“We ve never had so much turnover. A lot of them, haven t got staying power. “Our biggest requirement is for potato and onion harvesting. We re about halfway through the onions and 25 per cent through potatoes. “I m confident we ll harvest them all. It s highly mechanised now with only one 10th labour required compared to 50 years ago when it was largely manual labour.” Turley said they had been fortunate to get nine essential skilled staff from England, Ireland and France for driving harvesters.
John Bisset/Stuff
Boners working hard at Alliance Smithfield, Timaru. The company is seeking boners, butchers and labourers. (File photo)
He said the large staff numbers came off the back of a successful calf processing season in which records numbers were processed. ‘’We are acutely aware that it has been a challenging time for farmers in the region with the severely dry lead-up to Christmas followed by significant wet periods. ‘’This swing in the weather has made planning on farm challenging.’ “We are now in the middle of a critical period for meeting orders for Easter lamb for UK consumers, and chilled pricing for in-spec stock is favourable, despite the global market uncertainty.”
Bejon Haswell/Stuff
Alliance Smithfield plant manager in Timaru, Karen Morris, says December rain combined with warm temperatures has been good news for farmers.
While it had been about ten years since Kaaboka left Kiribati for New Zealand, he met his partner online two years ago. Connecting over their shared birthplace, they chatted for a long time before agreeing to meet in Fiji, where Meretia was studying. The first and last time they saw each other was towards the end of 2019, when their son was conceived and months before Covid-19 shut down the world. “By the time I got back, she said she was pregnant. I was so happy,” Kaaboka said. “My plan was to bring her here, but she can’t come here at the moment because of the virus.”
We talk every day : Border restrictions keep Kiribati-born man from fiancée and infant son stuff.co.nz - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from stuff.co.nz Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.