Hail costs kiwifruit growers $10m

BETTER TIMES: Damage assessment is still under way after unseasonal hail storms hit kiwifruit country around Tauranga and Te Puke, but the loss is likely to reach almost three million trays of fruit.

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Crop damage from Bay of Plenty's recent freak hail storms are up to $10 million, well in excess of industry rescue funds for weather-hit orchards.

Damage assessment is still under way after unseasonal hail storms hit kiwifruit country around Tauranga and Te Puke, but the loss is likely to reach almost three million trays of fruit.

New Zealand Kiwifruit Growers president Peter Ombler said evaluation visits were not complete but at last count 467 orchards were affected.

More than three-quarters of those had lost less than 20 per cent of their fruit, but at least 23 had written off their entire crop.

Two fierce hail storms hit localised areas last week, with the second front crossing prime orcharding land pelting ripe crops waiting to be harvested. The impact on the industry as a whole was not major, with damaged fruit only 3 per cent of volume, so international orders would be filled.

But with limited insurance money available for orchardists, some would miss out, Mr Ombler said. The industry held $4 million in reserve each year to help weather affected farmers, split between gold kiwifruit and green kiwifruit growers.

Mr Ombler said only 500,000 gold kiwifruit were hit by the hail, but the green harvest was less advanced and at least 2.4 million were damaged.

The emergency fund for green kiwifruit would not cover the extent of the damage.

Affected growers would get a preliminary payment to help with cashflow, but the total payout was yet to be decided.

Trevelyans Packhouse general manager Alistair Hawkey said orchardists were like any farmers and were treating the weather damage with a degree of realism.

"For those that lost their whole crop, it is hard to come to grips with that. But people are, and they are being quite realistic about it."

Those counting on the insurance would likely find it would cover only the cost of production, if that."

Mr Hawkey said the combination of the storm's path through key orcharding areas and the timing in the middle of the picking season make the storm a worst-case scenario for some.

Orchards with less than 50 per cent losses could not write their crop off and were expected to selectively harvest the undamaged fruit, a huge task which involved extra time and labour.

"The grower will bear the brunt of those costs," Mr Hawkey said.

- © Fairfax NZ News