Apple, pear sector hits milestone
OPINION: Earlier this month, we received the exciting news that New Zealand’s apple and pear sector had surpassed $1 billion in revenue for the very first time.
More Pacific Island workers won’t solve the acute labour shortage faced by New Zealand orchards and vineyards.
Apple and Pear New Zealand chief executive Alan Pollard told the HortNZ Conference in Hamilton today that even if the full Government quota of 14,400 Pacific workers are allowed into New Zealand, it won’t solve the labour shortage issue.
Pollard says workers in orchards normally come in equal numbers from three sources: Pacific Islands, backpackers and domestic workforce. The lack of backpackers and local workers remains a major issue.
“Normally, we have 50,000 backpackers in the country; right now there are less than 10,000 of them here,” says Pollard.
On the local workforce, Pollard says low unemployment figures out this week mean all sectors are competing for a smaller pool of workers.
However, Pollard says removing quarantine requirements for incoming Pacific Island workers brought a sense of relief.
He says it wasn’t a surprise, because the thinking had been changing within the Government during the past few months.
MIQ-free travel would allow more workers to come into NZ and growers won’t be required to pay for MIQ costs. The Government has capped Pacific workers under the Recognised Seasonal Employment (RSE) scheme at 14,400.
At present about 7,000 RSE workers are in New Zealand. However, about 5,000 of these workers have been here nearly two years and need to go back home to their families. Their stay had been extended due to travel restrictions triggered by Covid.
The Government allows 150 Pacific workers into the country every 16 days and, with quarantine requirements removed, the inflow of workers will grow.
Kiwis are wasting less of their food than they were two years ago, and this has been enough to push New Zealand’s total household food waste bill lower, the 2025 Rabobank KiwiHarvest Food Waste survey has found.
OPINION: Sir Lockwood Smith has clearly and succinctly defined what academic freedom is all about, the boundaries around it and the responsibility that goes with this privilege.
DairyNZ says its plantain programme continues to deliver promising results, with new data confirming that modest levels of plantain in pastures reduce nitrogen leaching, offering farmers a practical, science-backed tool to meet environmental goals.
'Common sense' cuts to government red tape will make it easier for New Zealand to deliver safe food to more markets.
Balclutha farmer Renae Martin remembers the moment she fell in love with cows.
Academic freedom is a privilege and it's put at risk when people abuse it.
OPINION: For years, the ironically named Dr Mike Joy has used his position at Victoria University to wage an activist-style…
OPINION: A mate of yours truly has had an absolute gutsful of the activist group SAFE.