Hort News 4 July 2023

Hort faces higher prices and lower returns!

SMALLER HARVESTS and slightly stronger prices, but overall returns are well down for many growers.

That’s the overriding theme for the horticulture sector this season, according to ANZ agricultural economist Susan Kilsby.

In ANZ Research’s June Agri Focus, Kilsby writes that the fruit harvest is in for most growers, and the focus has shifted to exporting.

The harvest of green kiwifruit is ongoing, but for the red and gold fruit it’s over, she says.

“This year the kiwifruit harvest, like the apple harvest, was considerably lower than normal.

In-market prices have improved a little for early season fruit, but it is unclear whether these prices are sustainable.”

Looking at grower returns, apple export prices recovered this season, mostly due to lower volumes.

Early season export returns have increased to levels seen a couple of years ago, but reduced yields will limit the sector’s total returns, notes Kilsby.

While yields are down, the industry has worked hard to ensure fruit quality.

“Exporters have reported an improvement in the reliability of shipping this season compared to previous seasons, which is not unexpected given the global supply

chain challenges associated with the pandemic,” says Kilsby.

“Getting space on ships, when and

where needed, can be a challenge and tends to be a bigger problem for smaller companies.”

She says there is a small window of opportunity this year for apple exporters to benefit from the NZ-UK

free trade agreement. The agreement, which came into force on 31 May,

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Sudesh Kissun sudeshk@ruralnews.co.nz

ANZ agricultural economist Susan Kilsby says reduced yields will limit the hort sector’s total returns this year.

Many muck-in to help out with Hawke’s Bay cleanup

Rival gang members, nannies and school kids are some of the unsung heroes of the recovery of orchards in Hawke's Bay hit by Cyclone Gabrielle. Peter Burke reports.

THE IDEA of such an eclectic mix of people working together seems somewhat incredulous, but the skill of Ngahiwi Tomoana made it happen.

Known as the ‘go-to voice of Māori’, Tomoana served as the chair of Ngāti Kahungunu, for a record 26 years and was the instigator in sending a group of Māori leaders to a boot camp at Stanford University in the US.

But when Cyclone Gabrielle hit the Hawke’s Bay, causing massive damage to kiwifruit and apple orchards, Tomoana took a bold new step to help people. The problem for many orchardists was while there was fruit on their vines and trees it was worthless because it had been inundated by water and could not be sold.

However, that fruit still had to be taken off the vines and trees so that they could recover and the challenge was who could do this and quickly. One of the orchards belonged to the Ngai Tukairangi Trust, a finalist in the 2023 Ahuwhenua Trophy for the top Māori horticulturalists of the year. It also owns a 40 hectare block, much of which went under water in the floods. The trust also has a close relationship with Ngāti Kahungunu.

Tomoana told Hort

News Hawke’s Bay was a region of two halves – with one half totally devastated and other places completely undamaged. Speaking to a couple of orchardists, including Ngai Tukairangi, he decided to try and help them out.

Exercising his mana as a Māori leader, he mobilised – through Facebook – upwards of 400 people to get out to the orchards and pick the fruit and throw it on the ground where later it would be mulched up. They worked in a mixture of kiwifruit and apple orchard but answered the call from anyone who wanted help.

“People responded in droves. We had so many volunteers that we reached out to other orchardists that needed support,” Tomoana says.

“Clusters of secondary school students and community gangs put their hands up and came to support us.

The surprising thing was we had people working alongside Mongrel Mob members and other rival gangs and they just behaved as though they were long lost brothers. They worked well alongside nannies, school children and built up a real fraternity.”

He says some of the young people had never seen fruit on a tree before

and it was new and exciting experience for them.

“They jumped into the task in hand boots and all and had a bit of fun at the same time with different groups competing against each other and a bit of fruit being thrown around in a good natured way.”

Tomoana says they mainly worked in corporate or whanau orchards and but for strict health and safety rules they could have done more work in the community.

“I am sure these young people are going to have stories to tell in the years to come and when anything else pops up they’ll be encouraging others to do the job too,”

TALKING TO THE VINES

ONE OF the badly hit kiwifruit orchards in Hawke’s Bay was the 40 hectare covered block owned by the Bay of Plenty based, Ngai Tukairangi Trust.

At the height of the floods, trust chair Ratahi Cross had a narrow escape from drowning, as the rapidly rising floodwaters rose around him.

Most of the kiwifruit orchard had water through it and was badly damaged. But Cross is hopeful that they will be back to 80% production next year.

How to achieve this is something very dear to his heart. He

he adds. “It was such a self-fulfilling experience for them that they’ll never

says the conversations they are having at the moment is about how they recover the plants and bring them back to life.

“Kiwifruit is a very funny plant. It sulks and if it doesn’t want to give you fruit for few years it won’t,” he told Hort News.

“So, what we have to do is encourage it to fruit next year and the year after. For us, it’s about loving the plant. That may sound quite funny but Māori and growers generally believe that there is a connection between them and the

plant itself,” Cross explains.

“People believe plants don’t think but we believe they do –so there becomes an attachment between the grower and their baby the plant.”

Recovery for Māori is different to other orchardists Cross claims.

He says they are not asking for so much immediate help, but for help in the long haul.

He says Māori have no option but to stay on their land and make sure it is viable for four of five generations in the future.

forget.”

Tomoana says the other nice aspect to this

project was that it was done for free and the orchardists who were

Swiss precision. Made to last.

under a great deal of stress were very grateful for the help.

Ngahiwi Tomoana mobilised an eclectic mix of around 400 people – from gang members to nannies – to help clean up Hawke’s Bay’s cyclone damaged orchards.

Hort hangs in there

months and more.

DESPITE THE ravages of cyclones, floods and warm winters, revenue from the horticulture sector is expected to grow rapidly over the next four years – from the present $6.9 billion to $8.6 billion by 2027.

This is the prediction contained in MPI’s latest Situation and Outlook Report on Primary Industries (SOPI) released at Fieldays.

The report predicts that revenue for 2023 will rise by 2% on last year –despite the sector facing adverse weather conditions during the past 12

The report acknowledges that many of the North Island horticultural areas were impacted by the weather in the 2022/23 season, resulting in reduced crop volumes and revenue for growers. This was in contrast to South Island regions, which experienced favourable growing conditions that delivered good crops of cherries and wine grapes. Following a challenging season in 2021/22, the report says about half the apple and pear growers in Hawke’s Bay and Gisborne – where 70% of NZ apples and pears are grown – faced further

OTHER EXPORTS

THE VOLUME of kiwifruit exports are down as already signaled earlier by Zespri.

In 2022, 177 million trays were exported; in 2023 it will be 163 million and down to 135 million in 2024 – before picking up to 195 million trays in 2027.

On the plus side for kiwifruit, MPI is reporting that the quality issues that dogged the kiwifruit industry last year may be over and forecasts that orchard returns will rise despite the lower volume of fruit available for export – a fact already noted by Zespri.

The SOPI report notes that it’s been another challenging season for avocados, with export

revenue reaching $77 million to the end of March – down 3% on the previous 2021/22 season. It signals ongoing problems with the Australian market, which has traditionally taken upwards of 75% of our exports and the fall-off in exports to Asia.

The report also talks about the uncertainties and cost of exporting avocados and says shipping schedules remain “fragile”.

Positive points in the report are cherry exports, which were up 400 tonnes to 3600 tonnes on last year and fresh and processed vegetable exports that show a positive growth line from now through until 2027.

unprecedented challenges in 2022/23 due to Cyclone Gabrielle.

As a result, the national crop is expected to be down by 15% compared with the 2022 crop. MPI says apple and pear exports are expected to slowly increase over the coming forecast years, but it will take many years for the regions hit by the cyclone to fully recover.

It says around 50% of the apple growing areas in Hawke’s Bay and Gisborne were directly affected by the floodwaters, silt, debris, wind and surface flooding.

It points to the fact that newly planted orchards were among

those damaged. It also confirms that some orchards will require major work to get back into production, including clearing silt, replacing damaged infrastructure and completely replanting some orchards.

There is also a likelihood that some orchards may never be replanted because they are so badly damaged.

The SOPI report makes the observation that the long-term survivability of all flood affected orchards is still unknown. It says the cost of reinstating apple and pear orchards is significant and says it could be up to $250,000 per hectare.

Peter Burke peterb@ruralnews.co.nz

Horticulture sector revenue is expected to grow exponentially over the next four years – from the present $6.9 billion to $8.6 billion by 2027.

Orchard / Vineyard Mowers and Pruning Sweeps.

VINEYARD EQUIPMENT

Growers get the message, kiwifruit quality improves this season

KIWIFRUIT GROWERS seem to have gotten the message from Zespri to focus on the quality of the fruit coming off the vines this year.

Zespri chief executive Dan Mathieson told Hort News that the conversations he’s had with major post-harvest partners shows that the quality of fruit coming through the system is much higher than it was a couple of years ago. He says in 2022 less than half the growers were actually out in their orchards monitoring the picking of their fruit, but this season it has jumped up to 90%.

“Growers are really focused on making sure

that the fruit they have worked hard to grow well is being handled with care as it comes off the vine, into the bins and onto the post-harvest packhouses,” Mathieson says.

“As a result of growers new vigilance on the picking of the fruit, we are seeing much higher quality fruit flowing through our supply chain and into market.”

Last season, poor quality fruit cost the kiwifruit sector about $500 million dollars, but worse still, it caused considerable adverse reaction from buyers of our fruit. Zespri was a put on a warning to sort the quality issue out pronto.

“Zespri had to do some fast talking to assure customers they would do

better this year. It conducted a significant communications programme with growers to place greater emphasis on quality control at the orchard level.”

Mathieson says back in 2022, because of Covid and closed borders, there were not enough pickers to manage the crop well.

“So, they were rushing it and that meant there

was more fruit going into a bin that had scuffs and nicks and bruises,” he explains.

“Some of that fruit went into the supply and it got worse and softened

and we saw high levels of rots in our fruit coming through. That meant that more fruit had to be repacked because of the poor quality.”

But while the quality

of the NZ kiwifruit crop will be up this season, the volume will be down. This Mathieson says is due to multiple weather events – floods, frost and cyclones – which have taken a huge toll.

He says some kiwifruit orchardists lost their entire crop and others in Hawke’s Bay and Gisborne have had part or all of their orchards wiped out by Cyclone Gabrielle.

He says, as the season draws to a close, NZ will run out of kiwifruit and the gap in the market will be filled by kiwifruit which is grown under license to Zespri in northern hemisphere countries such as Italy.

Fruit and vegetable prices ease

FOR THE first time this year, the June Food Price Index (FPI) showed a drop in the cost of fruit and vegetables – as the country’s growers recover from a tough spell of weather-related challenges.

United Fresh president Jerry Prendergast says the fall in prices during May was not unexpected with plenty of fresh, seasonal produce harvested.

“The industry has worked hard to get our supply volumes back up after heavy rain disrupted the normal planting cycle across many parts of the North Island.

“With May being one of the warmest months on record, this also contributed to producing a reasonable supply,” he says.

“The fruit and vegetable market has always fluctuated with supply and demand and this year has been no exception. Now that supply has improved, we’re seeing prices return to

a ‘new normal’.”

Prendergast says while prices are higher than previous years it is a decrease on the last few months. He is also hoping that the weather will play ball for the rest of the year.

Shortages in some produce categories, such as kūmara, saw the FPI increase steeply this year.

“It’s a huge relief to see good news for consumers,” Prendergast adds.

“Budgets are tight, but choosing healthy options is so important for the wellbeing of the whole whānau.”

He adds that growers have been pleased to see shoppers taking the opportunity to experiment with different types of fresh produce if their favourite is in short supply.

“Hopefully many of the new recipes and flavour combinations they’ve tried will remain part of the regular family meal repertoire.”

United Fresh president Jerry Prendergast.

Peter Burke peterb@ruralnews.co.nz

Zespri chief executive Dan Mathieson says grower vigilance on picking quality this season has seen much higher quality fruit flowing through the supply chain and into market.

Hort king gets a gong!

LEADERBRAND

FOUNDER Murray

McPhail was awarded in the recent 2023 King’s Birthday Honours List.

McPhail was named a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to horticulture and the Gisborne region.

McPhail founded LeaderBrand in 1975, when he took over the family sheep and cattle farm –converting it to grow his first crop of potatoes.

Since then, the company has grown from a 40ha site in Gisborne to four sites across New Zealand, including sites in Pukekohe, Matamata and the South Island – boasting crops like asparagus, broccoli, lettuce, sweetcorn, and squash.

McPhail said he was “incredibly honoured” to have made the list, adding that it is a privi-

lege to receive the award for doing “something that has never felt like work”.

“There are so many people who have gone before, and who are still active in the industry, who are equally deserving. I humbly accept this award on behalf of all of them,” he added.

“To me the success of LeaderBrand is all about its people. I started off growing plants but ended up growing people, something I’m very proud of.”

LeaderBrand chief executive Richard Burke says McPhail’s vision to create a world-class farm is what continues to drive the team today.

“Murray’s success was in realising quickly which produce grew best in which soil and committing to crops that could be grown all year round.”

Burke added that McPhail had a ‘knack’ for picking future consumer trends and predicting

what Kiwis would want to eat in the future.

“This was one of the key drivers to our invest-

ment into bagged salads and our undercover greenhouses,” he says.

Meanwhile, Burke adds that McPhail’s career has not been without challenges, including in 1988 when Cyclone Bola destroyed the Gisborne farm.

“Many farmers at the time decided to sell up, but Murray’s tenacity and drive drove him to replace and rebuild. It was this pioneering spirit and the Kiwi can-do attitude that drove us once again to dig in after this year’s Cyclone Hale and Gabrielle.”

Burkes says McPhail has led the industry for 50 years and built from scratch one of the largest produce businesses in New Zealand.

“All of the team at LeaderBrand are chuffed that Murray has been honoured for his ser-

vices to our industry and for his commitment to the Gisborne region. It is well-deserved.”

Horticulture New Zealand president Barry O’Neil says the honour awarded to McPhail reflects his contribution to horticulture and his investment in, and support of, regional New Zealand. He describes McPhail as a “visionary” leader and businessman.

“Tenacity, charisma, and clear vision have all been vital to Murray’s success. However, it is his boundless energy and drive that has led to his ongoing success,” O’Neil added.

“Throughout his career, he has been innovative and not afraid to take calculated risks, while providing employment for thousands of people over nearly five decades of business.”

LeaderBrand founder Murray McPhail was awarded a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to horticulture in the recent 2023 King’s Birthday Honours List.

Leading hand now country’s leading young Maori grower

GRACE REHU, 21 – a leading hand for Turners and Growers in Puketapu, Hawke’s Bay – is the winner of the 2023 Ahuwhenua Young Māori Grower competition.

The competition is held in conjunction with the main Ahuwhenua event and the winner was announced before an audience of more than 900 people in early June.

Each year the competition alternates between dairy, sheep and beef, and horticulture.

The other two finalists in this year’s competition were 30 year old Alix Te Kere, who is the health and safety advisor for Rockit Management Services, and Erica Henare, the pipfruit and kiwifruit manager at Kono, near Motueka.

It was first time in the

history of the competition that three wāhine Māori had been selected as finalists. To mark this special occasion, each of the finalists received $5,000 each from Te Tumu Paeroa in addition to their other prizes.

Rehu was selected as a finalist in February, competing against the two other strong wāhine through a number of field days and events.

“I’m honoured to be given this recognition, and incredibly grateful to be part of this incredible competition,” she says.

“When they called my name I was stunned. Winning this award is very much a shared win with my other finalists – especially as it was the first time for all finalists to be wāhine toa!”

Rehu says participat-

ing in Ahuwhenua was an absolute honour.

“It has challenged me to step outside my com-

fort zone and learn new things and create friendships and strong bonds which I know I’ll have

throughout my life,” she adds.

“Since I was young, I’ve loved being outside

New apple bears fruit

T&G GLOBAL recently launched Joli, a new global premium apple variety, which the company says joins its established portfolio of Envy and JAZZ apple brands.

T&G says the new apple is the result of over ten years of innovation in New Zealand.

A productive, large, full-flavoured bright red juicy apple, the company says it will appeal to both consumers and growers, with trees producing high yielding, high colour fruit.

Global consumers will be able to enjoy the new apple from 2028 onwards.

T&G Global chief executive, Gareth Edgecombe says Joli harnesses New Zealand’s great intellectual property and its addition to the company’s premium apple portfolio will help build a stronger horticulture sector.

“New Zealand has an enviable global reputation for innovating, developing and sourcing the world’s best plant genetics and growing

world-class premium apples,” he says.

“T&G’s growth strategy is focused on utilising this to create value for our growers, regional communities and economy. This is critical in order to succeed in what is a highly fragmented and commoditised global apple market.”

Edgecombe says the new apple has very strong orcharding attributes, including high levels of output and the ability to grow throughout New Zealand.

and on the whenua. I love what I do at T&G and the opportunities it provides. I want to help other

He says a new variety requires a team effort and Joli is the result of VentureFruit, T&G’s IP management and commercialisation business, working closely with innovation company Prevar and Plant & Food Research in New Zealand.

“These organisations work in collaboration on the world-renowned pipfruit breeding programme, to deliver new varieties that meet both current and future market opportunities.”

young wāhine and tane to pursue their dreams and explore a career in horticulture.”

T&G director of operations, Craig Betty says the awards are a great way to showcase up and coming young Māori in NZ’s horticulture sector.

“We’re incredibly proud of Grace and this achievement,” he says.

“Over the last four years, we’ve seen her develop and grow into an incredible young leader. Her passion for the land and its fresh produce, and our people and industry is evident.”

Betty says Rehu is a fantastic role model within T&G’s business and in the community.

“Grace has an incredible future ahead of her.”

T&G is the global exclusive license holder for growing, marketing and selling the variety. It plans to plant 27 hectares on its own orchards over the next three years.

T&G is also seeking expressions of interest from independent growers across New Zealand to be part of the commercial growing pilot. Over the next five to six years, as additional trees become available, T&G says it will extend the opportunity to growers in other countries.

Grace Rehu is the 2023 Ahuwhenua Young Maori Grower competition winner.PIC: ALPHAPIX PHOTOGRAPHY.

NOMINATIONS CLOSE 31 ST AUGUST 2023

To Qualify - Candidates must enter the competition through one of the horticultural sectors. Please see our website for all terms and conditions. www.younghort.co.nz

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Horticentre Charitable Trust

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THE 2023 YOUNG HORTICULTURIST COMPETITION PRIZE POOL

The Competition is managed by the Royal NZ Institute of Horticulture Education Trust

Fruit and vege school scheme provides real food for thought

Leo Argent

A RECENT independent evaluation has revealed that the Fruit and Vegetables in Schools (FIS) initiative continues to be NZ’s most popular and effective healthy food programme.

The survey, conducted on behalf of the 5+ A Day Charitable Trust supporting the Te Whatu Ora funded initiative, interviewed school principals who said that FIS helped them assist whānau with the high cost of living, remove stress from providing fresh produce for children and assist to send excess fruit to needy homes from time to time.

Roni Nepia is princi-

pal of Putere school in the Wairoa district, which serves a predominantly farming community. Having been principal for 7 months and having previously worked as a teacher in Australia for 15 years, she says the impact is very clear.

“In Australia, fruit and veg was really expensive, so it would not have been part of their diets. Fast food would have been in their diets; the only kind of veggies would have been the lettuce and tomato in a McDonald’s burger,” she told Hort News. “I think the [Putere] students and community have seen a greater appreciation of the fruit in schools, it’s not taken for

granted.”

Nepia adds that even those in Putere without kids have become involved in the scheme, showing the students how to bottle and make jams and preserves.

Piloted in 2004, the initiative covers 566 primary schools and over 120,000 children and staff across the nation, providing over 27 million servings of fresh fruit and vegetables every year.

Of surveyed principals, 90% said the integration of fruit into the school day was an effective tool which encouraged healthy eating. Meanwhile, 95% of surveyed principals believed the combination of both free school lunches and FIS was essential. 72% of surveyed principals agreed or strongly agreed that ‘if Fruit in Schools ended, academic outcomes would suffer’.

United Fresh project

manager Carmel Ireland says the feedback was affirming, particularly in how schools can use the flexible scheme to support their communities,

but she is still concerned at the need that exists in the community.

“Food insecurity has reached even greater heights than before the

pandemic. The review shows just how hard it has become for whānau to put nutritious food on the table with 93% of principals saying FIS

supported them to feed hungry children.”

Nepia says that following Cyclone Gabrielle and the financial crisis, some families were struggling to make ends meet.

“Predominantly meat farmers, just replenishing what little veggies they’ve got in their garden is a cost, a struggle.”

The review follows similar evaluations in 2014 and 2018. This year it takes into account new schemes such as the Government’s Ka Ora, Ka Ako – Free Healthy Lunches programme. Ireland said that with more support arriving in schools, the evaluation demonstrated that FIS still has a vital role to play, providing safe environments based on healthy choices.

Alongside the fresh produce, FIS provides schools with curriculum resources produced by 5+ A Day to teach healthy lifestyles.

Higher prices, lower returns!

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allows NZ apples to enter the UK at zero duty from January to July each year, during the off-season for UK apple production.

Apples exported from August to December will be subjected to a quota, which will diminish progressively over three years. Apple production is forecast to be 20–30% down this season, because of the Hawke’s

Bay floods. Also, production will be impacted for years as some regions have been deemed unsuitable for permanent crops. Kilsby says not all growers have the appetite or finances to rebuild businesses, whilst others will opt to keep operating but on a smaller scale.

For kiwifruit growers, the harvest of red and gold kiwifruit is now complete.

Packhouses are currently processing green fruit.

Kilsby noted that by late May about 15% of fruit had been delivered to market.

This year’s harvest has been smaller than previous years.

Zespri now expects to export 136m trays of fruit, which is about 20% less than the 171m exported last season.

She notes that this season, the

industry has focussed heavily on quality, to avoid the issues that plagued last season’s produce. Looking ahead to 2024, the kiwifruit harvest is likely to be significantly higher. Kilsby says growers expect next season’s gold fruit harvest to be about 50% larger than this season, as existing gold plantings mature and growers switch from green to gold varieties.

Registrations now open. For more information and to register: https://conferences.co.nz/hort2023

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United Fresh project manager Carmel Ireland says FIS programme has a vital role to play, providing safe environments based on healthy choices.

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Tough season ends for kiwifruit

As 2023’s harvest of kiwifruit largely ends, New Zealand’s largest horticultural export is now being shipped to overseas markets.

According to New Zealand Kiwifruit Growers Inc’s Colin Bond it has been one of the most financially unrewarding harvests in recent memory due to the low volume produced.

“The kiwifruit industry did relatively well during Covid because we were allowed to continue to operate”, he says. “However, the last two years have been our equivalent to the economic strains experienced by other industries throughout the pandemic – now it’s our turn.”

Bond adds that the raft of problems for growers began with quality in late 2022 and continued into 2023 with poor pollination, wind, flooding, hail and cyclones reducing the crop size.

He says it was originally thought that 160 million trays of kiwifruit would be produced this season, but the final

Facts & figures

❱❱ Kiwifruit is New Zealand’s largest horticultural export.

❱❱ New Zealand kiwifruit production is expected to jump from 175 million trays in 2021/22 to 258 million trays in 2030.

❱❱ The kiwifruit industry’s New Zealand revenue is expected to jump from $2.87 billion in 2022 to $4.23 billion by 2030.

number is more likely to be well under 140 million trays.

This is far below 2022’s 175 million trays.

Bond says the increased costs for growing and exporting kiwifruit makes it particularly painful for growers in seasons of low production.

“Growers are putting even more pressure on Zespri to perform in their markets to get the

best possible returns with smaller volumes of kiwifruit,” he explains.

“Despite Zespri reporting that the quality of our kiwifruit going to market is high and the forecast returns looking good so far, NZKGI will con-

tinue to track the quality closely over the coming months. The industry has worked collaboratively to reduce quality issues and it is even more critical that this work pays off in a low yield year.”

However, Bond says

there is light at the end of the tunnel, with 2024 forecast to be one of the largest ever.

“There will be a huge responsibility on the whole supply chain to perform so that we can deliver this large volume

MACCAS ‘LOVIN’ NZ PRODUCE!

Nearly $600 million worth of New Zealand primary sector ingredients were sourced for McDonald’s domestic and global use last year.

The company recently released its annual New Zealand shopping list, showing a record amount spent on ingredients for their menu items.

In 2022, $214 million was spent

on local ingredients for New Zealand restaurants. Meanwhile, another $384 million of NZ produce was exported to other McDonald’s markets. That took the total spend with NZ farmers and growers to an all-time high of $598 million – $52 million more than

• 6.9 million litres of fresh milk was sourced from NZ dairy farmers.

• 1.9 million kilograms of NZ cheese and other dairy products was used locally, along with 11.6 million kilograms of cheese exported.

• Over 900,000kg of NZ lettuces

of kiwifruit in great condition to consumers.”

He says planning is already underway across the industry.

“While we can’t control the weather, we must ensure that we get our processes right to increase

potatoes were used to make fries.

McDonald’s says it sources produce from farmers and growers across NZ. New Zealand is also a strategically important supplier to international outlets. NZ produce is exported to McDonald’s markets including Aus-

our chance of success and relieve growers from their financial burdens.”

With $2.9 billion of export earnings in 2022, NZ’s kiwifruit industry is an important contributor to the economies where it is grown.

“It’s great to be able to supply a local menu where around 90% of the ingredients are sourced from across NZ, and to share this quality produce with McDonald’s markets around the world,” says managing director NZ and Pacific Islands, Kylie Freeland.

The final number of trays picked this season is likely to be well under 140 million trays – far below 2022’s 175 million trays.

Stalking wasted produce!

THE HUMBLE broccoli, a NZ family favourite, is currently being thrown away in staggering amounts.

It appears that New Zealanders are mimicking the infamous stance of former US president George HW Bush, during his tenure as the 41st president.

Bush frequently mentioned his distaste for broccoli, famously saying: “I do not like broccoli. And I haven’t liked it since I was a little kid.

Now I’m president of the United States, I’m not gonna eat any more broccoli!”

Each year, more than 282 tonnes of broccoli stems are being added to this country’s household landfill waste.

LeaderBrand’s Richard Burke, a large grower of broccoli, says that this is a staggering amount of waste and a huge waste of money.

“It might come as a surprise, but broc-

coli stalks are edible and they taste great,” he says. “A third of us (37%) are throwing them away! It’s such a waste.”

Food scraps make up almost half the weight of the average Auckland household’s rubbish. Recently, new figures came out that indicate New Zealander’s throw out more than $3 billion worth of food each year – more than $1,500 per household per year.

Burke says all the talk about the increase in the

cost of living could be helped if people made a few simple changes. He suggests buying in-season

produce or not throwing away edible parts of veggies, would see people get better value out of fresh

produce.

“Eating every part of the vegetable that you’ve bought makes financial

sense,” he adds. “Why not try maximising every inch of this nutrition powerhouse to make meals go

further. It tastes great, adds texture to your meal, plus, you’ll also be helping the environment.”

5+ A Day – a charitable trust committed to increasing the consumption of fresh fruit and vegetables for better health in all New Zealanders – trustee and principal scientist and team leader at Plant and Food Research, Dr Carolyn Lister says broccoli stems are just as important as the head, or floret of the plant.

“Broccoli stems and florets are an excellent source of nutrition, they’re an important part of a healthy diet to support your wellbeing in the winter months,” she says.

“The stems and the florets provide valuable nutrients such as vitamin C, which supports immunity, and folate which helps the body form red blood cells, plus they’re a great source of dietary fibre which keeps you feeling full for longer.”

Aster Plus Greenhouse Films

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• Crop-specific films available.

For further information and sales, please contact:

Vicki Ansell (Sales - North Island)

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Matthew Burns (Sales - South Island)

+64 2 7552 2062 | mburns@empak.co.nz

Kylie Davis (Customer Service)

+64 3 338 6926 | kdavis@empak.co.nz

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“It might come as a surprise, but broccoli stalks are edible and they taste great. A third of us (37%) are throwing them away! It’s such a waste.”

LeaderBrand’s Richard Burke says broccoli stalks

are edible, taste great and throwing them away is such a waste.

High-tech solution takes the guesswork out of fungal diseases

WORKING ON spore trapping as part of his microbiology studies was when Lewis Collins first thought about the challenge of analysing airborne diseases.

He realised that by the time useful data was received, it was typically already too late to avoid an outbreak within a crop.

With his mechatronic engineering cap on, Collins had a vision of automating the process so that growers could get a realtime understanding of the minuscule pathogens in their environment.

The result is Bioscout – a high-tech solution that takes the guesswork out of detecting fungal crop diseases and allows a better focus on other orchard tasks.

Collins says, typically, growers rely on intuition and symptomatic indi-

cators to manage disease in production crops – like Alternaria fruit rot, Brown spot, Blackleg, Downy and Powdery mildew – which often results in spraying too much, too often and at the wrong time.

Bioscout is said to allow growers to see the ‘unseeable’ and react to a disease presence weeks

before it impacts yields.

It also reduces preventive sprays by understanding the general disease risk. Three installations are currently in their first season of use in New Zealand.

The BioScout Platform is fully autonomous and can operate for many years on end without human intervention.

It also has a ‘worldfirst’ airborne disease tracking ability. This is equipped with a comprehensive suite of environmental sensors, including monitoring weather conditions and live spore counts. This allows the system to provide the complete picture of disease risk at field-level resolution, typically up to

two weeks before symptoms become apparent in the crop.

The system works by drawing air into the units causing particles to adhere to a sticky strip. These particles are constantly photographed using automated microscopy. From here, an AI function compares the photos with an expand-

ing database of pathogen images.

This allows the system to track the spread of fungal diseases on farms and orchards, providing growers and agronomists with real-time, location and disease specific data. As a rule of thumb, one Bioscout device is able to offer informative data for 20 to 100 ha. However,

ELECTRIC SHEARS MAKE THE JOB EASY

POWERFUL AND light, the latest generation of pruning shears from Pellenc – the world’s first battery-powered pruner manufacturer – are said to make it faster and safer to prune fruitbearing, ornamental, or forest trees.

Built to last, the body, ball screws and nuts are all made from highstrength materials.

Meanwhile, routine maintenance servicing has been stretched out to

once every 400 hours of use.

Pellenc claims that irrespective of diameter or hardness of the wood to be cut, the high-performance cutting head ensures effective, clean pruning.

Machines are available with 35mm (model C35) or 45mm diameter capacities in the Model C35 and C45 respectively.

The pruning shears can also be easily mounted on any of three Pel-

lenc extender poles, allowing the user to work at a maximum height of 4 metres. Featuring the latest generation, brushless-geared motor, power is provided by the 150, 150P or 250 battery options.

These offer outputs of 865, 1730 and 1730 watts respectively. The 150P option only weighs the same as the 150 at 845g – compared to the 250 unit at 1680g.

Standard charging to 100% is around 8 hours – although 1A and 2A charging systems can reduce this to 4.5 or 3.5 hours respectively.

The company suggest that irrespective of battery choice, each should allow a full day’s work in the orchard.

The new Pellenc-patented Activ’Security safety feature stops the blade instantly if it encounters the user’s hand, whether they are wearing

unit density also depends on topography and target diseases decided by a site survey. The full BioScout dashboard can be viewed on a laptop. This displays a map of an individual property, showing the location of the devices, all current pathogen warnings and weather information.

The company suggests that having a better understanding of how critical environmental conditions affects your disease risk and allows growers to apply fungicides exactly when needed for maximum effectiveness and an improved return on investment.

At the same time, it also offers peace of mind by removing the “unknown factor”, while also improving confidence in reducing fungicide use and offering the choice of switching to more biological solutions.

gloves or not.

To deal with changeable situations, the pruning shears offer four operating modes.

A progressive mode, with or without the blades set to the half-opening position, and fast on/off for rapid repeated cutting – again with the blade set with or without the half opening position. www.hydralada.com

Mark Daniel markd@ruralnews.co.nz

The BioScout Platform is fully autonomous and can operate for many years.

New tool for kiwifruit fungus

NEW ZEALAND

biological company, Biostart says it now has a product for managing Armillaria in kiwifruit orchards.

Armillaria (Armillaria novae-zelandiae) is a progressively damaging soil fungus that infects the roots of kiwifruit vines. Initially the infected vine loses productivity, with visible canopy and fruit loss, before eventually dying. The disease spreads into orchards from infected roots of other kiwifruit vines, dead tree stumps and willow or pine hedges.

Terracin, which has been registered by ACVM, is the key product in Biostart’s two-phase biological programme for suppressing Armillaria in orchard soils. It says the overall programme works by rebalancing the soil biology because in healthy soils, the natural soil microbes suppress disease-causing fungi and bacteria. In soils with a balanced soil biology, kiwifruit vines are able to withstand disease pressure from Armillaria.

In the first phase, Terracin is applied to the soil in early August. The product contains Bacillus amyloliquefaciens Bs1b, which works by disrupting the existing soil microbial population by producing antimicrobial compounds that suppresses the growth of Armillaria.

In the second phase, Mycorrcin is applied in early spring (budbreak), following the Terracin

application and early summer (flowering). The company claims this restores the beneficial bacteria in the soil, to recreate the balance found in healthy soil after Terracin has done its reset. Mycorrcin is a soil biostimulant that activates naturally occurring beneficial microbes present in your soil, including mycorrhizal fungi.

Trials in five Armillaria infected kiwifruit orchards showed that the Biostart Kiwifruit Programme reduced Armillaria vine deaths by 88%. Over the threeyear trial, 5.6% of the untreated vines had died – whereas only 0.7% of the Terracin-treated vines had died.

Canopy health was also assessed using a canopy disease scoring system. In the Terracintreated vines, at the end of year three, the vine canopy disease scores had reduced by 32%. However, in the untreated vines it had increased by 34%.

This showed that the Armillaria disease impact was worsening in the untreated vines, while the health of Terracin-treated vines were improving and were less affected by Armillaria. In a further trial, yield was restored to previous levels after the vines recovered.

Overall, Biostart says its programme offers a safe and effective way to suppress Armillaria in kiwifruit soils and promote ongoing orchard resilience.

KIWIFRUIT ROOTSTOCKS AVAILABLE NOW

Available for planting this Winter/ Spring:

Bruno rootstocks (field grown)

Bruno rootstocks (container grown)

Bounty-71 rootstocks (field grown).

KVH certified from PSA-free Nelson.

Minimum order 50 trees.

Quantity discounts available.

Please contact our Sales Team: Kate Marshall, 027 4201 033. kate.m@waimea.group

Jeff Sandford, 027 4201 003. jeff.s@waimea.group

Ethan England, right, and Biostart chief executive Dr Jerome Demmer, left, assess vines at an Armillaria trial orchard.