What's inside July 2012 Steve McTurk Damian Young - Apata

kiwilink
Damian Young
Grower Services Manager
It is pleasing to report that the company
has had a very good year with
all the “operation metrics” (loadouts,
fruit loss, Difotis, Wharf ECPI) showing
significant improvement from 2011 and
when compared with industry performance.
Coolstore drawdown for all varieties
is around 70% of submit which is ahead
of industry. Zespri continue to provide
very positive feedback relating to the
performance of Apata and its handling
of the new commercial varieties.
Apata is becoming the benchmark for
the industry.
The performance reflects enhanced
planning and the considerable efforts
of staff throughout the season.
I would like to take this opportunity
to thank all Apata growers for their
continued support and look forward
to what tracking to be a great storage
year.
Steve McTurk
Entity Audit Committee
One of the key issues around
supplier performance is inventory
management.
I was involved in the management
of the first coolstore built on the
Apata site and at the time a 500,000
tray capacity was viewed as rather
large by industry standards.
To keep stock of inventory a large
board was constructed on the wall
of the small office with gridlines and
hooks. Basically mimicking the floor
plan of the coolstore. Each square
on the board became a pallet
space, within that square a card
was hung on the hook. The card
had all the pallet details and then
was adorned with various coloured
stickers signifying product to keep,
product to move etc. So at a quick
glance you could see the state of
your inventory.
Nowadays with much more
capacity, different varieties and
a whole host of other variables,
the original Inventory Board
has to a large degree become
computerised relying on the best
information at the time, collating all
information about the fruit on that
pallet ultimately giving at least a
heads up of the storing abilities of
July 2012
What’s inside
• Intro
• Entity
• Operations
• Organics
• Technical Talk
• Winter Chill
• Winter Pruning
• New Varieties
• What’s On
that product. Still the human factor
remains however, and Apata is
fortunate to have high calibre
staff at all facilities involved in this
process.
During my involvement with the
Entity Audit committee through
the Packing season, it was
encouraging to see the level of
commitment and dedication by
the Apata staff to ensuring the
Inventory management system is
as accurate and as trasparent as
it can be.
This year, for Apata Entity Directors
to have the highest confidence
in the Inventory management,
monthly Coolstore reports are
produced from each of the
supplying Coolstores in the Apata
group.
The reports tell us what the state
of the Inventory is at any given
time and also sets goals, I believe,
for those individual coolstores to
do the best they possibly can with
the product they have.
Stephen McTurk

Operational Update
Turntable Rd Site
The Turntable Road team has settled into a daily
routine of condition checking, repacking, hi-cubing,
market specific repacks and re-labeling. Fruit quality
is exceptionally good this year and confidence in
the Turntable Rd Quality Systems has been restored
with continuing container and wharf audits meeting
ZESPRI specification.
Apata’s handling of New Commercial Varieties is
being held as an example to the Industry.
Conventional Coolstores.
• All varieties are storing well with no problems
to date
• Condition checking has now commenced
for all varieties.
• There has been no rework required for the
G3, G9 or G14 varieties.
• Fruit Loss as % of Submit is less than Industry
average for all categories.
• All GK1CK will be loaded out by week 34.
• The average fruit pressure for HW1CK library
trays range from 3.1kgf to 5.5 kgf.
• Coolstore drawdown is better than or similar
to Industry average across Green, Gold,
Organics and NCV.
Ca Packing
The first short term CA room was packed out in week
25 with packouts/reject rates commensurate with UFI
assessment. Two long term rooms containing 143,000
trays will be packed in early August, subject to Zespri
shipping schedule.
Whangarei Site
Gerry Hardie
Apata Operations
Manager
We did our first repack last week. The gold storage
results are very pleasing to date. The majority of gold
remaining are 33 count. Hayward storage is also looking
good. Shipped to date - GK 67.9% - HW 35.9%.
Andrew Wood
Apata Pyes Pa Manager
Apata Organics
Organic Category Report
With the harvest now well behind us, attention has
been very focused on the inventory management of the
organic crop. We are very pleased with fruit performan
ce to date however, we have been watching
Week 22 – 23 inventory closely as this fruit has been
indicating poorer storage ability. Currently we have
loaded out 65% of the HWOB inventory and have a fruit
loss of 0.4%. This fruit loss is slightly higher than industry at
this stage but we are confident that we are in a strong
position to complete the season with a great result.
the GKOB inventory is now all on order and shipping will
be completed within the next 10 days. Fruit loss for our
GKOB category is currently 0.3% which is an outstanding
result and a credit to both growers and inventory managers.
i have visited a number of growers to look at
the winter pruning and it is great to see an increased
focus on bud numbers and cane
selection. Winter is the key starting point to
determine your crop at harvest next season. A
lack of emphasis on bud numbers and wood
selection at this time of year will have a
detrimental effect on your results next harvest.
Note from the Acting General Manager
- Graeme Munro
It is with regret I announce the resignation of Andrew
Wood from his position of Organic Category & Pyes Pa
Site Manager effective from Friday 20 July 2012.
Andrew has been with Apata since October 2008 and
has been instrumental in promoting the Organic category
both at Apata and across the industry.
The company wishes Andrew all the best in his future
endeavours and thanks Andrew for his contribution to the
business.
Submit Shipped %Shipped %Industry %loss over
cooled
HWCK 2,759,164 1,569,764 56.92% 47.8% 0.00%
HWOB 1,254,285 825,040 65.78% 54.8% 0.31%
HECK 13,118 9,822 79.87% 81.3% 0.00%
GKCK 1,432,407 1,108,654 77.40% 75.8% 0.16%
GKOB 141,257 140,257 99.29% 96.5% 0.00%
GACK 98,144 72,671 74.25% 64.6% 0.00%
GLCK 135,141 64,186 53.27% 58.3% 0.02%

Wade Hunkin
Technical Talk
Apata Technical Advisor
PSA Statistics - 18 July 2012 PSA-V +
Orchards 1239
% of NZ orchards 38%
Ha of affected orchards* 6446
% of NZ Hectares on affected orchards 47%
Whilst the confirmed cases of PSA-V are on the increase in New Zealand, I can confirm that PSA does not
appear to be infecting Swiss kiwifruit. During a recent holiday I spotted these two plants growing in a
garden next to Lake Constance. The pruning left a bit to be desired though.
On a more pertinent note, there seemed to be plenty of New Zealand kiwifruit in the shops and on the
hotel tables. We tested quite a bit and it all appeared in good condition. The only niggle was that
Australian kiwifruit seemed to be getting a higher price than New Zealand kiwifruit.
Winter Symptoms PSA
I encourage all Apata growers to be vigilant in the
monitoring of their orchard to ensure early detection of
Psa infected vines and orchards.
Spring and Autumn are considered higher risk infection
periods but what we are seeing is the continual spread
of Psa. We are receiving information on finds in the Te
Puna – Plummers Point and Tauriko areas. Growers are
strongly encouraged to regularly monitor their orchards
and report suspicious findings to their Grower rep.
Best orchard practices is to have a good monitoring
strategy in place for early detection of Psa-V
symptoms. Absence of obvious symptoms does
not necessarily mean absence of Psa-V. Even if no
symptoms are found, continue with regular monitoring.
Identifying any changes in the level or degree of
symptoms is key to rapid response in the event of an
incursion.

Winter Chilling
Damian Young
Kiwifruit Grower
Services Manager
The Hicane season is nearly upon us. Now is the time to
start making decisions on timing and forming a plan with
your spray contractor to ensure that you have the best
possible chance of application at the optimum time.
We know that winter chilling has a major impact on the
budbreak and at this stage of the winter we have had a great
chilling season. Below is some information that may help you
with your decision making process if not the Apata grower reps
are a great source of information and are available for advice.
What is Winter Chilling?
The amount of cold needed by a plant to resume normal spring
growth following the winter period is commonly referred to as it’s
“chilling requirement.”
What Happens During Winter Chilling?
During the Autumn and Winter deciduous fruit plants enter a
dormant phase which is generally referred to as the plants’
“dormant period.” Plants enter the dormant period in the
Autumn as air temperatures begin to drop below 10°C, leaf fall
occurs, and visible growth ceases. Another less visible change
takes place as well. Plants enter the dormant, or rest, period as
the level of growth-regulating chemicals in buds changes. In
other words, as the growth-regulating inhibitors increase and the
growth-regulating promoters decrease, plants begin their dormant
period. As the chilling requirement of a plant is being satisfied by
cold temperatures, the level of promoters begins increasing while
the level of inhibitors decreases. The higher levels of
promoters in the buds allow normal resumption of growth and
flowering in the spring as the chilling requirement is met this all means
hopefully better bud break.
Year to date temperature and chilling
Year May June
2012 11.5 9.8
2011 13.6 12.7
2010 101.5 9.8
2009 9.1 7.9
2008 9.6 9.7
2007 12.1 9.5
2006 11.4 7.3
Chilling measurements explained
Hours Below Threshold (7°C)
This is the most commonly used measure of
winter chill in New Zealand. It assumes that the
tree or plant receives no chilling effect
when the temperatures are above the base
temperature of 7°C, and that temperatures below
7°C all contribute equal chilling effect. Therefore for
every hour below 7°C, one hour of chilling is recorded.
Chilling Hours
Based on the same concept as Hours Below
Threshold, except that it is assumed that the
colder the temperatures then the greater the
chilling effect. So with a threshold temperature
of 7°C, one hour at 6°C is one chill hour; one
hour at 5°C is two chill hours etc. One fairly common
variation that you may see on both Hours Below
Threshold and Chilling Hours is to assume that
temperatures below 0°C give no chilling effect.

Richardson Chill Units
Originally developed using potted trees in controlled
temperature rooms, the Richardson Chill
Unit tries to better estimate the chilling effect of
various temperatures. The optimum for chilling
was found to be 4°C, and so one hour at 4°C counts
as one Richardson Chill Unit. Chilling effect falls
away to zero as the temperature approaches 0°C,
and falls away at higher temperatures with no chill
effect at temperatures over 14°C. There are many
refinements available to the Richardson Chill Unit
including negation of chilling by temperatures
over 14°C, and fixation of chilling effect
against high temperature negation over time.
Richardson Chill Units 2012
May June July to Date Total
Te Puke 246 383 248 877
Katikati 239 276 202 717
Whangarei no data available
(Information provided by Hortnet.harvest.com)
What does this mean?
Hayward
We expect the budbreak to be early this year with a
predicted average to high floral response, along with a
higher than average budbreak. Applications of Hicane
should be earlier than last year (30-35 days before
budbreak). Last year the optimum date for
mid-altitude orchards was around the end of
August, this year a mid-August application is
indicated. Lower altitude orchards would be early August.
Hort16A
We expect the budbreak to be early this year with a
predicted average to high floral response. Along with a
higher than average budbreak. Application of Hicane
should be earlier than last year. For Hort16A, the
major benefit of Hicane appears to be compaction
of the budbreak period and the timing is less critical.
(information sourced from Canopy @Zespri.com)
Usual timing of around the 1st of Late July early
August is indicated.
Gold3
Natural budbreak of Gold3 is generally at least two
weeks later than Hort16A. This is obviously a
consideration for when to apply budbreak
enhancement sprays . Each site will be different so
monitoring the timing on your own orchard is
important.
From a Plant & Food Research trial on one orchard
in Maketu, results suggested applying hydrogen
cyanamide approximately 35-40 days before the
start of natural budbreak was optimum. Canes were
painted with 6% hydrogen cyanamide in this trial.
Offshore, a trial on one orchard has also suggested
that applying hydrogen cyanamide early (closer to
40 days before natural budbreak) rather than later
(around 30 days before natural budbreak) may be
optimal for maximising the number of king flowers
per winter bud. This trial was also a cane based trial
(ie: numerous treatments were applied to the canes
on one vine).
Pre Commercial trialists have reported that applying
hydrogen cyanamide closer to Hayward’s
application timing may be optimal.
Gold9
Although not deemed necessary from a budbreak
perspective some Gold9 growers are
considering testing whether hydrogen cyanamide will
condense flowering and hence, reduce variability.
Green14
In a Bay of Plenty trial on one orchard, results
suggested applying hydrogen cyanamide
approximately 30-35 days before the start of
natural budbreak produced an acceptable
response.

HiCane Application
The HiCane response is 30-35 days after
application and to get the best response it needs to
coincide with the natural budbreak timing. There
is a reasonable amount of latitude, some days
either side of ideal is OK. Getting the right
weather for application is most important. Fine days
with average temperatures and a slight wind are the
best.
HiCane, and in fact all hydrogen cyanamide
products, are very toxic and have a specific code
of practice for their application. It is very important
for your own health and safety that these are
followed closely. It has also become very important
for the continued use of these products that they are
seen to be being used responsibly and with care for
the safety of the general public and the environment.
There is little doubt that the use of air
inclusion nozzles and drift reducing chemicals
is a significant step forward and are definitely recommended.
The biggest step is to keep your neighbours
informed. The bulk of the complaints received by
NZKGI and EBOP would have been avoided if proper
notification had been made, so remember you must
contact all neighbours of the orchard and notify them
of:
• your intention to spray HiCane;
• the period when spraying is likely to occur
• appropriate precautions.
As a grower it is your responsibility to ensure this
happens.
Kiwifruit Services
Contact Details
Kiwifruit Grower Services Manager
Damian Young - 027 500 8586
Grower Services Reps - BOP
Neale Cameron - 027 582 6364
Pete Jury - 027 453 6423
Whangarei
Graeme Burnett - 021 907 477
Far North
Ross Mutton - 09 409 8560
Grower Services Co-ordinator
Trina Hawkins - 07 552 0512
Grower Payments
Andrew Kirk - 07 552 0502
News Flash!!
Apata would like to congratulate
Nathan Flowerday on his
appointment to the
ZESPRI Board of Directors.

Winter Pruning
With lower than usual Hayward crops last season,
there is a temptation to tie-down an increased bud
number this year. This comes at a potential increased
risk and cost.
• Higher demand on pollen & bees
- remember it takes 20 visits per bee to
pollinate a kiwifruit flower and Hayward pollen is
heavier and as a result the bees needs to make
more trips to the hive than is the case with Hort16A.
• The potential need for more thinning rounds
- apart from the obvious cost these incur, it also
increases the “People” movement and vine wounds
which has an impact around the PSA risk.
• The risk of achieving a small fruit profile which
may defeat the goal of increased tray numbers.
It is important that when winter pruning you have an
idea of what your orchard is capable of producing.
This can be done by assessing the male ratio, bud to
King flowers conversion, production history of your orchard
and the orchards in the area.
T r a ys per H a
Neale Cameron
Grower Services Rep
Flowers per winter bud
1 1.5 2 2.5 3
20 4182 6273 8364 10455 12545
Buds per m2 25 5227 7841 10455 13068 15682
30 6273 9409 12545 15682 18818
35 7318 10977 14636 18295 21955
Final trays per ha assuming size 33 and 75% conversion
to class 1
Once a target is set then it’s time to look at how this
is going to be achieved - number of buds per sq meter
and the type of wood used and spacing of canes.
Holes in the canopy come at a cost as they still get
fertilised, sprayed and even incur a pruning charge,
so stipulate how these “holes are to be filled”. If no
one year old wood is available, then 2 and 3 year old
wood should be used to fill the canopy and achieve
the required buds per sq meter number. For example, it
is quite common for this hole to be around the leader,
then maybe a 1 year cane could be tied along this
gap to fill this. Another area is around males, then a 3
year old structure may be required to plug this gap. It
must be stressed that the buds must be evenly spread
across the canopy and be made up of good quality
“pregnant” buds. Research work by DSIR scientists
Davison and Snelgar showed dramatic effects on
flower numbers – reduced by 50% or more if canes
were shaded over the previous summer.
When winter pruning, we are also preparing for
future years, so some consideration to removing some
larger wood must be considered. It may be that one
of these larger cuts per bay is all thats needed to keep
on top of it.
Our thoughts through the whole process must be on
mitigating as much risk as possible towards PSA. This
may include painting any cuts that are above a
certain diameter with a protectant. The practice of
“cracking” canes for purpose placement should not
be used with alternative wood placed also damaged
wood replaced.
With so much at stake in this current environment, it
is recommended that the a contract is drawn up for
the pruners so that your expectations and that of the
pruners are clearly outlined. There is a good draft on
the Zespri Canopy.
Remember small advances in the quality of work
done during winter pruning can result in a significant
increase in returns.
Increasing average fruit number from 35/m2 to 37/
m2: 4.5%.
Increasing average TZG from 0.5 to 0.6 TZG: 5.0%*
*based on Feb 2012 forecast

New Varieties
CONVERSION TO G3 - Pete Jury
Feed young plants regularly. Maintain fertilizer
applications (side dressings of CAN or Urea) and
water regularly. A juvenile canopy has different nutritional
demands than ‘older’ vines, so the fertilizer regime
will need to be designed accordingly (often it will be
more intensive for younger vines). Ensure an adequate
irrigation regime is being applied.
New Grafts.....
aim to have all grafting completed by the end of the
first week of August. All care needs to be taken after
grafting to ensure scions are not moved out of alignment.
Try to have all pergola maintenance and upgrades
completed before grafting. This also includes
stringing from the trunk to the leader wire. From the
new growth originating from the graft, select the two
strongest and most vigorous shoots to train up the two
supporting strings to form the leader of the new vine.
Post Graft Care....
Slugs, snails, birds and other animals can decimate
new grafts. Bare ground around the trunks reduces the
sites slugs and snails can hide in and slug bait should
be laid on a regular basis. Use slug pellets around the
base and on top of the stump. After bud break, protect
new shoots from frost as any cold injury will slow
down and possibly damage the growing tips and
leaves of the tender new growth. Remove flower buds
as soon as possible to avoid competition with developing
canopy. If one scion fails to ‘take’, cut the remaining
shoot back to two good buds and utilize resulting
shoots as leaders. Alternatively, tie-down the leader
that develops from the successful scion and utilize a
subsequent lateral as the
secondary leader.
Maintain suckers below the height of the graft for
utilization in the event of graft failure.
String Installation..
The main objective in the first growing season
following grafting, is the establishment of new
leaders, however, with vigorous new kiwifruit
varieties or under optimal growing conditions, then
the new varieties’ shoots may grow to the end of
the supporting stings within a single growing season
and it may be possible to grow a fruiting canopy
in the first year too. Before or soon after grafting,
overhead strings need to be installed for the newly
developing leader (and potentially) laterals for the
new variety to grow onto. Strings at an angle of at
least 60° optimize cane growth and ensure the space
for the leader can be completely filled. Immediately
after grafting, attach strings to the trunk below the
graft area and run these up to the leader wire to ensure
straight leaders which grow rapidly in early summer.
The strings should be installed at a 60° angle above
the vine from the crown in the direction of the main
leader using a long pole, to get the angle required.

New Shoot Management.....
Newly grafted vines need weekly attention during
Spring and early Summer if they are to achieve
maximum growth. Training new shoot growth up
strings maximizes shoot extension and avoids growth
of side shoots. Grafts can be easily damaged by wind.
Frequent taping of new shoot growth to the
supporting strings is essential during early development
to prevent wind blow outs and damage that may
result in PSA infection and dieback. Begin training the
new shoots when they are 200mm long. As the shoots
grow, attach them to the supporting strings every
500mm using ties or tape. Where ties or tape are used
to secure the new growing shoots to supporting strings,
care needs to be taken to ensure the ties/tape are
not too tight causing girdling of the new shoot as the
shoots increase girth as they grow. Develop a training
system that avoids shoot rub on structures, wire or the
other leader as these can lead to potential sites for
PSA infection. Leave all sucker shoots originating from
the trunk until the graft leader is secure on a central
wire, i.e. retain suckers until graft take is certain. Sucker
shoot growth from the trunk should be regularly tipped
to keep their height below that of the graft. Sucker
shoot growth helps the vine recover from the stress of
grafting and provides suitable regraft sites where graft
shoots are lost or broken at the tying down stage.
Once the new leader is established, remove any
sucker shoot growth from the trunk to minimise
competition with scion growth. Protect all large
wounds sites with a suitable wound dressing. Growths
that occur first year off the graft are more sensitive
to infection and require a higher level of protection.
Avoid heavy rates of copper sprays to young grafts as
these can stunt growth.
Managing Sap Flow …
A build-up of sap pressure in spring can be
detrimental to the rate of callusing of the graft
scion and subsequent growth. Excessive sap flow
is easily identifiable by sap bubbling under the
grafting wax used to seal the graft union at the time of
grafting. Excessive sap pressure can be alleviated by
creating ‘drainage’ holes into the trunk below the graft
union. These can be applied by drilling holes or inserting
vertical chainsaw cuts into the trunk. If strong sap flow
continues from the first drainage hole then additional
holes may be required. Secondary drainage holes
should be applied at right angles to the first
drainage hole.
• On grafted seedlings (trunk diameter < 50mm):
use a 4mm drill bit.
• On Mature rootstock (trunk diameter > 50mm): use
a chainsaw cut or 7mm drill bit.
Best practice orchard hygiene recommends that the
drill bits or chainsaw used are sterilised between each
vine to prevent the spread of infection between
vines. Care should be taken when using chainsaws
to insert drainage slots to avoid kickback. Ideally
once the sap flow stops, drainage holes should be
sealed with a thick protectant wound dressing that
has a fungicide and bactericide incorporated into it.
Removing Leaders from Strings …
Leaders should be laid down before the new
variety cane hardens, ideally before December.
Leaders should be cut back to a point where they
have a diameter of approximately 10-15 mm. This
will give them a chance to start shooting fruiting
laterals for the next growing season. Following a
stump graft the new leader is attached to the
bottom of the leader wire to help alleviate any wire
rub on the new leader. As the laterals develop they will
hold up the leader. In the case of a notch graft, the
new leader is laid down over the existing leader. This
adds extra work and care must be taken to avoid any
damage that may result in a PSA entry point.
Depending on the vigor of the graft growth and the
inter-vine spacing, it may be possible to develop both
leaders and fruiting canopy in the first season following
grafting; in this case the first crop would be produced
in year two. In cases of less vigorous graft growth the
first year will be devoted to developing the leaders up
strings, the fruiting canopy would be developed in the
second season and the first crop produced in year three.
If strong early growth occurs and the leader cane can
be placed down within three months of spring growth
occurring, a fruiting canopy may also be able to be
developed by growing laterals up of strings. The success
of this technique will be dependent of several factors
including:
• The inherent vigor of the new grafts
• Vine spacing (in row)
• The ability of the new variety to produce
secondary lateral growth
New Season Growth …
If buds in the mid-section of your leader fail to break
judiciously manage shoot dominance – particularly
of shoots that break around the crown that can
become very strong. Consider tip crushing to dampen
dominance to ensure mid section buds break in the
subsequent season.
Removing Grafting Tape …
The grafting tape needs to be removed before it
damages the vine. This is usually done within five
to six months of grafting using a clean, sharp knife.
(Information courtesy of Zespri Canopy. Keep logging in to
the Canopy for up to date Information.)

Growsafe & Approved
Handlers Renewal
Certificates
BOP
Thursday 16 August 2012
8.30 - 12.00
Katikati
Phone Eddie Biesiek for
details and bookings on
549 4775 or 021 494 042
Whats on!
Watch out for
Spring field Day
coming up in
August.
Katikati Grower Meeting
Kiwiftuit Vine Health invites growers in the
Katikati, Te Puna and Pahoia areas to a
meeting to raise the awareness among
Hayward growers of the
importance of continuing protective spray
programmes and orchard hygiene and for
Hort16A growers, the
progression of Psa through rootstock.
Wednesday 25 July
at Katikati Community Resource Centre
at 4pm
Shane Max, leader of ZESPRI orchard
productivity centre team, has returned from
Italy where he has seen first-hand the
progression through Psa and will discuss the
effects of the vine killing disease on Hayward
Green kiwifruit
For further information contact
Camilla Harvey on 027 341 8149