Futures

2min
pages 12-13

Brix fill bins throughout the

5min
pages 22-24

Slowing down and family time key

4min
pages 20-21

The Chief Executive: Creating value

3min
page 7

Natural resources and environment

3min
pages 8-9

Tauranga twins

6min
pages 17-19

President’s Word: Back to the future

6min
pages 4-6
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