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Hawke s Bay apple growers face picking crisis

Photo: Susan Murray RNZ Mr Yummy apples grower and owner Paul Paynter said he was leaving fruit on large trees that were difficult to pick and some trees would only get picked once rather than two or three times. Paynter said it was even worse for owner-operator orchards. The big corporates like us have HR departments and are relatively sophisticated, but the smaller growers really suffer. They re really struggling because they re only picking on Sunday and they re not picking the rest of the week. Some pickers are picking for everybody else (corporates) for six days and only going to them on Sundays. So they can t find people . they aren t getting anyone coming through the doors, he said.

Apple growers pulling out trees because there are not enough pickers for harvest

The effects of the Government s policy to limit the number of exemptions for Registered Seasonal Employers (RSE) workers, mainly from the Pacific Islands, this year to just 2000 due to border closures had now hit home for growers. Government initiatives to attract kiwis had not proved effective, he said. “With the best intentions they have called it horribly wrong and our region is going to suffer the consequences. As a business owner you’re better off to be a little bit smaller and get the job done, rather than sticking your neck out and losing a lot,” Paynter said. MARTIN DE RUYTER/STUFF

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