Packhouse / Coolstore Update
The fruit presented to us by our Growers this year has been of a consistently high standard and quality. As has been well
publicised the Industry Green crop ballooned out from just under 71m Trays in 2014 to 84m trays this season and remarkably
the average fruit size also increased a whole count size! (From 33.45 to 32.42). Almost 60% of our Hayward Taste achieved
a Y and this also put us well ahead of the Industry. These statistics haven’t disappointed with the crop storing extremely well.
Many thanks to you all for your efforts.
We have been very pleased with the new Coolstores performance. Following precooling and placement in the new stores the
temperatures of the fruit in the pallets dropped down very evenly throughout the store and in a shorter timeframe than
anticipated. The full racking and the good air movement has made a difference! We have been able to keep double stacking
to a minimum (used only for short term product) and the off-shore (Intercheck) outcomes have been excellent.
All new varieties and 16A have now been shipped. For 16A, G3/GA and Sweet Green varieties we are pleased with the very
good performance and very low fruit loss overall. The G9/ Charm has been a great improvement this year with fruit loss similar
to the rest of the industry. Interestingly a small volume of Class 2 Charm still in store is still in perfect condition!
Currently our HW Green is tracking well both onshore and offshore. We have three more European orders going at the end of
September and early October and four more sailings for Japan, the last one going in early November. The final orders will be
into China in late November.
Our special programmes are tracking well with significantly higher volumes this year in comparison to last year. This fruit will
earn a premium. It is perhaps timely to remember that fruit that is designated “All Markets” is extremely valuable when it
comes to inventory management so thank you for keeping a strong focus on your Crop Protection Programme.
Please don’t hesitate to contact me at any time with any queries.
Nell Dawson
Aongatete Operations Manager
Comparative Reports
As many of our growers will know, spring is when Aongatete releases the comparative reports for the finished packing
season. These reports are excellent tools for evaluating how your orchard is performing from year to year as well as how it
performs relative to the rest of the orchards in the Aongatete pool. They aim to give you a complete breakdown of your crop,
including components of yield, maturity and quality attributes as well as the resulting OGR forecast to help tie all these aspects together.
Both Aimee and I have been working hard since we finished packing, gathering information on every grower line and
presenting them in these convenient reports. Once we get the finalised financial information from Zespri we will start rolling
out both our Hayward and GA reports to all of our growers very shortly.
The aim of these reports is to give every grower the information they require to maximise the profitability of their crop for the
following years. If anybody would like clarification on any of the information contained within their report, or would like any
additional information included, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us here and we will do our best to assist you.
Nathan Johnson
Fruit Quality Analyst
New Airport X-ray Installed
Continued pressure from the Primary Industry and especially Hort NZ and KVH is resulting in some improvements...refer
article “new Airin “AgBrief” as follows:
“Four new bio-security x-ray machines have been installed at international airports to prevent passengers bringing in unwanted pests or diseases. The machines, at Auckland, Christchurch and Queenstown, will provide better reliability and increased
capacity, along with improved image quality and functionality. MPI has now installed 19 new x-ray machines around the country over the past three years. An additional new machine is earmarked for Wellington airport, and one more will shortly go into
International Mail Centre in Auckland. (Rural News).”
3
Ballance Tour & Fertiliser Programs
On Friday 21st of August the Aongatete Technical Team went for a visit to Ballance Agri-Nutrients processing plant on Maru
Street, Mt Maunganui. During our visit we were shown around by Alex Beck (Maru Street Service Centre Manager), Lisa Locke
(Dispatch Team Leader), Shaun Vickers (Horticultural Specialist), and Sam Casey (Production Coordinator),
The visit gave us an appreciation of the massive scale of the Ballance Bay of Plenty operation. The tour included seeing the
different areas of the business including the Service Centre, the individual bagging areas, bulk order bagging areas and the
gargantuan sheds in which the fertilisers are stored.
The Ballance site at Maru Street has an output of just shy of 300,000 tonnes of fertiliser annually, which has increased over the
last few years as a result of Alex and his team coming up with clever ways to make the plant efficient, including the process to
eliminate wastage and utilize old fert bags to produce bio-fuel.
We left Ballance with a greater understanding of one of the key companies that Aongatete deal with, and an idea of just how big
a part fertiliser supplier’s play in all horticultural and agricultural industries.
Ethan, Hinga and Alex in front of Mountain of Fertiliser at the Ballance Maru Street Site.
Fertiliser Programs
By now all winter bases and first round of side dressing should be applied to both green and gold varieties. It is essential to have
the side dressings applied when recommended in order for the nutrient being in the soil and ready for uptake by the plants
during periods of high nutrient demand.
GOLD
GREEN
PRODUCT
Early July
(Completed)
Early July
(Completed)
Lime/ Gypsum
Late July
(Completed)
Early August
(Completed)
Winter Base
Late August
(Completed)
Early September
(Completed)
Bud Burst (side-dressing)
Late October
Early November
Pre Flower (side-dressing)
Early December
Mid December
Summer (side-dressing)
Please remember that if you have any questions concerning your fertiliser recommendation to contact Hinga Marsh
(021 047 1013) or me.
Ethan England
Aongatete Technical Support—021 0215 7062
4
NIWA Outlook—August to October 2015
Graphical representation of the regional probabilities, Seasonal
Climate Outlook August to October 2015.
New Zealand rainfall during previous strongest El Nino
events in 1972/73, 1982/83 and 1997/98.
NIWA outlook is predicting a strong El Niño effect (with SOI of -2.0) for the summer, December-February 2015/16. This is
expected to bring drier conditions to the Bay of Plenty region as experienced in 1972/73, 1982/83 and 1997/98. Above is the
trends in average rainfall over NZ during the last 3 strongest El Niño events.
What does this mean for kiwifruit production in the region?
Planning should start now to ensure irrigation systems are “clean” and have a reliable water source. It is important that the
irrigation system is operational from November onwards. If you don’t have irrigation on your orchard there are some cultural
practices you could try to aid in reducing water loss from the orchard system. These include keeping a healthy grass sward under the canopy and where poor grass sward is present – consider re-sowing grass seed to help with this. Reducing the width of
the herbicide strip can help reduce water loss from evaporation. Even removing the herbicide strip and mowing with zero-turn to
keep grass cover will help. Mulching of the strip with organic compost is also shown to be effective for reducing water loss and
adding organic matter.
Hinga Marsh
Horticulture Technical Manager
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
if you have seen a “spare” lifting frame
around, please either contact Bernie Cookson
on 027 536 3754 or Aongatete Coolstores
at 07 552 0916, many thanks!
5
All Fruit All Markets—Aongatete 2016
Now that winter pruning is completed and budburst is well underway it is imperative that we make sure our crop protection
programme is being carried out at the right time with the right products and at the right rates (see previous newsletter’s CPP –
Crop Protection Programme 2015).
Recent reports of PSA exudate in Green males also points to the fact that we can’t be complacent with the PSA protection
program through autumn and spring high risk periods in particular. It is crucial that our pest and disease control allows us to
achieve our mantra of “all fruit all markets”.
Right time –use agrichemicals at correct stage of plant development, in acceptable periods watching the right number of sprays
allowed during each period (dormant bud phase etc.). Applying agrichemicals outside of the PHI can lead to the risk of residue
MRL’s and non-compliance with market restrictions. Ensure optimal spray conditions when spraying i.e. avoid windy conditions/
rain.
Right products – applying only agrichemicals listed on CPP or Allowed Other Compound (AOC) or other products with a
Justified Approval for off label use. Avoid tank mixes of 4 or more products. Ensure appropriate use of adjuvants with or
without air inclusion nozzles – and always check spray coverage is optimised by placing water sensitive paper in the canopy to
check effective water rates.
Right rates – applying agrichemicals at the recommended label rates gives the best efficacy and reduces the possibility
of resistance or tolerance to agrichemicals – again avoiding tank mixing of 4 or more agrichemicals whenever practicable is also
recommended.
The financial cost of any non-compliance comes in the:
1. Opportunity cost of restricting fruit access to premium markets.
2. Reduction of individual growers returns but also the Grower Pool Entity returns by limiting its flexibility to load fruit in a systematic fashion as required. As an example, if all fruit were available for all markets the entity would be free to draw down the
more “at risk lines” first while keeping the “better storing lines” for later in the period maximises returns. If non-compliance is
then added to the ‘equation’ this can quickly limit the entities choices of which fruit can be drawn down, leading to the possibility
of better storing lines being loaded out when they would have preferred to keep them!
Recently, I attended a Zespri crop protection forum where it was suggested that in the future a financial penalty may need to be
imposed on producers who fail to comply with these guidelines.
If we all aim to get ‘all fruit all markets’, then everyone can enjoy the financial benefits from this.
Pre-Flower Girdle
Those orchards with a history of bud rot, sepal stain and/or are a high risk of PSA infections should consider the following
cultural control – a pre-flowering girdle (PFG). We have used PFG on approximately 12 ha last spring and while these orchards
produced well it is difficult to assess how much was due to PFG or for other reasons – such as a favourable flowering season.
If you are considering PFG here are a few tips:







Hayward - best results when applied 30-40 days pre-flower.
G14 - best results when applied 20-30 days pre-flower.
Complete girdle with chain or double knife – with high PSA hygiene protocols between vines.
Estimate flowering date at 80-90% (full bloom) using past records and winter chill data.
Infographics for Te Puke can be found on Zespri canopy these give historic industry dates.
Winter canes spaced at 300mm to give good air movement in the summer canopy.
Summer crush tipping at the right time to maintain an open canopy up to flowering.
PSA crop protection program should be as comprehensive as possible.
Any queries please contact me at the Packhouse (07) 552 0916 or 021 047 1013.
Hinga Marsh
Aongatete Technical Manager
6