eNews Kiwifruit October 2021 Edition
- Directors Message
- Trevelyan's News
- Industry Update
- Technical Info
- Organic Insights
- The S Word
- TGL Update
- General News
James Trevelyan
Managing Director
Carbon Footprint Scrutiny
As COVID-19 cases continue to rise in our community, I sense we are at the start of New Zealand learning to live with the virus. At some stage in the future, we will have to begin to integrate back with the global world into a new normal.
The NZ Herald is typically full of articles every day documenting the COVID journey. In amongst the COVID stories we are starting to read more about climate change. As the Glasgow Climate Change Conference (COP26) draws closer, New Zealand will need to report back on how it is getting on in achieving its agreed targets from the 2015 Paris Agreement. In short, we haven’t done too well at all.
For those of us in the horticulture industry, how much should we care? What may have started as an ethical discussion for another day is quickly turning to a financial discussion for a better tomorrow. Will the actions of other nations force the hand of us all in New Zealand to improve our carbon footprint? The EU aims to be climate-neutral by 2050 – an economy with net-zero greenhouse gas emissions. This objective is at the heart of the European Green Deal and in line with the EU’s commitment to global climate action under the Paris Agreement.
The EU has just released a range of initiatives to support this objective. These include an effective ban on the sale of petrol and diesel cars and taxation on aviation fuel. There is little doubt that these initiatives will result in a higher-cost economy. To prevent other countries arriving with cheaper alternatives from economies with a higher carbon footprint, the EU have unveiled a Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM). The CBAM will effectively tax goods from countries that have a higher carbon footprint than the EU. Will other nations introduce a similar system?
I sense it will not be long before we as an industry will need to be submitting our carbon footprint to importing nations. When I read that lamb raised in New Zealand and eaten in the UK has a lower carbon footprint than lamb raised and eaten in the UK (1), I think ‘why wouldn’t we want to get involved and understand our carbon footprint?’ The next 12 months will be interesting as a new tomorrow arrives.
(1) New Scientist, Essential Guide N.8 Climate Change.
Phil Allison
Information Systems Manager
Operations Update
Shipping and Fruit Loss
Season to date we have shipped 17,739,574 trays of kiwifruit (97.2% of what was packed) and have 509,007 trays left to ship. The details by fruit group are in the chart.3,224 trays left to ship.
Shipping for Gold3 organic has been completed. Gold3 conventional is almost fully shipped with only 138,000 trays left. Most of this fruit should be shipped before the end of the week (31st October).
Hayward shipping is well through the programme as well, with only 359,000 trays of conventional fruit and 12,000 trays of organic fruit left on site. We are expecting the final shipments to be in week 47 (ending 28th November).
Fruit quality continues to be a challenge this season, with fruit loss levels well above where they have been for the last few seasons. For the main four fruit groups, fruit loss at Trevelyan’s is still lower than the industry average.
The main reasons for fruit loss continue to be physical damage that has turned into a rot, other fruit rots, and soft fruit. Remember you can check your individual fruit loss on the Trevelyan’s grower portal. Data here is updated every night.
15% Supplier Accountability
15% supplier accountability involves extra checking in the markets (15% compared to 5%) and more of the costs of quality sheeted back to the suppliers of the fruit causing in-market costs. The programme is bulk funded with a set per tray payment made and any costs are deducted from this amount, before the industry average income is adjusted to 25 cents/tray (all suppliers retain their relativity to each other after this adjustment). This season, fruit we have sent on advance shipments have also been checked as part of the 15% supplier accountability. These checks are not adjusted at the industry level so are all grouped together irrespective of which market the fruit was sent to.
To date we have results back for Gold3 that includes four weeks of shipments to Korea and Taiwan, two weeks of shipments to Japan, no results from China, and three vessels to Europe. (NB the Asian markets are served by smaller vessels and containers, so results are reported in 2-week groups).
No results are available for Hayward to date as this fruit group enters period 3 later than Gold3.
Stage 3 15% supplier accountability summary for Gold3:
Market (Trev) | #Ships | Trays | $ | $/tray |
Japan | 1 | 79,354 | $21,391 | $0.270 |
Korea | 2 | 98,368 | $31,002 | $0.315 |
Taiwan | 2 | 115,525 | $18,584 | $0.161 |
Europe | 3 | 245,791 | $33,568 | $0.137 |
Advance | 1 | 441,033 | -$93,177 | -$0.211 |
TOTAL | 9 | 980,071 | $11,368 | $0.012 |
Market (Ind) | Fruit | Trays | $ | $/tray |
Japan | 1 | 657,063 | $162,955 | $0.248 |
Korea | 2 | 1,180,710 | $296,785 | $0.251 |
Taiwan | 2 | 880,281 | $219,759 | $0.250 |
Europe | 3 | 2,124,734 | $531,237 | $0.250 |
Advance | 1 | 3,398,089 | $378,767 | $0.112 |
TOTAL | 9 | 8,240,877 | $1,589,503 | $0.192 |
Changes to ZespriGAP
Christine Draffin
The Trevelyan’s GAP team have identified changes to ZespriGAP with the following moves from a “major” to a “minor”:
• Budwood, seedlings and seeds moved from one KPIN to another regardless of ownership requires KVH permission. Any growers that receive budwood, seedlings and seeds need to keep records of where they obtained them from and where they are planted/grafted.
o Proposed movement of over 1,000 plants requires registration as a nursery with KVH.
• An emergency “111 sign” with map needs to be displayed within 10 metres of the fill station and chemical store.
• COVID-19 QR code posters must be displayed at entrances to orchards.
• Orchard maps need hazards marked on them.
o Hazards include all water sources, bores, fill stations, irrigation ponds/dams, streams and drains, chemical sheds, assembly area, load out, location of first aid kits, frost fans, fuel storage tanks etc.
• Growers need to supply a Property Spray Plan and map to contract sprayers – this should have been done one day prior to hydrogen cyanamide applications.
• The map for the Property Spray Plan needs to have marked areas of sensitivity (i.e. dairy farm next door, avocados, school bus stop at boundary etc).
• Irrigation – the map must show sources of water with the main irrigation line from it.
• Re-entry spray signs must be displayed at all orchard entrances even if they have a locked gate.
For more information please contact the Trevelyan’s GAP team on their email here
Phil Allison
Information Systems Manager
2022 License Release
The Zespri Board have decided to reduce the hectares of Gold3 license to be released this winter. There will be 350 hectares released this winter, down from 700 hectares in recent seasons. In addition, there will be 350 hectares of Red19 license released. In both cases the release will be via a closed tender. There will be no Gold3 Organic release for green fields development this year as there is currently sufficient volume from previous releases and organic conversions.
Key Rules for bids are:
- Bids must be linked to an orchard KPIN at the time of application, with a process for identification of new developments.
- The licence will have to be planted on the KPIN associated with the bid, and unable to be transferred to other orchards or KPINs until the normal transfer requirements are satisfied.
- The maximum bid area on a KPIN is restricted to 50% of the plantable area (excluding any area already planted in Gold3 and/or Red19).
- A 10 hectare maximum bid area per bidder, per variety – i.e. the sum of a grower’s bids for each KPIN cannot exceed 10 hectares.
- Multiple bids can be made per KPIN (split bids) provided the total bid area does not exceed 50% of the plantable non-Gold3 and Red19 area, and does not exceed 10 hectares.
- For new developments, a KPIN must be allocated to the orchard prior to 31 January 2022, and the plantable area is defined as the physical blocks identified for planting or grafting.
- If the bidder is a lessee then a lease of at least seven years must exist (or be entered into) on the orchard on which the allocation is to be applied.
- The ‘use it or lose it’ two-year rule applies with planting or grafting by 31 January 2024.
Important dates for these releases are:
- 20 March – Applications open
- 30 March – Closing date for bids
- End April – Successful bidders notified, and payment deposit required.
For future years the indication is there will be 350 to 700 hectares of Gold3 released each season from 2023 to 2026, and 500 hectares of Red19 in 2023. Each of these is subject to an annual review.
2022 Harvest Planning
As mentioned last month, Zespri and suppliers are working on several initiatives to help get through the 2022 harvest as smoothly as possible, considering the increased crop to pack and an expected reduction in the number of workers available. These initiatives have now been approved as follows:
• Taste changes – the lag at the start of the taste curve introduced for 2021 will be removed. This means growers will again start to accumulate TZG points as soon as the minimum taste standard is met, increasing the TZG achieved. Different TZG caps by size will remain however, so TZG will not return to levels as high as in 2019. The percentage of fruit + taste that is paid out as taste will be reduced from 70% to 60%. This does not impact the TZG for a maturity area, but it does reduce the dollar value of that TZG. NB there will be a full review of the taste incentive system ahead of the 2023 harvest.
• KiwiStart changes – Zespri have flexibility to increase the volume of trays harvested under KiwiStart allocations by up to 17 million trays. How much extra is paid via KiwiStart will depend on how dry matter is tracking for the season, with more volume to be procured if dry matters are looking low than if they are looking high. This will better utilise harvest and packing capacity through the interval between KiwiStart and main pack for Gold3. Zespri also have the flexibility to reduce the dry matter threshold required for a KiwiStart clearance from 16.3% to 16.1%. This will only occur if dry matter is a constraint on supply (i.e. if it is a low or medium dry matter season).
• Pack mixes – the percentage of layered packs is generally around 35% for Gold3. This will be reduced to around 20% for the 2022 harvest. Bulk packs require fewer staff than layered packs do.</style=”color:>
Red19 Maturity Criteria
The maturity criteria for Red19 harvest are:
• A minimum dry matter threshold of 17.2% with no TZG or taste payments.
• Average Brix needs to be >= 9.0.
• Average pressure to be >= 6.0 kgf.
o Where a maturity area has an average pressure of less than 6.0, dispensation must be sought from Zespri to harvest.
In addition to the harvest criteria for Red19, there are also shipping criteria that must be met:
• The target is for 90% of fruit to be shipped within two weeks of packing.
• Where shipping is more than two weeks after the maturity area’s last on-orchard clearance sample, a 100 fruit sample for pressure must be taken within 48 hours of load.
o No more than 10 fruit in the sample can have a pressure <3.0 for fruit to be exported.
o If more than 10 fruit <3.0 and no more than 4 fruit <0.8 then fruit can be sold on the local market.
o When more than 4 fruit <0.8 kgf, the fruit can be repacked for a local market (at operator’s cost) or removed from inventory.
Pest Management Payment
In recent seasons there has been an increase in the numbers of insect pests found on fruit at harvest. These finds reduce the available markets for lines of fruit, reducing inventory flexibility, and ultimately result in higher fruit loss. Zespri have found an increase in growers not applying recommended sprays after KiwiGreen monitoring (remember that KiwiGreen monitoring is now compulsory).
To incentivize growers to take appropriate action in response to monitoring, Zespri are introducing a 25 cent/tray payment for growers. To qualify for this payment the following conditions must be met:
- The orchard must be monitored by a registered pest monitoring centre and the results entered into the spray diary.
- If monitoring shows any pest is above the threshold, growers must take an approved action.
- Any spray applied must be entered into the spray diary within 14 days of application. The 14 days is yet to be confirmed by the subgroup responsible for setting these rules.
- Evidence of the action must be kept for audit, either during the grower’s GAP audit or by an external auditor (e.g. a receipt of chemical purchase or contractor spray application).
- Payment will be made in December.
Gordon Skipage
Head of Technical
Technical Information
Trevelyan’s Gold3 Spring Field Day – Bassett Orchard
The 2021 Gold3 Conventional Spring Field Day was hosted at Doug and Sue Bassett’s orchard on Atahua Way, Te Puke.
The Bassett orchard has a history of high performance – as a Hayward orchard in the early 2000s it was producing 13,000 – 14,000 te/ha while most were averaging 7000 – 8000 te/ha. Cut over to Gold3 in 2012, the orchard is now a high-producing Gold3 orchard under TMO management.
We had a number of guest speakers including independent consultant Lynda Hawes and Plant and Food scientists Kris Kramer-Walter and Cathy McKenna. Lynda led a good discussion around the findings of her investigation into why some Gold3 orchards struggled to meet Zespri Minimum Taste Standards in 2021 (as reported in last month’s Trevelyan’s Kiwifruit News). Growers were reminded of the relationship between size, dry matter and crop load in Gold3. Plant & Food Research studies show that increasing crop load by 10 additional fruit/m2 can reduce fresh weight by up to 7g and dry matter by 0.6% at harvest (Setting up for success – Getting your Gold3 crop load sorted – Kiwifruit Journal September/October 2017). Following this methodology, shifting from 40 to 60 fruit/m2 could decrease fresh weight by 14g, and dry matter by 1.2% per fruit. In other words, growing less fruit means the fruit you do grow will always be larger and higher in dry matter.
Kris Kramer-Walter spent time discussing trial results relating to the timing of flower pollination and its impact on fruit size and dry matter (June/July 2021 KiwiFruit Journal – Better late than never? Flower timing and fruit quality in Gold3 – Kris Kramer-Walter, Peter Blattmann, Michael Kramer, Patrick Snelgar and Rachelle Anderson – Plant & Food Research). In summary, the work shows the timing of flower opening strongly affects fruit quality within vines – even in a very condensed flowering period. In this trial a 2-day delay in flower opening reduced final fruit fresh weight by 13g, and a 4-day delay reduced final fruit dry matter content by 0.4%.
Our final guest Cathy McKenna talked in detail about control options available to conventional growers to target pests such as scale, leafroller and PVH. One of the key discussion points was the efficacy of Bt leafroller sprays – previous work Cathy has conducted has shown that post-fruitset sprays of Proclaim offers no protection after 7 days, while Bt sprays remain 100% effective at 7 days – in fact Bt still has a 70% “kill rate” after 90 days. Discussion moved to the probable control of Pink Caterpillar, a pest that is becoming increasingly problematic at packing, and does not seem to be controlled when following a “conventional” programme of applying Proclaim after fruitset.
Copies of the Field Day handouts are available here.
Psa Is Alive And Well In The BOP
There are plenty of reports of Psa this spring – leaf spotting appears to be common in all varieties (including Red19) and there are numerous reports of cane dieback in Gold3.
Maintaining a strong Psa programme over the coming weeks remains important – once we start hitting summer temperatures, the incidence of Psa will lessen.
Copper is often considered the backbone of most Psa programmes, but remember copper requires regular re-application to ensure coverage of new and expanding growth. Avoid mixing copper with foliar fertilisers and Movento® as this may cause damage to the leaf etc. Caution must be used when applying copper (or any products) after fruitset due to the risk of staining fruit. Apply coppers only as required in response to weather events, and always apply in good drying conditions.
Many growers now “swap-out” copper for Aureo Gold® – a BioGro™ certified “yeast like” product that claims Psa efficacy comparable to copper, while not having the same phytotoxicity or fruit staining risks. If you have concerns regarding using copper, Aureo Gold® is an effective alternative pre-flowering tool and is available to use for the first 6 weeks after fruitset.
Bactericides such as Kasumin® and KeyStrepto™ are considered the “big hitters” of the Psa spray programme and do a very good job “sanitising” Psa within the orchard. But don’t be mistaken – neither of these products will cure the Psa that lurks within the vine, rather they just reduce external levels of Psa. If you are within 21 days of flowering, do not use Kasumin® as this may lead to residues in fruit at harvest. If you are within 21 days of flowering, KeyStrepto™ may be applied (under JA) until 7 days before the start of flowering. Contact the Zespri Crop Protection team for more information on whether KeyStrepto™ may be an option for you.
Finally, Actigard® is a powerful Psa tool but must not be applied to stressed vines. Actigard® activates the plant’s own natural defence system so it can “fight the effects of Psa” – Actigard® itself does not kill Psa. The response of the plant to an Actigard® application kills Psa. Note however, it takes 4-7 days for the plant’s defence system to be activated to the point where it can defend itself against Psa so it must be applied a few days prior to when protection is needed.
Green Growers – Don’t Forget Your Pre-Flower Trunk Girdle!
If your green variety has a history of flower bud rot, then you should consider conducting a trunk girdle about 30 days before the start of flowering. The spring trunk girdle has proven to be a reliable tool in reducing Psa budrot and improving productivity in Hayward and G14. However, research results reported in the Sep/Oct 2017 edition of the Kiwifruit Journal (Flower budrot and the preflowering girdle – Beth Kyd and William Max) showed reductions in spring canopy growth on some trial sites. While this is likely to be isolated to specific sites or vines, it is important to consider this as a possible negative impact on otherwise healthy vines – if your site does not have a history of Psa budrot and/or Psa pressure is not high, consider not doing a pre-flower trunk girdle.
Do not use on Gold3 as it may stall growth resulting in bud/fruitlet abortion, small and low dry matter fruit.
Crop Protection
Scale
Don’t panic if you’ve missed your pre-flower window to apply Movento® – an application of 1% mineral oil in good drying conditions within 14 days of fruitset (HW) or 21 days (Gold3) is an extremely effective tool to manage scale post-fruitset
Leafroller
With fruit being most susceptible to leafroller damage in the 8 weeks after fruitset, now is the time to think about control options. Zespri indicates Prodigy may be phased out soon so thought should be given to alternative control measures.
Applying Bt (i.e. Bio-Bit® DF) immediately after fruitset and again 14 days later is a proven and effective tool to manage leafroller – and has shown to have a longer efficacy (control) in kiwifruit than Proclaim.
Sclerotinia
Conventional growers are effectively controlling sclerotinia with a single application of Luna® Privilege as close to the start of flowering as possible. Luna® Privilege is less effective the further from the start of flowering it is applied. However, don’t be tempted to push too far into flowering as it may result in residues at harvest.
Timorex® Gold achieves good control of sclerotinia when applied during the flowering period. This is also a BioGro™ certified product and should be applied at the start and end of flowering. While it is considered a bee safe product, applications should be made in the evenings while bees are not actively foraging.
BOTRY-Zen® is another BioGro™ certified product with proven efficacy for sclerotinia. Like Timorex® Gold, BOTRY-Zen® should be applied at early and late bloom and while the bees are not actively foraging.
Organic growers have successfully managed sclerotinia for decades by simply growing their sward long prior to flowering, while others choose to mow the long sward just prior to the start of flowering. Both approaches result in the sward acting as a blanket, effectively trapping the sclerotinia spores under the sward, preventing them from infecting fruitlets.
Plant and Food Research trials suggest that sclerotinia-infected flowers and fruit should be removed from the orchard and not simply dropped on the ground – work presented by Stephen Hoyte at the “Future Pest Fighting Tools Event” (October 2020) titled “Integrated control of sclerotinia: Risk prediction, Cultural, Biological and Integrated control options” suggests that dropping these will promote further infection the following year.
Refer to the Trevelyan’s Spray Guides or Zespri Crop Protection Standard for more information.
Thinking About Sizing Your Gold3 After Fruitset?
In the August edition of Kiwiflier, Zespri has announced the preferred Gold3 fruit size for 2022 as 28.1 (CK) and 29.0 (OB) and many Gold3 growers will be considering their fruit sizing tools after pollination. Some of the common tools used are:
- Size girdle
- Many Gold3 growers rely on a 4-week girdle (post-fruitset) to promote fruit size, or a 6-week girdle to have some fruit size influence but also a canopy vigour suppression effect.
- Benefit Kiwi
- A 2016 report published by FruitFed Supplies (The efficacy of Benefit Kiwi for increasing fruit size in Kiwifruit – Tayah Ryan etal) indicates that one application of Benefit Kiwi (by Valagro) at 3L/ha at 6 days after full bloom resulted in an average gain of 12g per fruit without reducing dry matter. Valagro now support this trial and recommend to apply one application of Benefit Kiwi at 3L/ha (in 1000L water) within the first 30 days after full bloom.
- Growers observe that the temperature of the day of, and the day following, the application date can influence the canopy;
- Applying Benefit Kiwi on hot/more humid days (with a hot/humid day following the application date) results in a greater canopy suppression affect while increasing fruit size.
- Applying Benefit Kiwi on cooler/less humid days (with a cooler/less humid day following the application date) results in a milder canopy suppression affect while increasing fruit size.
- Do not apply Benefit Kiwi within 7 days of copper.
- KRISS
- Works in a similar manner to Benefit Kiwi by increasing fruit size if applied in the first 30 days after full bloom (preferable in the first 10 days)
- LB Urea
- Some growers report using a single LB Urea application at 0.75% (i.e. 750g/100L) applied around 10-14 days after fruitset as effective.
Dave Parsons
Grower Liaison / Organic Manager
The End Is Nigh…..
Greetings. With the GAOB shipping programme now complete and HWOB due to be completed within the next few weeks, now is probably an opportune time for a brief wrap up of the season along with some comment from our recent field day and a brief mention on pollination.
Trevelyan’s GAOB fruit loss (at time of writing) sits at 0.83%, compared to 0.22% in 2020. This is however, on the back of an increased volume of almost 500,000 trays, labour issues and a COVID-ravaged supply chain. It is still below the industry average of 1.21%. At a KPIN level, losses ranged from 0.04% – 3.3%, but this is influenced by factors such as shipping, market restrictions, size profile and packaging. Any outstanding volumes shown on your Inventory Reports will be trays on part pallets which should be reconciled, sold, and removed from inventory by the week of 24th October.
Our Inventory Manager (Donna Atkinson) commented that HWOB is having a “stellar” season with over 98% shipped and a Trevelyan’s fruit loss of 0.26%, compared to an industry loss of 1.31% at time of writing. The bulk of the crop will be shipped by 12th November, with the last of it heading to Japan around 10 days later.
Teresa Whitehead (Zespri Organic Supply Specialist) spoke at our recent spring field day and made the following comments in relation to sales this year:
- COVID has caused logistical problems in shipping fruit to the USA, specifically the West Coast, with Zespri considering other possible logistic solutions.
- There is only 10% of the GAOB crop and 27% of HWOB left to sell.
- HWOB sales started slowly due to a delay in harvest combined with shipping constraints but there has been an uplift in post-summer sales within the market.
The COKA Executive met on Thursday 21st October, followed by a General Meeting. Discussed was the fact that we were all surprised by the decision of the Zespri Board not to release GAOB license next year. Teresa Whitehead explained the decision was made as Zespri feel there is sufficient volume at this stage (with conventional orchards converting and the existing GAOB license release volumes coming into production), with an annual increase of 600,000 trays being sufficient to maintain a strong and stable return. The decision will be reviewed annually. However, COKA are seeking further clarification and detail on the matter.
With pollination fast approaching, just a reminder of its importance in the production of your final crop. (Reference – OPC Webinar One: Maximize Pollination & Reduce Viability, 2019). https://canopy.zespri.com/EN/grow/crop/pollination/Pages/Basics.aspx
With HW there is a strong relationship between seed numbers and fruit size. A HW fruit can set up to 1600 seeds but needs at least 800 set before it becomes export size, and the ratio between dry matter (DM) to seeds flattens after 1000 seeds are set.
With G3 the relationship is quite different. We were reminded last season that fruit weight (size) is not necessarily a good indicator of how well some fruit is pollinated. G3 requires 200 seeds to become export size, however, if you can increase that to 600 seeds set, you can increase DM by up to 2%.
Richard Klaus (Trevelyan’s Grower/Beekeeper) has raised some interesting points that require inclusion:
- If you’re going to mow your orchard, ensure this is done before the bees arrive.
- Mowing late in the day or early evening will still kill significant numbers of bees, as some of the workers will overnight in the sward.
- There is very little nutritional value to bees in kiwifruit pollen, so ensuring there are some flowers within the sward towards the end of pollination will encourage the bees to remain in your orchard. They are most attracted to yellow flowers, such as dandelion or yarrow.
- The most efficient bee killer is oil. If you are going to spray before your bees arrive, ensure it is touch dry. If still damp, bees ingest the oil and it blocks their breathing tubes, smothering them. Ideally spray well in advance to your bees arriving.
Thanks to those growers who attended our recent Spring Organic Field Day at Jeff and Shirley Roderick’s orchard. For those who couldn’t make it, we were lucky enough to have Teresa Whitehead (Zespri), Gary Geurtz (Biolchim), and Cathy McKenna as speakers. Copies of the Field Day handouts are available on the Trevelyan’s Grower Website (Trevelyan’s > Resources > Field Day Presentations).
Finally, I hope the weather plays its part for your pollination and thank you for your continued support.
Sarah Lei
Sustainability Manager
Efficient Water Use
As we move into spring and summer, irrigation is just around the corner for many growers so it seems timely to focus on sustainable water use.
Zespri introduced the kiwifruit industry’s sustainability targets at the Momentum Conference in February 2020, including specific targets relating to water.
Prior to this, A Water Strategy for the Kiwifruit Industry was developed in 2019 in partnership with New Zealand Kiwifruit Growers Incorporated, Zespri, Māori Kiwifruit Growers Incorporated, Horticulture New Zealand and growers. This sets out objectives on how we can best manage water on orchards.
This strategy identifies the challenges and opportunities for the kiwifruit industry and sets out a plan for how the industry will respond and deliver progress. It is supported by five key principles which provide a framework to help guide decision-making:
- Water is a treasure (He taonga te wai)
- We are all guardians and caretakers (Ko tātou katoa ngā kaitiaki)
- Look to the horizon and beyond (Titiro ki te paetawhiti)
- Prosperity from the earth and sky (Oranga nuku, Oranga rangi)
- The mark of leadership (Te amokura Rangatira)
There are also five key areas for implementing the Strategy: Leadership, The Policy Group, Growing Our People, Research and Information, Collaboration.
Since announcing the water targets, Zespri have undertaken a number of initiatives to support progress in this area:
- Expanded research and innovation projects to answer key questions on water and nutrients on kiwifruit orchards.
- Working with the Government to encourage better management of water resources nationally.
- Workshops to support growers to optimise production through efficient water use.
I recently attended Zespri’s Irrigation Basics Bucket Test Workshop at Golden Meadows Orchard in Pukehina hosted by GET (Global Extension Team). This was a follow-on from the Irrigation Basics Workshop which helped growers determine their water budget. Some of the key points covered were:
- It makes good business sense to optimise water use to ensure maximum productivity and fruit size, without wasting a precious resource.
- Demonstrating efficient water use is important for our customers, our communities and our regulators.
- Efficient irrigation ensures healthy vines, reduces pumping costs and minimises waste and nutrient run-off.
- Water stress in vines can take time to show up and can have a significant impact on fruit size.
We were shown how to undertake a bucket test to assess the performance of the irrigation system and we reviewed the results of this test. While the process itself was a little complicated initially, it is easy to see the value in taking time to understand the irrigation systems on an orchard both to meet sustainability goals and ensure efficient production.
Like many other sustainability issues, water is a complex subject which will require increased monitoring, effort and collaboration to achieve the industry’s sustainability targets. At Trevelyan’s we look forward to being a part of this journey.
Colin Olesen
TGL Chair
Your Directors, at their October meeting, reviewed the Industry 2022 Season Planning paper and gave their support to it. Hail insurance cover (or rather the lack of its availability in the commercial insurance world), was also discussed along with the usual top up insurance that TGL arrange (which is also no longer available commercially).
Your Directors examined the fundamentals of what a TGL self-insurance top up cover fund might look like, and resolved to canvass the opinions of growers through TPCL Grower Services before a detailed analysis is considered. The question is ‘should growers assess and take their own risk in this area or seek TGL to arrange this top up cover from the grower pool?’ Please ensure you have your input to this important risk area.
The future of Hi-Cane spray is being considered through the EPA reassessment. Your Directors resolved not to make a TGL submission, rather to encourage all of our growers to make individual submissions. Assistance with putting in a submission, which close near the end of November, is available from Gordon Skipage.
Alister Hawkey, one of the three TPCL-appointed Directors to the TGL Board, resigned as a Director at the October meeting and has been replaced by Ian Coventry, the CFO of TPCL. Alister has been a TGL Director since the start of TGL and was instrumental in the creation of TGL. Thank you Alister for your valuable contribution at TGL Board level over many years and we wish you well in your next step of reducing your commitments.
Our Company Annual General Meeting is set for Wednesday 17 November 2021.
The formal Annual General Meeting notice, issued separately, states the time and location. For Director elections, Simon Cook, Heather Hawkey, Paul Singleton and myself are standing for the three positions available. Voting closes at 5pm on Thursday 4 November 2021. Please exercise your vote.
My Chair’s Annual Report has been emailed to all growers. The TGL audited financials for the year ended 31st March 2021 are available from Deb or Kelly and copies will be at the AGM.
The term of our current Associate Directors Heather Hawkey and Joga Singh ends 31st December 2021. Applications will be shortly called for an Associate Director for the 2022 calendar year. This is an excellent opportunity for someone to attend and observe your Directors’ meetings and participate in the significant range of subjects discussed perhaps with a view to becoming an elected Director at a future time. The application form can be obtained from Deb or Kelly. Applications close 26th November 2021.
I look forward to seeing as many growers as possible attending our AGM.
Staff Profile: Thomas Rodda
What is your role and how long have you worked at Trevelyan’s?
I have started as the Grounds, Waste & Recycling Supervisor leading the Grounds team. I started mid-October.
What’s your favourite thing about working at Trevelyan’s?
The challenge of getting to zero waste plus working at an organic packhouse.
What are your main interests/hobbies outside of work?
Fresh water fishing, golf and gardening.
What would you like people to know about you?
I have got a French Bulldog called Turtle.