Kiwilink - Apata

kiwilink
CEO Comment
Steve Low
Welcome to
a refreshed
edition of Kiwilink. Earlier
in the month I attended the ZESPRItM 2011 Annual General Meeting. I came
away with a sense of how powerful our
kiwifruit industry is, in both organic and
conventional categories. New Zealand
now has approximately 2,700 kiwifruit
growers and in 2010/11 ZESPRItM sold
over 106 million trays of premium
quality kiwifruit to more than 50
countries. That is good news and should
be celebrated.
However, a shadow has fallen across
the kiwifruit industry, and with the
recent discovery of Psa-V with secondary
symptoms on some kiwifruit orchards
outside the previous Priority Zone, the
Priority Zone has been extended to
the whole of the Te Puke region and a
new Tauranga Priority Zone to include
Papamoa, Matapihi and part of Welcome
Bay to Ohauiti Road. High risk areas now
include the whole region of Whakatane/
Edgecumbe and all of Tauranga. Psa,
it seems, is here to stay and while we
wait for research within the scientific
community to find a solution to the
disease, everyone must continue to
put 100 percent effort into adhering
to Kiwifruit Vine Health recommended
protocols.
For those kiwifruit growers who
also pack avocados with Apata, export
avocado packing began last week. There
is excitement in the air as the biggest
ever avocado season predicted is now
upon us. With many avocado orchards
adjacent to kiwifruit, the position Apata
took in implementing strict Psa hygiene
protocols during the kiwifruit harvest,
has been continued as we now progress
into avocados. Our commitment to
following full bin sanitisation and other
Psa procedures will continue as we do
everything we can to assist growers in
the ongoing fight against Psa.
The coming weeks and months will
no doubt continue to throw up fresh
challenges to us all, and I urge you to
continue to keep yourselves updated
on the continual flow of information
coming out around understanding and
managing Psa - so you can make the best
decisions for your orchard to protect
your investment and your future.
Season Update
Bevan Bayne
Grower Services Manager
2011 Zespri Forecast Orchard
Gate Returns: an early view.
ZESPRI tM has published its August
forecast and, as expected, tray returns
are below that of 2010. What growers
will experience, however, is that with
increased yields on average last season
the per hectare results will be up for
many growers.
Zespri tM OGR August 2011
Green $3.59
Organic $5.52
Gold $7.34
When we receive this information
at Apata we then prodcue our own
forecasts to give an indicative Apata
OGR for your individual orchard and
send this out with your payment on
15 September. It’s early days yet as
some of the forecasts (in particular
Green conventional), involve making
predictions on fruit loss , costs , and time
payments on fruit that will be sold right
$ Return per TE
$1.40
$1.20
$1.00
$0.80
$0.60
$0.40
$0.20
$0.00
Time $ POOL TE 2011 vs 2010
August 2011
What’s inside
• CEO Comment
• Season Update
• Staff Profile:
Geoff Munro
• Grower Profile:
Patrick Downard
• Organics
• Technical Talk
• Operations
• What’s On
through to December, and potentially
the New Year. In the case of Gold
fruit the picture is clearer as a large
proportion of the fruit is shipped or
sold so we can give growers an early
indication of our results.
Gold
The Apata Gold pool is performing
better than industry average. Even with
less kiwistart than industry, the pool
has better taste, time payments, pack
price, and MDP although higher fruit loss
and rework costs balance some of the
upside.
Green Conventional
Apata Green pool OGR is likely to be
close to the ZESPRItM 2011 Apata Forecast
forecast. Good
time earnings are negated somewhat by
variable and softening lines that have
incurred high re-working costs. Also as
a pool we had lower kiwistart volumes
than industry but higher taste.
Green 2011 Green 2010 Green Organic 2011 1 Green Organic 2010 Gold 2011 Gold 2010
Fruit Group

Green ORGANIC
Not surprisingly with over half the
industry organic fruit packing at Apata
we pretty much set the average. Our
forecast suggests the organic pool
will be similar to the ZESPRI forecast
even though we have considerably less
Kiwistart. Good time payments are
being achieved and we look forward to
updating organic growers as more fruit is
shipped.
Once again thank you for your support
and we look forward to bringing you your
individual OGR’s next month.
Staff Profile
Geoff Munro
Organic Coolstore
Manager
G eoff Munro is the Coolstore
Manager at Apata Pyes Pa
Organics and has been there for a
whopping 28 years straight.
He was introduced to the kiwifruit
industry through a government-funded
job scheme that was big news in the
Bay of Plenty during the 1980s. Geoff
accepted a cadetship as a young man
and was soon invited to join as a
permanent staff member.
The Pyes Pa site is where Geoff
spends a lot of his time: “I’ve enjoyed
being part of the kiwifruit industry
and what I like most is the indepth
knowledge and experience I’ve obtained,
some of the people I’ve had the
opportunity to work alongside, as well as
being allowed to do the job right.”
In fact, Geoff helped plant the
original kiwifruit orchards we see today:
“I’ve been there since the beginning...
I planted the vines, learned how to
graft them, and so much more. I also
had to pull some of them out when
areas were sold off over the years
for urban development.” He says he
was around when the owners saw a
future in organics - there were trials
with scientists and a huge amount of
foresight. “I’ve been impressed by the
innovation shown and how Pyes Pa has
pioneered organics and now boasts the
most successful organics category in NZ.
Off orchard Geoff manages his own
1.2ha conventional kiwifruit orchard,
Lotus Creek, in Welcome Bay. “I
purchased Lotus Creek about six years
ago. So when I leave work at the end of
the day, I go straight home and continue
working there.”
However, life can’t be too bad...
because Geoff and his wife Lynda,
(Apata Pyes Pa Production Manager)
look out from their home upon the
beautiful Kaiaiti Stream every day.
Finally, they share three children
between them – Jake, Katelyn, and
Chantelle – two grandchildren – Kahn
and Melody – and have a Border Collie/
Blue Heeler cross called Jazz. If Geoff
had the spare time he’d re-ignite one
of his favourite pastimes, pig hunting
and deer hunting; he’s been all over
the north island. The closest thing to
recreation, he says, is going fishing for
snapper during the Christmas holidays,
which he absolutely loves.
LtoR: Andrew Wood, Lynda
and Geoff Munro, Pyes Pa
Road site
Joyce Road orchard where Geoff helped
plant these vines in the 1980s
Inside the Pyes Pa Packhouse
Staff packing organic kiwifruit at Joyce Road
packhouse

Grower Profile
Patrick Downard
Waikato Organic
Kiwifruit
in this edition we meet an Apata
organic kiwifruit grower from the
Waikato. Apata CEO Steve Low and
Organic Manager, Andrew Wood, spent
a morning with Patrick Downard and his
family, sitting under the warm winter
sun and talking “everything organics”.
Patrick was born and bred in the
region and, at the age of 33, is one of
the youngest growers in the industry.
His orchard, OraKiwi is nearby the small
farming town of Te Awamutu but he also
manages a diverse horticultural business
called PD Organics Limited, which
includes orchard management, pruning
and spraying for growers in the Waikato.
Currently, Patrick manages a team
of 14 staff: “We are responsible for 10
orchards that span 30 hectares. This is
a huge area that goes from Hamilton to
Otorohanga. We always employ eight
full time staff but in our peak season
staff numbers increase to around 20,
but it’s always a challenge at harvest
because we’re talking about covering a
100km area and it can be hard to attract
and retain good staff,” he says.
Patrick’s dad was in the organic
kiwifruit business for almost 25 years,
so Patrick learned from a young age
what being a grower was all about. But
upon leaving school Patrick didn’t go
straight to work with his dad. He had
held a couple of jobs, but one day his
dad told Patrick he was short on a driver
and asked if he could help out. Patrick
stepped up to help out that day 14 years
ago and has never looked back. “Like
many growers, I learned everything from
the ground up. I started on contract
rates and worked up to being paid a
salary. But it wasn’t until last season
that I took over the family business from
dad when he got a tutoring position,”
says Patrick.
Over the years his passion for organic
kiwifruit went from strength to strength
and he began to dream of owning his
own orchard.
“Seven years ago I started to look for
opportunities to lease and discovered 1
hectare at Pirongia. I ran that orchard
for two seasons. But, when a lease-toown
orchard came up I grabbed it, and
have enjoyed five crops since.”
Patrick’s philosophy about being an
organic kiwifruit grower is that he wants
to leave his land in better shape than
he found it. “My dad has influenced my
view on being in the organic kiwifruit
industry but when my wife, Rachel,
and I had our children we realised even
more how important it is to having a
chemical-poisonous free orchard for
their sake.” He has a vision for Waikato
orchards – to grow consistently good
crops and grow 8,000-plus per hectare
across all growers. He also says he can
grow organic kiwifruit that is equal to
conventional kiwifruit, and is just as
sustainable – this is in the face of the Psa
threat.
As a member of Waikato Kiwifruit
Vine Health (KVH), Patrick is all too
aware of the possibility of Psa disease
spreading to the region.
“No-one can be sure that Psa is not
in the Waikato region already. However,
I strictly adhere to KVH quarantine
protocols at all orchards, but I still think
Waikato growers and kiwifruit industry
people are too blasé and need to tighten
up their thinking and practices. There
is no need for the Waikato to source
anything from the Bay of Plenty and
it concerns me when I hear about
people collecting compost from the Bay
and bringing it into our region. While
spreading Psa in this manner is low risk,
there are compost places available in the
Waikato so why jeopardise our Psa-free
borders?
Patrick’s concern for the spread
of Psa is justified when Waikato
researchers visit the Bay and take their
testing equipment with them, only to
return to the Waikato bringing that same
equipment back with them.
“Waikato people need to get more
serious about preventing Psa. If it If
it means having two sets of pruning
equipment so you can leave a set in the
Bay and have a set in the Waikato, then
this should be done. That way there
is no chance of spreading Psa through
equipment,” says Patrick.
LtoR: Steve Low, Ellice, Luke and Patrick Downard at the Downard orchard property of “OraK

WHY IS MONITORING MY ORCHARD
IMPORTANT?
• Rapid response to Psa infection
reduces the risk of spread and
potential vine dieback.
• Orchardists are strongly encour
aged to monitor regularly and
report their findings by email to
the ZESPRI Grower Contact
Centre.
• Leaf spotting can be caused by
other organisms. Lab testing is
required to positively identify
Psa.
• Identifying changes in the level or
degree of symptoms is important.
WHO SHOULD DO IT?
Orchardists are responsible for
ensuring their orchard is monitored
for Psa. APATA can help you with how
to monitor, what to monitor for, and
may also be able to provide resources
to monitor your orchard similar to Pest
monitoring Services provided in summer.
(dependent on location and frequency
required.) This would be a user pays
service.
HOW OFTEN SHOULD I MONITOR?
• Monitoring frequency and
intensity are dependent on
orchard Psa status, location,
variety and time of the year.
• Orchardists should monitor
fortnightly if outside of PZ, or
weekly if within PZ.
• Monitor an orchard by walking
every third row scanning
the canopy for any signs of Psa
symptoms.
• Walk a different set of rows for
each monitoring round (over the
course of 4-6 weeks all rows in
the orchard should be checked
for Psa symptoms.
• Orchardists should remain alert
for signs of Psa at any time
especially during or after cooler,
wetter weather and any
significant climatic events that
give rise to plant injury e.g. wind
storm or hail event.
know your enemy!
WHAT ELSE SHOULD I LOOK FOR?
• Focus on areas of stress in the
orchard e.g. frost pockets, wet
areas, wind damaged areas or areas
that have previously recorded leaf
spot.
• Look for red and clear exudates.
• In some cases it may appear as a
dark colour orange staining (rust)
from where weeping was occurring
and has since dried.
• Cankers may also be beginning to
form in correlation with exudates.
Look for cane dieback where canes
appear dry and dead even though
they are still attached to the parent
vine.
• Mark vines with symptoms with a
coloured tape. Date the tapes and
record the symptoms.
- Establish the level of symptoms in
the immediate vicinity by
monitoring the rest of the block,
walking every row.
- Take a close up digital photo of the
symptoms (or representative
photos if there are a number of
similar symptoms.)
• If any symptoms are seen, confirm
that the symptoms are typical of Psa
by referencing the KVH Winter
symptons Pictorial on the KVH
website
REPORTING OF SYMPTOMS
• Enter monitoring details on the
Symptom Monitoring Sheet (available
from www.kvh.org.nz)
• Ensure the correct contact details
are entered on the monitoring
sheet. (i.e. the person who is going to
accompany the sampler.)
• Email this sheet, along with any
photos taken, to contactcanopy@
zespri.com. It is important to
report both when symptoms have
been observed, and when monitoring
has identified no symptoms.
• Staff will review the photos and
decide if a laboratory test is required.
• You will be advised if a sample is
required from your orchard - or if the
photos do not appear to be Psa.
SAMPLING
• If a sample is required KVH will
arrange for an independent sampler
to visit your property and collect this
sample and you should be advised of
the results of the test within five
days.

Andrew Wood
Apata Pyes Pa
Organics Manager
the Pyes Pa site staff are working
diligently condition checking and
repacking the organic crop to meet the
current shipping orders. As at August
21 the volume of HWOB fruit loaded
out was 73% of submitted totals with a
current fruit loss figure of 1.6%. Both the
Pyes Pa and Joyce Road facilities are still
operational with repack teams working
long hours at both sites.
The GKOB crop is currently 98%
loaded out with final orders imminent
which will clear the coolstores of
remaining product. Fruit loss for the
GKOB category is currently 1.62% of
submit which is a solid result. Once again
the ZESPRItM Market Report indicates a
strong sales programme with excellent
demand for organic gold product
reported in the market place.
ZESPRItM also reports satisfactory
sales of the organic green crop with
substantial improvements in sale
volumes in Japan and encouraging
results in the Europe programme. While
large count sizes are fully allocated
movement offshore has been slow, but
ZESPRItM indicates that this situation is
being monitored closely.
Out on the orchards, winter pruning
is progressing well with Psa protocols
and the associated management
practices to the fore on most orchards.
Soil tests and nutrient applications
should now be underway to ensure
orchards are adequately positioned to
maximise the upcoming crop. BioGro
auditing is approaching and application
paperwork should be renewed to ensure
organic status is maintained.
Technical Talk
Wade Hunkin
Apata Technical Advisor
as we move into spring the
enormity of the problem Psa is
creating is being brought home to us
all with a thump. Sadly, it is probable
the find in Matapihi and subsequent
establishment of high risk zones to
include the whole of the Bay of Plenty
is just the start of finds outside of Te
Puke. Within Te Puke, finds are being
made in more and more gold orchards
and we expect to see signs in Hayward
orchards as budbreak approaches.
However, as we understand the
situation better we also appreciate
that the way forward is to prevent
infection in the first place. To do that
we need the right products but as
importantly we need to achieve 100
percent coverage of the plant. In
addition, we will need to minimise, or
even better, eliminate open wounds
within the summer canopy.
Winter Pruning
The start point of your summer
canopy is the winter pruning job.
The key to getting penetration and
minimising summer work is to get the
wood selection and bud spacing right
now.
If your winter work is not yet
complete reexamine your targets and
instructions you are giving to whoever
will be doing/managing the work.
Look to increase the spacing and
select quieter wood; that may mean
fewer flowers but experience suggests
fewer flowers translates into better
flowers, so the final trays packed are
not significantly compromised. Less
summer work means more to spend
on protective sprays. Even if the
winter job is complete it will be worth
spending money to reduce the bud
spacing and remove wood that will
produce more vigorous growth.
Spring Protective Programme
KVH have released a comprehensive
set of recommendations for the spring
period that covers monitoring as well as
a protective spray programme http://
www.kvh.org.nz/springmanagement.
Growers are the best placed to
monitor their own orchard but Apata
is able to provide assistance if it is
required.
Conventional Spray programme
The spray programme is based upon
a continuation of the use of copper,
and for those in a High Risk area or
Priority Zone the option is to use the
antibiotic Streptomycin in the form
of KeyStrepto. Use of Streptomycin
is limited to three applications
preflowering. It is a short-lived, although
effective sterilant, so it needs to be
targeted to times of greatest risk.
Streptomycin is not a silver bullet and
needs to be used with care as one
part of an integrated programme of
protective products and monitoring.
Use of KeyStrepto is currently on
hold while a robust set of protocols
around its use are established. Ensure
you understand the full requirements.
A standard conventional programme
for both Hort16A and Hayward over the
period from now until flowering should
comprise timed applications of copper
products with the optional addition of a
sterilant such as Sporekill.
Water rates and product
concentration will depend on the spray
technology being used and the degree
of canopy development (refer to Table
1 overpage). In general, after budbreak
use the label rate for concentration and
match water rate per ha to the amount
of canopy. There is a full paper available
on the KVH website. Use KeyStrepto in
the lead up to significant rain (48 hours
of wet leaves) or frost events post
budbreak, that may cause
physical damage
to the leaves,
but do not use
within a week
of the first male
flowers opening.
Post flowering we
expect to see a wider
range of biological and
elicitors becoming part
of the mix.