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PMAC weekly update 15th to 22nd MarchNew Zealand Industry and Community newsThis weeks’ edition contains information on:Wellbeing support package unveiled for horticulture sector; Automation a mixed blessing for fruit sector; Produce industry launches UN initiative in New Zealand; First shipment of Zespri SunGold Kiwifruit crop sets sail for Japan and Korea; Summerfruit NZ board welcomes appointment of new Chief Executive; New Zealand’s problem with cheap tomatoes; Major New Zealand citrus grower signs on for Spectre; New Zealand horticulture exports struggle with shipping issues; Apple exports slump due to lack of pickers; Queensland melons back on New Zealand’s menu; Urban organic indoor farmer; Organic Growers open their farm in Canterbury4888230-15557500New Zealand News Wellbeing support package unveiled for horticulture sector Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor has announced the rollout of a wellbeing support package for fruit growers facing tough times. Events and workshops focusing on the importance of mental wellness are expected to kick-off in April and are planned for the Gisborne, Hawke’s Bay, Tasman and Central Otago regions.The support package will include a workplace-based wellbeing training programme, which will initially be offered in the Hawke’s Bay. It is one of the regions where Covid-19 has made it harder for growers to find orchard and pack house staff. The Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) and the Ministry of Social Development (MSD) will contribute almost $350,000.New Zealand Apples and Pears chief executive Alan Pollard said it will build on work already being done to boost training and development to help growers attract, recruit and retain staff. Full article available here However, political party ACT has attacked the relief fund as a slap in the face for a sector that faces losses of hundreds of millions of dollars. Click here to read the full article Commentary Automation a mixed blessing for fruit sectorLast week’s announcement the kiwifruit sector would be paying a living wage of $22.10 an hour for packhouse work has the sector hoping higher wages will help fill a yawning labour shortage this year.Filling that gap has only grown more challenging with the exponential growth in kiwifruit volumes over the past five years. The 23,000 workers estimated to be needed by 2027 are needed this year, and the 190 million trays expected to be achieved by then is now likely next season.Further south the apple sector is grappling with similar issues, requiring at least 10,000 pickers and packhouse staff this season, drawing off locals, a national shared pool of 7000 Recognised Seasonal Employment (RSE) staff and any remaining backpackers. Like kiwifruit, pay rates have taken a lift of up to 10%, but as late as February an incentive scheme had only drawn in 54 new people, despite including a $200 payment to help accommodation costs and a $1000 bonus for completing six weeks of work. This is despite the potential to earn $300 a day, compared to the living wage of $177 a day of full-time employment.Technology has been touted as part of the answer to dealing with these seasonal labour spikes, and NZ packhouses are already recognised as world leaders in tech adoption. Technology including 3D camera imagery for fruit grading, automated high-speed packers and robotic pallet stackers often feature, but packhouse operators say the short-run nature of seasonal harvests makes getting a return on hi-tech capital items tough.In the meantime, developers of technology are looking for more upfront capital to help the horticultural sector have its “rotary cowshed” step change in productivity. Robotics Plus founder Steve Saunders says --- it comes down to when the pain point gets big enough as to when industry starts to invest,” “If kiwifruit growers are getting reasonably good returns, that pain point’s not there yet.”?“And programmes to increase automation take time, the industry needs to start looking ahead five years now. One large packhouse operator however maintains there is still plenty of room for improvement of the human element, before tech takes over. James Trevelyan admits with the seasonal headache of procuring labour getting tougher each year, there is a temptation to jump into new technology to help alleviate the issues, particularly within centralised packhouse environments. “But our challenge in this sector is that we pack for a short period of time, so the return on investment for large capex investment has always been a challenge, but yes, if the cost of labour goes up, the equation does start to change,” Trevelyan said.Late last year, the company ran a programme to expose wasted labour energy on both its avocado and kiwifruit lines. “Trevelyan says the exercise has resulted in some significant reallocation of tasks and staffing resources, and changes to how management approach task areas.A key focus has been to try and “flat line” packhouse labour operations and move away from the spikes that occur with SunGold and Green kiwifruit harvest weeks apart. One relatively low-tech improvement to achieve this has been the installation of covered? environments at the load-in area.??While not cheap at $800,000 a piece, the installations enable staff to tuck reserves of fruit away in an environment that will not compromise quality.This outlay compares to an entirely new packhouse with technology fitted with a price ticket of at least $15 million, which only runs at 100% for three weeks of the year.An investment by ACC through its Impact Investment Fund into Tauranga-based Robotics Plus may provide a model for the horticultural sector technology investment that delivers a three-way win for investors, growers and industry. ACC has invested an undisclosed amount of between $2 million to $15m into Robotics Plus, drawn by that company’s robotic scaling machine (RSM). The machine is used to accurately measure timber volume on logging trucks, without staff having to clamber over the dangerous load. This would ease some of the financially demanding early-stage heavy lifting off innovative start-up companies.Horticulture NZ chief executive Mike Chapman says the Government is in “cuckoo land” if it believes pushing labour costs up will simply prompt a jump to new technology that may not even exist.“The tech that is there has already been integrated into many packhouses,” Chapman said.He maintains RSE workers remain the foundation for the seasonal workforce for some time to come.But he also acknowledged if more capital were put in earlier, there could be more automated technology. While the likes of kiwifruit may have the money most other sectors, especially vegetables, are really struggling; there is not a lot of spare money around,” he said. Full article available here Produce industry launches UN initiative in New ZealandThe official launch the International Year of Fruits and Vegetables (IYFV). Was launched at Parliament the week before last. The UN recognises the significant contribution that fresh produce makes to the food security, generation of income, and employment of growers and farmers worldwide. In Aotearoa, that contribution is receiving renewed recognition as the pandemic serves as a reminder of the important role of our local food producers make in our daily lives.“Jerry Prendergast, United Fresh President, says the role of fruit and vegetables in supporting health is critical to our well-being, but the fresh produce industry has a significant contribution to the entire economy as a source of income and employment, particularly in our rural communities. The IYFV aims to recognise the inextricable links that exist between agriculture and the entire food system.The United Nations also places specific emphasis on the empowerment of women through education, recognising their role in sustainable farming practices. In Aotearoa, women comprise about half of our horticultural workforce yet only 20 percent of the industry’s leadership roles. Prendergast believes the IYFV provides an opportunity to address the imbalance. Full article available hereFirst shipment of Zespri SunGold Kiwifruit crop sets sail for Japan and KoreaThe first shipment of what is expected to be a record season of New Zealand-grown Zespri Kiwifruit is now on route to Tokyo and Busan. The fruit is aboard the MV Kakariki, the second of three new specialised reefer vessels built by Fresh Carriers to ship New Zealand-grown kiwifruit to Zespri’s Asian markets, with the ship expected to complete its maiden voyage in early April.This is the first of 57 planned charter reefer vessels under Zespri’s shipping programme this season, up from the 49 charter vessels used last season.?This season will see five sailings to North Europe, 12 to the Mediterranean and 40 to Zespri’s Asian markets. Zespri also expects to send around 18,000 containers of kiwifruit.Mr Hulbert confirmed that while Zespri is closely monitoring the global shipping situation, it is well placed to mitigate any risks associated with port and container congestion. Full article available here Summerfruit NZ board welcomes appointment of new Chief ExecutiveKate Hellstrom has been appointed the new chief executive of Summerfruit NZ . Kate was appointed after a rigorous selection process from 52 applications received. In making the announcement Tim Jones (Chairman of Summerfruit NZ) thanked Richard Palmer for his leadership of the industry over the past 15 months. ‘Richards work with the Industry Review, logistics and especially with issues around RSE and seasonal labour have been hugely appreciated by the Board and all our growers,’ Kate is currently the acting chief governance officer at ACC and brings a background in the primary sector from her roles at the Ministry for Primary Industries. Those roles include extensive senior experience in biosecurity, resource policy and adverse events. Kate will commence in the role on 12 April. Full article available here New Zealand’s problem with cheap tomatoesWhile cheap tomatoes may be good news for consumers, the benefits for growers are yet to be seen, Dr Jacqueline Rowarth says Tomatoes were being sold for 9c/kg in Hastings in the second week of March, only to be beaten by 8c/kg in Auckland the following day. The reason for the low prices was a glut caused by, at least in part, an inability to export to Australia and the Pacific Islands. Freight space shortages meant the cost of transport escalated and the tomatoes could not then be sold in the overseas markets at a price that would cover the costs. Consumers benefitted while supermarkets and growers took the economic hit from the shortage of freight space.The primary producers of the world sell at wholesale prices but buy at retail. Every increase in minimum wage or change in environmental expectation results in more outlay from their business but mostly without a consequent increase in income. In the last 20 years, food price to the consumer has increased by 55 per cent (a basket of goods costing $100 would now cost $155), but wages have increased by 89 per cent. Compared with February 2020, fruit and vegetable prices increased 5.1 per cent (wages and difficulties due to Covid-19 and crop management). Full article available here Tomatoes New Zealand general manager Helen Barnes said prices that low were not profitable.Tomato growers had been struggling to get product off-shore, which had led to an oversupply in the local market, Barnes said .Hopefully it was a short term glut, Barnes said. However, there was no sign of the export market improving. Full article available here Major New Zealand citrus grower signs on for SpectreAn article about a major citrus supplier to the domestic market in New Zealand, that has brought a computer vision fruit sizing tool developed by the New Zealand start-up, Hectre.Launched in 2020 to the US and NZ apple industries, Spectre is now being used in some of the world’s largest apple growing regions, such as Washington. Clients include apple giants, Washington Fruit and Produce Co. and Yakima Fruit and Cold Storage. Full article available here New Zealand horticulture exports struggle with shipping issuesNew Zealand exporters are starting feel the impact of shipping problems, as vessels skip ports or will remain at berth for shorter periods and empty containers remain unevenly spread throughout the country. Over 50 containers of export onions, collectively worth about $600,000, missed their ship to Europe at Port of Tauranga last week, just as the onion export season hits its peak. According to Onions New Zealand chief executive James Kuperus, exporters concerned were hoping to catch the next ship in a week, but it was happening to growers every week.‘’We’re trying to export to Spain and Germany right now, we’ve got a very short market window. 'If you miss by a week you might also miss your customers’ requirements by a week as well Full article available here Apple exports slump due to lack of pickers NZ Apples and Pears forecast a further drop in harvest this year due to a lack of pickers.The industry now expects the export share of the gross national crop to be around 347,718 metric tonnes or 19.3m cartons. This is three million cartons or 14% below 2020, representing a $95 million-$100 m year-on-year reduction of export earnings.“Labour availability on orchards and in our post-harvest operations is well short of numbers needed by the industry despite doing all we can to attract New Zealanders into work. In addition, the fruit size is coming in smaller on average than we forecast”. Of the varieties exported, Braeburn is the most significantly impacted with a revised estimate of 1,468,000 cartons some 44% below 2020 levels. Royal Gala, which remains the variety with the largest share of exports, is now forecast to be 15% or 1,088,000 cartons down on 2020, with Cripps Pink at 15% down and Fuji 19% down.? Full article available hereQueensland melons back on New Zealand’s menuQueensland melons can now be imported into New Zealand under new trade conditions agreed to by the Australian Government and industry. Full article available here Bits and piecesUrban organic indoor farmer An article about a Hamilton office worker who has is growing organic produce on her urban property and is opening here property for the Open Farms NZ initiative. Full article available here Organic Growers open their farm in Canterbury This last weekend in Canterbury three organic growers opened their 10 hectares of organic produce to will share tips and tricks for growing good produce and the challenges of sustaining organic food production . . Untamed Earth’s opening day was originally scheduled for February 21 as part of a national open farms event, but had to be postponed due to Covid-19 alert level changes. Full article available here ................
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