Winepress - June 2024

Secure path to growth

Biosecurity is a key driver for Ormond Nurseries’ new development

BEV DOOLE

WHEN BEN Wickham was being wooed by Marlborough winegrowers 30 years ago to set up a new nursery to propagate grapevines, he didn’t spend any time on soil maps or chemical analyses.

He dug one hole, drank a glass of water from the tap, and immediately agreed to buy a block of land at 148 Rowley Cresent, Grovetown. Ben’s instincts must have been good because last month his company, Ormond Nurseries, expanded into a 30 ha property with a new 3000 sq m processing facility just down the road at 13 Rowley Cres.

It is a milestone for the family whose horticultural and business expertise has under-pinned the growth of the wine industry in Marlborough and New Zealand. And the work of Ben and his wife Frances is being continued by their son Marcus (general manager) and daughter Susie (chief financial officer).

Ormond now has the capacity to produce up to two million vines a year in its field blocks and processing facility. But as Ormond general manager Marcus Wickham explained at the opening celebration in May, a big driver for the new building was the need to manage biosecurity risks.

“Following on from the PSA outbreak in kiwifruit, the Ministry for Primary Industries identified nurseries as a biosecurity risk – they’re a very efficient way of transporting new and unwanted pests around NZ,” Marcus says.

“We realised we needed to make big changes to meet biosecurity obligations. Think of Covid for grapevines. How would we manage its spread?”

Ormond’s old location had multiple issues, including the main thoroughfare for customers, deliveries, couriers and staff going right through the production area. “This is a big no-no for biosecurity,” says Marcus.

It became clear that a new purpose-built space would not only address the biosecurity obligations but also improve production efficiency and staff safety.

“Grapevine propagation is a labour-intensive business. There are people everywhere mixing with hot wax and forklifts, tractors and vehicles. This site solves many staff safety issues as we effectively have forklift-free zones, that’s something we could not have imagined in our old site.”

Budwood cuttings grafted in the new facility are grown outside in field blocks for a year before being lifted, graded, processed and freighted out to customers. It is a linear operation with full control of supplies, people and vehicles. “It gives us an unbroken quarantine for vines from the day they are grafted until going to customers.”

Looking to the future, Marcus expects more automation to improve processes. “Any piece of equipment we try out needs plenty of power supply, compressed air, water and space. All of which we now have. In many ways this site removes those invisible anchor chains that have been holding us back.”

Frances and Ben Wickham open the new Ormond building