ANIMAL HEALTH
MACHINERY & PRODUCTS
NEWS
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TO ALL FARMERS, FOR ALL FARMERS APRIL 26, 2022: ISSUE 749
www.ruralnews.co.nz
Labour pain(ful)!
LOCKDOWN HITS DAIRY SUDESH KISSUN sudeshk@ruralnews.co.nz
PETER BURKE peterb@ruralnews.co.nz
THE HORTICULTURE sector’s worker shortage is Governmentmade, according to leading Hawkes Bay orchardist Paul Paynter. He’s a fourth generation orchardist and director of Yummy Fruit company, which produces apples, pears and stone fruit. Paynter says the labour shortage has been caused by a combination of naïve optimism on the part of the Government and its failure to get more RSE workers into NZ earlier. “The Government’s lifting of the cap on RSE workers to 16,000 was an untimely call,” he told Rural News. “Nice to hear, but frustrating because although it was the right decision, it was made six months too late.” Paynter says during this and the past season they struggled to prune and thin trees and this “crisis” could have been alleviated if the Government had acted on the advice of the industry, which was to bring in more RSE workers ASAP. He says it seems the Government’s policy has been driven by ideology rather than pragmatism. “They seem to think that all migrant labour is a by-word for exploitation and this isn’t the case at all,” he adds. “We have a terrific record and are always told how good we are in our pastoral care and the way we look after our boys. We put a lot of effort into getting it right.” Paynter says, if he was in charge, he
Paul Paynter says the industry’s chronic labour shortage has been caused by a combination of Government naivety and its failure to get more RSE workers into NZ earlier.
would have freed up the travel bubbles to the Pacific Islands and brought in as many workers as possible. He says there are labour shortages in many sectors – including construction – and the RSE workers are very
skilled people who can do more than just pick fruit. “They have worked in the building industry back home and have a range of skills – including tiling, painting and carpet laying.”
Paynter believes if the Government had heeded advice from the industry – and acted quickly – there wouldn’t be the current problems, which are causing much unnecessary stress and disruption.
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THE OMICRON outbreak in China that sent 400 million residents into lockdown is behind the latest drop in dairy prices, analysts say. The good news is that the price weakness is expected to be temporary. Westpac senior agri economist Nathan Penny notes that the experience in other countries is that Omicron waves eventually pass. “Some lockdown restrictions in China are already scheduled to lift,” he says. He says the 4.4% drop in whole milk powder (WMP) prices and 4.2% in skim milk powder (SMP) prices weren’t unexpected. Immediately prior to the auction, the futures market had indicated a 4% fall in WMP prices. China is New Zealand’s key dairy market and lockdowns have impacted several major cities. Penny says, with this in mind, it’s not surprising that dairy demand and auction prices have taken a hit. However, the magnitude and breadth of the price falls indicate that China’s Omicron outbreak has surpassed all other dairy market concerns. “At this stage, however, we expect this price weakness to prove temporary,” says Penny. ASB economist Nat Keall says the recent weakness in GDT events takes a little gloss off an outstanding period for prices but is understandable.