Listen to The Country online: Hawke’s Bay grower Paul Paynter on Cyclone Gabrielle’s impact

Yummy Fruit Company chief executive Paul Paynter talked to Jamie Mackay on The Country today. Photo / Warren Buckland

Today on The Country radio show, host Jamie Mackay catches up with Hawke’s Bay apple grower and chief executive of the Yummy Fruit Company, Paul Paynter, to learn more about how the region’s horticulture businesses are coping, almost two years after Cyclone Gabrielle.

On with the show:

Will Wilson:

This high-profile and long-standing agricultural consultant also has numerous governance roles in the primary sector.

He works with numerous farming clients covering the sheep, beef, deer, and dairy sectors.

Today he runs the ruler over the performance of some of our leading agricultural companies and farming co-ops.

His analysis makes for interesting reading.

Paul Paynter:

Hawke’s Bay orchards continue to feel the impacts of Cyclone Gabrielle as the region nears the second anniversary of the Feb 13/14, 2023, storm.

Millions of tonnes of silt were dumped across Hawke’s Bay, smothering crops and resulting in over 600 hectares of fruit trees having to be ripped out.

Apple grower, and the chief executive of the Yummy Fruit Company, Paul Paynter lost more than 180,000 trees and says many are still dying.

Mike Petersen:

We continue the Hawke’s Bay theme with the former chair of Beef + Lamb NZ, former NZ special agricultural trade envoy, and current chair of horticulture company Scales.

Adam Thompson and Rhys Roberts:

Today’s Zanda McDonald farmer panel takes us to Mid Canterbury and Waikato.

Phil Duncan:

Monday’s resident weather expert makes a belated Tuesday appearance.

Listen below: