Wednesday, 02 August 2023 10:25

Apple growers in waiting game in the wake of Gabrielle

Written by  Peter Burke
Hawke’s Bay may have to wait up to three months to find out to what degree their trees have survived from the ravages of Cyclone Gabrielle. Photo Credit: RNZ Hawke’s Bay may have to wait up to three months to find out to what degree their trees have survived from the ravages of Cyclone Gabrielle. Photo Credit: RNZ

Some apple orchardists in Hawke's Bay will have to wait up to three months to find out to what degree their trees have survived from the ravages of Cyclone Gabrielle.

Apples and Pears NZ, which represents growers, says September is when the buds normally start appearing on trees. But chair Richard Punter says there is no guarantee that all the trees that are still standing have survived and can produce again to their full potential.

He says orchardists have done all the clean-up work, such as clearing silt away from around the apple trees and repairing damaged structures. Also, the Government has given the go-ahead to burn some daaged items, with certain guidelines.

"But it's only when the buds start to appear or not appear that growers wil have some idea of what the 2024 season may look like for them," Punter told Hort News.

Punter says that even a good bud burst is not absolute guarante that all will be well. The science is still out on the actual long term health and productivity of a tree that's undergone the stress and damage of Cyclone Gabrielle. He says questions remain about the yield of trees in 2024 and whether they will go downhill in production terms in coming seasons.

"The wait between bud burst and apples on the trees is the third phase of the equation."

Some orchardists who have what they think are viable trees, while other growers are going through the challenging process of seeing exactly what help is forth coming from the Government.

Hort News is aware that while growers were clearly told there would be no more grants, some had hoped that in the end this may not be the case. As a result, some are still unhappy with the Government offer.

It has put together a range of measures, which effectively offer underwriting bank loans and promising concessionary interest rates to growers. The Government itself is offering loans to growers. But there are conditions: such options are only available to fully commercial operations and they must be able to repay any debt over time. In essence they must be bankable.

For some growers whose land and trees have disappeared and who were already heavily in debt before Cyclone Gabrielle, the chances of accessing government refinancing options are limited.

Punter says there has been some confusion about the details in the government recovery package and he is hoping that this will be clarified in the near future. He believes a key issue will be knowing the exact interest rates for each option.

More like this

Editorial: Testing times

OPINION: Our hearts go out to the farmers and rural communities in Southland and Otago who are battling an onslaught of adverse weather.

Farmer woes

Wairoa Mayor Craig Little says things are still not back to normal for farmers in his district and they are still suffering from problems caused by Cyclone Gabrielle.

Featured

Massey Research Field Day attracts huge interest

More than 200 people turned out on Thursday, November 21 to see what progress has been made on one of NZ's biggest and most comprehensive agriculture research programmes on regenerative agriculture.

Expo set to wow again

Stellar speakers, top-notch trade sites, innovation, technology and connections are all on offer at the 2025 East Coast Farming Expo being once again hosted in Wairoa in February.

A year of global challenges

As a guest of the Italian Trade Association, Rural News Group Machinery Editor Mark Daniel took the opportunity to make an early November dash to Bologna to the 46th EIMA exhibition.

National

Scanning data at your fingertips

A partnership between two technology companies in Hawke's Bay is making orchard data more easily accessible to growers using new…

Machinery & Products

NH unveils specialty tractor

New Holland recently showcased its new-generation T4.120 F specialty tractor, giving New Zealand customers a closer look at the winner…

Combining track and tyre

While the last fifty years has seen massive evolution and development of the humble tractor tyre, the last two decades…

Croplands goes nuts with Nelson

Croplands and Nelson Manufacturing Company Inc, a California-based manufacturer of air-blast sprayers, has announced a new distribution partnership to deliver…

» Latest Print Issues Online

The Hound

Review SOEs!

OPINION: NIWA has long weathered complaints about alleged stifling of competition in forecasting, and more recently, claims of lack of…

Bank reset

OPINION: Adding to calls to get banks to 'back off', NZ Agri Brokers director Andrew Laming has revealed that the…

» eNewsletter

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter