Ngāi Tukairangi Trust chair Ratahi Cross. Photo / RNZ, Justine Murray
By RNZ
Tairāwhiti growers are bracing for more wild weather as Cyclone Vaianu bears down on the country.
With the rising cost of fuel and road closures already challenging the region, one of Gisborne’s major kiwifruit operations said the storm would feel like a “domino effect”.
Ngāi Tukairangi Trust chair Ratahi Cross told RNZ’s Morning Report it was a season they were looking forward to after the impacts of Cyclone Gabrielle.
“We had a reasonably good season last year, and we’re looking forward to a good season this year.
“But the possible advent of Cyclone Vaianu coming across Gisborne has put a little bit of a damper on us.
“We’re all probably watching the weather forecasts hourly to see how that will be impacting us. It’s a serious worry.
“The roads haven’t been fixed as quickly as we’d all like, but that’s just due to work stresses that are in place for workers and people who are doing the road repairs.”
Cross said it was probably halfway into the growing season, and two-thirds into apples, with persimmons starting now.
“Personally, our particular business is responsible for about 75% of the export of persimmons in the country out of Gisborne, and that’s a big fear,” he said.
“We’re still a week away from that, so the storm may have a dramatic impact on us.”
Cross said the fuel problem was also big, and with the roads not fixed yet, the storm would feel like a domino effect.
He said the psychological toll was weighing heavily, with the impacts of Cyclone Gabrielle still being felt.
“Every time you think you’ve got it done and you’re going to make some headway, you get knocked back,” Cross said.
“The one good thing about Gisborne people is that we’re so used to adversity, we’ve become stronger for it in a way.
“We know we’ve got to get on with it. It’s up to us to take care of a lot of the issues we have, but by gosh, do we need some help sometimes.”
With the cyclone approaching, Cross said they would try to move as much fruit off as possible to limit its exposure.
“That’s the nature of farming. I’m a farmer as well on the East Coast,” he said.
”You’ve just got to look at the skies and sometimes pray for the best."
Cross said any assistance would be helpful, but like all New Zealanders, relief at the pump would be a great start.
There were on-orchard fuel costs, which were high at the moment, he said.
“Transport, if we’re having to reroute our product away from the Waioweka Gorge, State Highway 2 north and State Highway 35 and head south of State Highway 2 there and get our stuff into Hawke’s Bay, that’s a three-and-a-half-hour drive for transport.
“Getting our stuff from there to Bay of Plenty, where we get most of our full packing done, that’s a seven-hour drive.
“That’s just doubled the transport distance. So, of course, it’s going to double our fuel costs.
“At the same time, when you’re intermittently picking, you’re moving heavy equipment, your tractors, across the orchards at several times of the day, when you really want to be picking constantly, you just want to be out there getting the stuff off, getting into the box and getting it away to a packhouse.”
- RNZ