Level 3 Information

Alert Level 3 commences Tuesday 28th April, when retail stores including takeaways and independent fruit and vegetable shops will be allowed to sell goods for contactless pickup and delivery, but customers are still not allowed to enter stores.

HortNZ are still working on getting independents recognised as safe and being allowed to allow customers to enter on a one-in-one-out basis like dairies.

Growers should continue operating as they have been under Level 4, with Covid-19 safe practises in place. This document developed by industry and MPI provides guidelines on safe practises for horticulture.  

We recommend that you document your Covid 19 risk management practices and keep a daily record of measures taken, even if you have five or fewer people on site.

All businesses operating under Level 3 need to have an appropriate Covid-19 plan in place, describing how they are providing safe work practices and a robust contact tracing system.

MPI general advice on what Level 3 means for primary industries is here, and more specific advice for horticulture here.

United fresh have added a guide for the fresh produce industry at Level 3, which can be downloaded here.

If you have any produce to donate, the food rescue organisations around the country are very grateful to receive it. Please email me or fill in this form.

Business advice and support: Free specialist support (up to $2,000) is being offered for business with 50 fulltime employees or less under the COVID-19 Advisory Fund.  This covers areas such as business continuity planning, finance and cash flow management, HR and staffing issues, etc, and will provide support over the next 12 months.

This is being managed by the Regional Business Partner Network, Employers and Manufacturers Association (EMA) and the Canterbury Chamber of Employment and Commerce.  Registration is by online application with a regional provider via RBPN, click here to access.

If things seem a bit too much for you or someone you know, the Rural Support Trust are there for a confidential chat about you, your business, the weather, your finances; or a neighbour, partner, friend, family member, or worker: RURAL SUPPORT: 0800 787 254

The HortNZ Covid 19 website has information and resources for growers that is constantly being updated: Click here for the latest, and stay well.

Where to from here

It appears we are finally moving from level 4 to level 3 early next week.  I say ‘appear’ because if a spike in COVID-19 cases occurs before we move to level 3, the decision may be reversed.   Even when we move to level 3 it appears that many independent fruit and vegetable shops still won’t be allowed to reopen normally.  Alert Level 3 commences Tuesday 28th April, when retail stores including takeaways and independent fruit and vegetable shops will be allowed to sell goods for contactless pickup and delivery, but customers are still not allowed to enter stores.

What will prices be like in the next 4-5 months for produce like tomatoes and cucumbers? This is crystal ball gazing but that is the case every year.  With COVID-19 hanging around our necks it makes predicating prices even harder but if growers don’t look after crops now how will that effect production then supply and demand especially during July and August?  Market gardeners face similar challenges, decisions around whether or not to plant winter crops or dig them into the ground need to be made.  So, in my opinion, despite all the negativity and low business confidence, I think for growers whose businesses make it, there may just be a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.   Crops that are sitting in the ground and don’t need to harvested until lockdown is lifted may flood the market, so I expect potatoes to nose dive, so please order French fries in the drive through, I will be ordering double!!

I imagine not all greenhouse growers have kept up crop maintenance and applied the necessary inputs needed in the last 4 weeks to achieve maximum production in the winter.  There is a tendency when prices crash for immediate cost cutting.  Heating the biggest casualty, followed by lowering fertiliser input and less motivation to prevent disease and pest populations establishing.  A very wise man told me on Saturday the worst thing you could do in this situation is too cut inputs/costs.  It is a very easy statement to make but I agree on the premise that unless you see no price recovery in the winter, then absolutely take the knife to your expenses but don’t complain or try to recover your crop if the tables turn.  I want to emphasise and encourage all growers to maintain normal crop measures.

Lockdown with the Kids:

I don’t know how everyone else is coping but day 30+ locked up with my four and five-year-old boys has been a strong test of my patience.  Apparently, my boys never want to go back to school/day care, they are having much more fun with Mum and I at home compared to being at school!  Running a business during the lockdown has its challenges, as so many of you are aware. For me it has meant working very late at night but I am very grateful I’ve had the opportunity to continue to work.  It is going to be a slog but these are the cards we are dealt, and as they keep telling us ‘we are all in this together’.  Thank you to all Grower2Grower customers, readers, and supporters – we would not have a business without all of you. 

Keep safe and let’s get growing. (no one was serioulsy hurt in this chainsaw chase)

I appreciate your comments.  Please feel free to comment on the grower2grower Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/StefanGrower2grower/

Article Written and compiled by Stefan Vogrincic, Consultant, Grower2Grower

Article Edited by Marie Vogrincic, Editor, Grower2Grower

Prices crash for tomato growers but spare a thought for flower growers

Since I began growing, over 25 years ago, I cannot recall the market price for standard tomatoes lower than 60 cents a kilo as reported last week by several growers.  However, even though tomato prices are extremely low we should spare a thought for fresh flower growers who have been hit even harder with barely no income at all.

It has been made clear to flower growers they are not deemed an essential service so cannot supply the market at present.  Tomato growers and other vegetable growers are still able to supply the market.  Despite the price for tomatoes being extremely low the product is still selling. I hope the amount the grower is receiving is reflected in the price at the supermarket or retail outlets allowed to operate under COVID-19 Level 4 restrictions. 

If rock bottom domestic market prices for current greenhouse vegetables continue for the coming weeks/months, then this won’t just impact growers but all business that supply goods and services to growers.  We are all at the mercy of COVID-19 and the Government’s decision to move to Level 4 to minimise the spread of COVID-19, which I fully endorse. However, decisions to keep most independent fruit and vegetable stores closed will have consequences on the future existence of these smaller stores. Growers may be forced to pull out crops early.  This will have a big impact on the retail price of local fruit and vegetable’s available during the winter.  Since greenhouses produce good quantities of produce in the winter, compared to outdoor horticulture, we should be treated as ‘essential suppliers’.  To explain to readers who are non-growers, it approximately take 13-16 weeks, from germinating tomato seeds to then harvesting greenhouse tomatoes, in the winter. If crops are pulled out early there will be a shortage of supply from June to August.

The hope, for flower growers, is that there will once again be a high demand for flowers once after this pandemic passes. Postponed weddings will be rescheduled, missed birthdays will be celebrated and people will want to decorate their homes with vibrant flowers once again, those that can weather this storm will survive.  

For those thinking of diversifying into food production last week Mike Nicholls provided a fantastic article regarding Asparagus grown in protected cropping structures which is definitely food for thought.

I recently read a comment that suggested is was a privilege that vegetable growers are allowed to continue to operate during the COVID-19 lockdown.  I could not disagree more with this, it is not a privilege for growers to continue working but a necessity, fresh fruit and vegetables is imperative as it is for all primary producers to continue to work to feed us all.  

news/post/year-round-asparagus-production/

If you have not seen it read Horticulture NZ, Chief Executive, Mike Chapman’s blog below.

https://www.hortnz.co.nz/news-events-and-media/mikes-blog/covid-19-and-the-consumption-of-fresh-fruit-and-vegetables/

I appreciate your comments.  Please feel free to comment on the grower2grower Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/StefanGrower2grower/

Article Written and compiled by Stefan Vogrincic, Consultant, Grower2Grower

Article Edited by Marie Vogrincic, Editor, Grower2Grower

Hygiene is greenhouse growers number one priority

Even before the world was alerted to Coronavirus the tomato world, especially in Europe, has been battling its own war on a plant virus, the Tomato Brown Rugose Fruit Virus (ToBRFV for short).  New Zealand growers are well aware of the risks and the threat to our industry if ToBRFV were to evade our border controls and make it on to our shores. 

While ToBRFV obviously pales in comparison to the implications of Coronavirus, it highlights the need for much stricter hygiene controls for everything!  Within the greenhouse industry all stakeholders, from the growers, suppliers, wholesalers, retailers, transport companies and advisors, have a duty of care to do everything to assure the public that extremely high hygiene protocols have been used throughout the entire food chain.  When the consumer picks up the product at the supermarket, they need to be confident they are purchasing products that have complied 100% with quality assurance programmes.  As an industry we already have excellent compliance programmes that growers and packhouses strictly adhere to.  The only thing that could let the system down is complacency, so my advice is to keep on our toes (which should not be hard to do at this point in time) and as a collective, let’s discuss if there is even more, we could be doing. 

Last week I was asked to wear full protective gear when visiting one of my customers, to advise on their crop, this included wearing a face mask. I had everything ready to put on as soon as I arrived in the grower’s carpark.  It was then removed into a plastic bag ready for disposal when leaving the property.  I don’t believe the request to wear the face mask was over the top but demonstrates the seriousness that growers are taking when anyone enters into their growing or packing areas.

Disinfecting and preventing the spread of COVID-19 is something I take seriously.  I advise all growers to have ample stocks of disinfection products and protective clothing.  Below is a list of some basic precautions I would exercise:

1. Hand Sanitizers applied at every building entry/exit point
2. Footbaths at doors (regularly topped up)
3. Sanitisers to clean all greenhouse equipment
4. Regular changing of gloves, masks, cover shoes
5. Regular dipping/cleaning of pruning equipment
6. Alternate staff breaks to limit close contact (see HortNZ link below)
7. Regular washing of hands before and after exiting greenhouse each time.
8. Work in your own assigned area if possible

Some commercial greenhouse products that are very good for hygiene and sanitising are:

1. HuwaSan (Hydrogen Peroxide based disinfectant)
2. Virkon S
3. Sodium Hperchlorite

Even before Saturdays state of the nation address from New Zealand’s Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, Edward Lee had started increased hygiene measures when handling the produce.

 As of Monday the 23rd MPI have released new rules for growers to remain open.  Please click on the link below and follow all of the recommendations from HortNZ. https://www.hortnz.co.nz/news-events-and-media/media-releases/covid-19-update-for-horticulture/

Everyone that is a visitor to a greenhouse must realise they pose a risk to transferring diseases.  Covering up is the only option.

Keep safe!

I appreciate your comments.  Please feel free to comment on the grower2grower Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/StefanGrower2grower/

Article Written and compiled by Stefan Vogrincic, Consultant, Grower2Grower

Article Edited by Marie Vogrincic, Editor, Grower2Grower