Pruning Update - a letter from Wine Marlborough

A letter from Wine Marlborough

Dear Member As harvest continues in Marlborough, grape growers minds will be turning to thoughts of winter pruning. New Zealand Winegrowers (NZW) and Wine Marlborough, along with the Marlborough RSE employers, have been working closely together to give you the best information as soon as we can. Because labour supply will be tight, the Bragato Research Institute will be releasing a range of materials about different vineyard management and pruning options you will need to consider for this winter, and what the research says about those options.

There are many moving parts that will affect the Marlborough labour supply for this winter, due to the disruptions caused by COVID-19, and we do not have all the answers yet. However, there are a few things we want to let you know now. • There is going to be a shortfall in the number of RSE workers available this winter. We do not know the exact gap yet. • NZW is managing the relationship with key government agencies and asking government to promptly provide flexibility around arrangements for RSE workers – whether that be summer RSE workers staying in New Zealand, or RSE workers moving between regions. NZW are also seeking confirmation that existing joint RSE arrangements will continue. • NZW is also seeking flexibility for vintage workers on AIP or Essential Skills visas who may wish to stay on for pruning, and to allow tourists/backpackers to work (either on new or extended working holiday visas, or otherwise). • NZW has also asked the Ministry of Social Development what assistance the government could provide, for example to support the training of untrained New Zealanders who have been displaced from work. The answers to the above questions and further efforts to establish and verify the gap in the winter workforce will help us determine the available supply of workers this winter. You can help reduce that gap by utilising more local staff than you normally may.

The COVID-19 Alert Level 4 restrictions affect what work can be done by “essential businesses”. NZW has released an updated Q&A for operating as an Essential Businesses document, (nzwine.com/en/covid19/practicaladvice-for-vineyards-and-wineries/) which includes more detail about what work can and can’t be done by essential businesses during Alert Level 4, and on observing the 2m rule. Key points to note include: • A vineyard may reasonably conclude that, in the

circumstances, it is essential to start pruning before Alert Level 4 finishes. If you reach that conclusion it will be important you have made notes on your decision making, in case you are challenged later. • Remember the rules of social distancing still apply as

workers travel to your workplace and the 2m rule will need to be strictly observed at all times by everyone on your property. • If you still haven’t registered as an essential business, and decide that you need to start pruning during the Alert Level 4 period, you should register now. If you still haven’t registered as an essential business, and decide that you need to start pruning during the Alert Level 4 period, you should do so. Guidance and links to register are here (or at mpi.govt.nz/covid-19-essential-primary-sector-serviceregistration/) However, it is essential that all parties get their systems and procedures in place to keep their workers safe and meet MPI requirements before commencing any pruning work. We therefore recommend allowing time to finish the grape harvest and for the grape vines to shut-down post harvest before pruning could begin after Easter on a schedule that suits you and your contractor.

These are unprecedented times and for the Marlborough vineyard to be pruned effectively this winter we will need to be flexible in our approach and work collaboratively as a Marlborough wine industry, and also with the Marlborough RSE employers and vineyard contractors and Government agencies, to achieve this. We will be updating you all again soon, in the first instance with information from the Bragato Research Institute. We are available to you. Please talk to or email

Wine Marlborough hits the home work Sarah Linklater had been at her Wine Marlborough desk for just seven weeks when the Covid-19 Alert Level 4 saw her pack it up again. Now the organisation’s new marketing and communications manager is working flat tack from home with her two young children, ensuring Marlborough members have all the information they need through this complicated period. “It’s an incredibly unique and challenging situation for everyone, but it’s great to work with a passionate and dedicated team and to see what their true colours are,” she says. Sarah’s first week at Wine Marlborough was the lead-up to the Marlborough Wine & Food Festival and she was impressed to see how the team handled that “pressure test”. In Covid-19 there is the same “keenness and commitment” within the Wine

Windrush harvest, a week before the Covid-19 Alert Level 4. Photo Richard Briggs

Vance Kerslake (advocacy@winemarlborough.nz) advocacy manager at Wine Marlborough, who will be coordinating the Marlborough winter pruning response. Thank you. Wine Marlborough & New Zealand Winegrowers Wine Marlborough sent this letter to members on April 3, 2020. To sign up to the Wine Marlborough e-newsletter - a source of valuable updates please email: sarah@winemarlborough.nz

Marlborough team and Marlborough Winegrowers’ board, she says. “We are all in this together, that is very clear.” Sarah and her husband Callum are involved in the wine industry through their family business Windrush Vineyards, so have a panoramic view of the impact of the shutdown, from harvest to communications.

At the very start of the response, it was agreed Wine Marlborough would take a support role to New Zealand Winegrowers, to ensure communications are clear and consistent, while being available to Marlborough members. “There is a lot I have learned and a lot to make sense of at the end of this challenging period, but I’m looking forward to using this experience to be able to deliver more for you, our members in the future,” Sarah says. “This will make us all stronger and hopefully show how collaborative we can be in times of challenge.” Safe Harvest Hotline New Zealand Winegrowers has established a Safe Harvest Hotline (09 306 5649) to enable industry members to report practices that aren’t safe within the workplace, and for the wider community to raise any concerns about practices they may see in the wine industry. Wellbeing Companies need to look out for the mental wellbeing of their workers in the stressful Covid-19 period, says Wine Marlborough general manager Marcus Pickens. The Mental Health Foundation of New Zealand has a free call or text number - 1737 - with trained counsellors available to speak in confidence. The Rural Support Trust (ruralsupport.org.nz) can be contacted on 0800 787 254.

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