Mid April 2012

ISO WEEK 16 - 18

Our harvest team and RSE workers are doing a great job. They have been trained in Psa procedures and have accepted the necessity of all the Psa precautions that are required during harvest. We do have problems with some orchards where there is still not a hose available for washing down equipment before it leaves the orchard.

Thank you to those that have upgraded their load out areas, fantastic! A couple still however, have proved to be substandard resulting in a bin of fruit tipping over and in another instance, a forklift nearly tipping over. Both these cases were as a result of very uneven ground and a few loads of metal would have prevented these near-misses from happening. Fortunately to date, we have not had to contend with any mud. We have noticed that with picking G3, broken stalks can be a problem. They need a different picking technique whereby the fruit is flicked before it is pulled off. And finally, the return rate for all our harvest staff is absolutely marvellous. The record must go to Whare Taitapanui from Kutarere, near Opotiki, who is back for his 21st year of his “forklift driving holiday”. Good to see you back Whare! Bernie Cookson Harvest Co-ordinator

www.coolstore.co.nz

enquiry@coolstore.co.nz

Harvest Update with Bernie

HiCane & SureCane

We are pleased to offer you our proven HC50 branded Hydrogen Cyanamide & SureCane Drift-Reducing Surfactant, for enhancing

budbreak.

Call (07) 552 0916 ext 706 for more information.

Order now at great wholesale

prices!

Packing is on the GO!

Harvest Update

Packhouse Update

Stats to Date

Quality Control

HortNZ Leadership

Course

Pre-Commercial trials

G3 Conversion?

New Fruit Reception

Area

The Weird & Wonderful

Kiwistart is well underway now, with plenty of fruit coming through the packhouse. As production supervisors, we are doing our best to ensure we handle and pack your fruit in the best way possible. To all growers yet to be packed, we will be in touch when we are about to start your fruit -please feel free to come in and have a look. We look forward to seeing you here and having a chat about how it is all going.

Robert, Nathan, Andrew & Adam

Fishbowl Team, Ext 742

Harvest Team Contact Details

Bernie Cookson Harvest Co-Ordinator Ph 07 552 0916 Mob 0275 363 754 Margaret Miller Technical Manager Ph 07 552 0916 ext 722 Mob 027 576 3899

Nell Dawson Operations Manager Ph 07 552 0916 ext 719 Mob 027 5494 998 Email nell@coolstore.co.nz Packhouse Fishbowl Ph 07 552 0916 ext 741 or 742 Email fishbowl@coolstore.co.nz

Please contact your Grower Services Representative in the first instance or the following Harvest Team members.

2

Stats to Date Maturity Update with Margaret

Aongatete has had an excellent start in packing with our Kiwistart orchards. We packed 3.41% of Gold Japan (Protocol B, C, N) with ROW cap still open. Our estimate for the season:

Average fruit sizes below:

Of our Hayward packed we have already shipped 44 %

up to the end of Week 15, with an extensive shipping

plan in front of us. Some loadouts were initially

delayed while we waited for residue testing results but

these are now moving through the system more

smoothly.

Below shows the percentage of trays packed up to the

end of Week 15

Aongatete Industry Share

GK1CK HW1CK

2.11% 4.32%

Packhouse Report from Clive

We are now in the middle of April, and maturity is still progressing slowly. In Hayward, black seeds continue to be a major issue, with the majority of failures across the industry due to this. Gold colour is on the move, and we continue to track this closely. We still have 3 weeks of KiwiStart contract allocation to fill for Hayward, and will there-fore be continuing to actively monitor all eligible orchards. As in past seasons, Growers can log onto the AgFirst website to view their own results and we encourage our Growers to do this. Just go to www.agfirstbop.co.nz and click on register to create an account. For those that do not have access to the internet, just give our Grower Services Team a call. Margaret Miller Technical Manager

This year all the extracted leaf and dust material in the packhouse is being put into sealed bags and disposed of in Leaches landfill at Paeroa. Reject Hayward fruit is being processed at a facility in Te Puna. The packhouse is operating really well with the two shift systems, one is at 8am to 5pm and the other at 5.30pm to 2am. Attendance has been well above previous years and like previous years we have had many young people from different nationalities working well together. This year, more of our own Growers are working in the packhouse. Clive Exelby Packhouse Manager

Alan has resigned as Grower Services Manager to pursue other options. We held a special morning tea for Alan last Monday, where he was thanked for his contribution during the last year. We wish him well. Allan Dawson Managing Director

Alan Thorn moves on

HW GK HE GA

Average 34.1 29.9 32.2 25.4

3

Green packouts have been fantastic. Flats, squares and sooty mould are the major rejects. There are some proximity marks showing on fruit from less well sheltered blocks. The Gold Protocol B has been much easier to work with and much less scuffing and punctures are showing. Packouts per bin have been exceptional. Our focus is to improve OGR’s to the Grower. We have had no wharf check failures and all our facility audits have been favourable. We have had 8 wharf checks of palletised product and 3 wharf checks of containers. Aongatete’s sampling rate is only 3.5% such is Zespri’s confidence in our systems. Graham Teal Quality Manager

Quality Control from Graham

Give your Grower Services Representative a call to discuss the costings and decision- making involved in converting to G3. Andrew has created a costings template based on his experience of converting from Green on his own orchard.

Thinking of G3 Conversions?

The New Fruit Reception Area

HortNZ Leadership Course

Are You a Current or Potential Leader in the Horticulture Industry? Do You Wish To Learn More About Leadership? Then apply now for this unique opportunity offered by Horticulture New Zealand. More information including applications and nominating forms are available HortNZ’s Website. Applications close on 31 May 2012. Go to this link for more info: www.hortnz.co.nz/Overview/Activity-Areas/Introduction.htm If you would like to be supported with your application, call us on (07) 552 0916 ext 706. A number of staff have had first hand experience.

Pre-Commercial Trials

Zespri is seeking expressions of interest from grow-ers keen to participate in a pre-commercial block trial commencing this winter. Expression of interest forms will be on the Canopy from the end of April/beginning of May. Any queries can be directed to the Grower Services Coordinator, Leisha Parr (phone 07 572 7687 or email: leisha.parr@zespri.com).

We have removed the pebble garden from the side of the bin reception area at the front of the packhouse and replaced it with hotmix. This has vastly improved the efficiency of loading and unloading the trucks carrying bins from the orchard. Now we can safely use a double forklift enabling us to remove 6 bins at a time, rather than 3. See pictures below.

Above: Look at me, 6 at a time!

Our trucks are cleaned and sprayed before moving on. As the trucks leave the canopy all the undersides of the truck and all the tyre surfaces are sprayed with bacteriacide.

Above: The clean down

Margaret Miller Grower Services Ph 0275 763 899

Alan Thorn Grower Services Manager Ph 021 343 576

Rod Calver Grower Services Ph 0275 909 710

Andrew Dawson Grower Services Ph 0275 940 247

Richard Allen Grower Services Ph 0275 307 909

www.coolstore.co.nz enquiry@coolstore.co.nz

Pictures taken from fruit supplied by Glenn Roberts from Riverside Orchard in Katikati. If you have any interesting kiwifruit pictures, just send it in to anh@coolstore.co.nz. We would love to share your photos, the stranger the better!

Margaret Miller Technical Manager Ph 0275 763 899

Matt Nelson Field Technical Manager Ph 0275 114 420

Richard Allen Grower Services Rep Ph 0275 307 909

Andrew Dawson Grower Services Rep Ph 0275 940 247

Rod Calver Grower Services Rep Ph 0275 909 710

Above: Truck leaves the front bin reception area and gets a good spray

Above: Spraying the back wheels

Above: Rod having a shower!

The Weird and Wonderful