Welcome to this weeks update.
Our first kiwifruit orchards have cleared the maturity hurdles for harvest 2018 and our growers are picking today. The recent After 5pm Roadshows reminded growers of the safety challenges for the season and above all else, we want to deliver a safe harvest while at the same time optimise your returns and minimise your risk.
Murray Judd talked about our most recent monitor data. Hayward yields look to have recovered, fruit size is large and dry matter levels about the same as last year. SunGold yields look good again, fruit size is very large on average but the dry matter levels are concerning and lower than last year.
It is not clear why we have lower dry matter in SunGold. Potentially it could be from lower sunlight radiation over the summer [which is apparent]. And we are pondering about why we have it in orchards with active canopy management, good nutrition and multiple trunk girdles. Murray also canvassed the options to lift dry matter this late in the growing season and the risks associated with the options. But if it continues then there is the potential for some orchards to struggle to achieve the 70% minimum dry matter thresholds.
The inclement weather pattern continues. Thankfully the two major systems have largely had little effect on our major growing regions. But we have to expect that the weather patterns will continue to create challenges at harvest.
We are in the home straight for packing kiwiberries and in the final days of packing. We have had the same low dry matter issues in some of the kiwiberry orchards and had to be patient in waiting for the orchards to clear. After some initial teething issues, we are delighted with the packing operation. Fruit is marketed by both Seeka and Freshmax and from our perspective we are satisfied with the Seeka marketing and distribution programme. We have supplied fruit to our major retail customer in Australia to good effect, supported by a strong promotional programme and really great quality fruit delivered by our growers. Stock turn on average for Seeka was 1.5 days [we shipped the fruit on average within 1.5 days of packing it!]. The good quality fruit and promotional programme has resulted in strong demand, and great customer feedback. And our retail program is over budgeted volumes and have been extended.
The Seeka grower council met earlier this week and have approved the March payment.
| Variety | Average Payment per tray |
| Hayward Conventional | $0.279 |
| Hayward Organic | $0.305 |
| Green14 | $0.065 |
| Gold3 | $0.163 |
Daniel Mathieson Zespri CEO spoke to the council on the outlook going forward and the direction of Zespri as a sales and marketing organisation. Daniel spoke of the high demand for Hayward and the push to get the OGR for this variety to exceed $60,000 per hectare. There is strong demand for Gold3 and there are positive opportunities for the organic category (both Gold and Green).
All Seeka growers are welcome to attend a council meeting and if you are interested to go along please contact your CRM.
Happy and safe harvesting.
Regards
Michael
Seeka Key
Contacts