Controlling what we can

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1 NOVEMBER 2015 TREVELYAN S UPDATE TECHNICAL INFO LOCAL MARKET GENERAL NEWS Operations update Page 2 Growing avocados in an El Nino summer Page 3 Local market update Page 6 Staff Profile Page 8 Controlling what we can Ron Bailey AVOCO GROWER COMMITTEE REP Well we re almost half way through the export season and it is great to see that pricing and flow plans are on track to match the market plan that the AVOCO/AVANZA team worked so hard to achieve. As growers we don t get the chance to see or be involved in the work that goes into achieving these results. The differences between managing a ripening/distribution programme with major retail chains and delivering avocados on a daily basis to support the Ripe For Tonight programmes, compared to sending green fruit to wholesalers on consignment, requires logistical systems all the way from growers to retailers that are robust one weak link and the programme is jeopardised. The AVOCO model gives us control of the chain and with grower involvement at policy and board level our interests and perspectives are well represented prior to any change or decision being made. This year the compensation payment model was introduced as a result of grower concerns. This may well be modified in future years to meet the pressures of a larger crop. The opportunity to add value to our own crop means we have left fruit under 220 grams on the tree for harvest in December/January, with the compensation covering some of the reject rate risk. The increase in fruit size also covers some of the increase in picking costs. We believe this strategy increases OGR. We are looking forward to the second half of the season with a Christmas break and no cyclones - just good rain every ten days and a payout close to $30 tray. We all need a plan!

2 2 TREVELYAN S AVOCADO QUARTERLY NOVEMBER 2015 TREVELYAN S UPDATE Operations Update Daniel Birnie AVOCADO MANAGER BINS PACKED YEAR ON YEAR COMPARISON Summary TREVELYAN S INDUSTRY Fruit size: 22.7 Fruit size: 24.5 %smalls: 21% %smalls: 31% Export trays packed: 116,421 Final Estimate: 253,000 The above graph shows our progress this year compared with previous ones. As you can see we have packed over 2000 bins. Compared to last season at the same time we were over 4,000 bins. As at 22nd November, we were 46% through harvest, having packed 116,421 trays compared to our estimate of 253,000 trays. Our fruit size is 22.7 compared with the industry at The percent of smalls is 21%, compared to the industry at 31% (the fruit size is much bigger here at Trevelayn s). Percent through harvest: 46% Trevelyan s Preclearance failure rate 0% Industry Preclearance failure rate 2.8 % DEC 9 th First aid course Booked for Wednesday, 9th December Where: Shed 1 café Time: Starts 8am - Refresher to 2.30pm - Full to 4.30pm. Costs: Refresher Workplace: $95 Full Workplace: $155 RSVP: Julie on

3 NOVEMBER 2015 TREVELYAN S AVOCADO QUARTERLY 3 Growing avocados in an El Nino summer The Bay of Plenty experiences El Nino weather patterns only once or twice a decade, and strong events occur reasonably infrequently. However, when they do occur they have a significant effect on weather. The 2015/16 El Nino patterns look similar to, and are as strong as, the two previous super El Nino events of 1997/98 and 1982/83. The vast majority of New Zealand avocado growers were not growing avocados in the previous strong El Nino events so experience in dealing with such a climatic event is limited. We need to consider what happens during an El Nino event and what we can do to minimise the impact on avocado cropping. It is now late November and the cooler than normal spring is obvious. As of 20th October, Te Puke has experienced only half the growing degree days since the 1st September, when compared to the same period last year. Flowering has been delayed in most locations. The four most recent spring growing degree days are presented below. Jonathan Cutting ORCHARD PRODUCTIVITY MANAGER In summary the BOP region experiences a cooler than normal spring and a warmer than normal summer, with less rainfall and more wind. There is also an increased risk of storms. Impacts of warmer, drier and windier weather on avocado growth The avocado displays environmental plasticity. This is related to the three ecological races of avocado. This means that the avocado can adapt to a wide range of climates from tropical to warm temperate and grown successfully as long as frost risk is low. So what is the impact of a season that is warmer, drier and windier? Are there risks affecting avocado tree growth and cropping performance; and what can we do to mitigate or manage these risks? The key mechanism driving orchard productivity is assimilate gain 1, as measured by the accumulation of carbohydrate. This is underpinned by photosynthesis. A comprehensive review of the literature shows that dry conditions, resulting in increased water stress (drought) over as little as 5-10 days, reduce stem water potential and hence net photosynthesis. It takes 2-3 days following irrigation (or rainfall) for stem water potential to return to normal. It must be remembered that avocado trees have a shallow inefficient root system with a high oxygen requirement. Water uptake by the avocado tree is relatively poor when compared to other tree species. TECHNICAL INFO Fig 1. Cumulative growing degree days for the past four seasons (Te Puke data). Rainfall is also affected. In the previous 1997/98 El Nino rainfall in the Bay of Plenty was significantly lower. Many BOP locations only received between 40 and 60% of normal summer rainfall. DECEMBER TO FEBRUARY 1997/98 Reduction in plant water status also strongly influences plant growth and biomass through effects on cell expansion. In a study in Greece it was found that water stress reduced functional leaf area by as much as 60% for Hass trees when irrigation water was reduced (resulting in tree stress). It was also found that prolonged water stress reduced the amount of fibrous roots and that the Hass cultivar was more prone to water stress damage than Fuerte. In a South Africa study, water stressed trees produced fruit that had lower calcium levels with a plethora of associated postharvest disorders and diseases. In other studies around the world it has been shown that warmer drier environments result in overall smaller fruit size profiles. Wind speeds of over 10 km/hour have been shown to increase transpiration by more than 30%. In summary it appears that drier and windier conditions carry risks around reducing assimilate gain and reducing flush vigour and leaf size. Fruit can also be smaller and have poorer postharvest quality. Fig 2. Summer rainfall patterns in the last El Nino event. 1 Assimilate gain is the transformation of raw materials such as oxygen, carbon and nutrient minerals into the plant s structure through a process of constructive anabolism (turning simple materials into complex organic structures).

4 TECHNICAL INFO 4 TREVELYAN S AVOCADO QUARTERLY NOVEMBER 2015 Fig 3A & B. Typical spring 2015 flowering in the Te Puke area, showing largely determinate flowering panicles. What can we do? 1. Flush development. It is important to get sufficient vegetative flush development for three important reasons: To replace last season s leaves and continue to accumulate photosynthate for the coming crop (as well as continue sizing of the current crop if size picking is implemented). Increasing tree stored reserves is essential for regular cropping and supports good root health. To lay down sufficient high-quality flowering wood for the 2016 spring. To ensure that the fruit is of suitable economic quality as measured by size and blemish. Wind and low soil moisture have an impact on fruit size, dry matter accumulation and pack outs, especially wind scuffing and sun burn. So far this spring we have experienced heavier than normal flowering that is largely determinate with little obvious early vegetative flush. The flowering was late starting and has been very compact. Bee activity has been excellent and flowering synchronicity has been mostly normal. We are expecting a heavy fruit set for the coming season and the thought is that vegetative growth in the December to March period will be suppressed. This, if coupled with a potentially dry summer, could result in an overall reduction in leaf area and a reduction of quality flowering wood for the spring of A key strategy should be to front load vegetative growth for the 2015/16 summer as autumn flowering poses little risk if fruit set is heavy. We are uncertain as to the exact impact of an El Nino on pest pressure as we cannot predict rainfall intervals and how dry it will actually be. However, based on experiences from 1997/98 we expect to see lower leaf roller pressure and an increase in scale and thrips pressure. We are uncertain as to the impact on mites as 6-spotted mite was not a significant pest in the last significant El Nino (1997/98). Key affected inputs It is time to sit down with your advisor (consultant or grower services representative) and develop a flexible plan for the coming 6 months that is responsive to the El Nino event and can exploit whatever rainfall occurs over the coming 4-6 months. Nutrition strategies (What, when and how much) monitor and coincide with rainfall events. o Nitrogen consider increasing the number of units applied and front load applications. Coincide with rainfall events and use predominantly soluble nitrate forms. Soil mineralization of nitrogen will be lower than normal as the soil dries. o Boron consider delaying boron applications until there is an evident and regular autumn rainfall pattern. o Potassium consider shifting a portion of the potassium later into summer and early autumn to coincide with the late summer root flush but before soil temperatures get too cool. Irrigation and soil moisture o Monitor soil moisture using a measuring device such as a tensiometer.

5 NOVEMBER 2015 TREVELYAN S AVOCADO QUARTERLY 5 o Rooting patterns and implications always consider the avocado roots. Practice regular deep water applications (to at least 60 cm) and do not water until soil moisture tension has reached a predetermined value (for example -35 kpa on an 60 cm Irrometer tensiometer). o Start irrigation before the soil dries out once soils have dried out it is difficult to get ahead again. o The amount of water needed is variable but as a worst case plan on up to 800 liters per large mature avocado tree per week. o Reducing water use is best coupled with reducing water demand such as pruning or soil mulchin. Orchard floor management o Sward cover consider what the sward cover is and how to best manage this. Pay attention to mowing options. o Mulching be aware that mulches too thick can prevent small rainfall events influencing the soil moisture status. Phytophthora control o Disease pressure this should be lower under dry conditions. o Treatment timings this should not be affected. Pruning This is probably a very good opportunity to undertake pruning, both flower pruning and structural pruning. There are some points to consider including: o Flushing intensity and patterns and both inter and intra tree shading. o Timing, bearing in mind that our exporters have indicated a need for reasonable post-christmas volumes of fruit. o Crop load. o Sun burn potential both of newly exposed fruit and leaves and major limb structures. Can consider using sun screen products (Budmate). In summary an El Nino event brings a mix of positive and negative orchard influences! At a macro level the event, if coupled with significant dry periods, shifts the tree balance away from vegetative growth to reproductive growth. It is important to understand that the primary risk for the 2015/16 summer is setting a very heavy crop and then not being successful in obtaining sufficient vegetative flush to cover and support the new fruit growth. TECHNICAL INFO Dry matter testing The requirement to do dry matter testing lapsed on 6th November. This is later than most seasons (last year it was issued on 13th October). The variability in dry matter this year is illustrated by the fact we had two orchards fail their dry matter tests in the week prior to the blanket dispensation being issued. The general theme was that orchards that had very large crops (30 tonne/ ha or more), the longer it took for their dry matter to accumulate. In total, between ourselves and AgFirst, we completed 161 dry matter tests (down on 207 the previous season). The image below shows the spread of tests by region and the pass/fail rate in that region (pass in this table is 24% dry matter). Location Number of tests Pass percentage Whakatane 14 21% Opotiki 27 52% Tauranga 14 50% Te Puke 47 57% Paengaroa 38 63% Katikati 15 60% Motiti Island 6 50% Katikati 60% 2 Tauranga (incl Welcome Bay) 50% Motiti 50% Te Puke 57% Paengaroa/ 2 Pongakawa 63% 2 34 Whakatane 21% 30 Opotiki 52% 2 OPOTIKI

6 6 TREVELYAN S AVOCADO QUARTERLY NOVEMBER 2015 LOCAL MARKET Local market update With the crop forecasted at 40% of last year this meant that supply was always going to be the subject of discussion. As you can see in the table highlighting our pool returns, they have been of great value with no drop in returns over the last few months. The export market is going very well but we have seen local market returns competing for this business; in fact, AVOCO director Alistair Young said while volumes were down for many growers the values being achieved at this time of the year in the New Zealand market are some of the best I ve ever seen, however, the export values are considerably higher. Values are expected to remain strong throughout November and into December, especially with summer and Christmas traditionally being great sales periods for avocados. Looking ahead into autumn, we expect supply will be very limited and the market will face challenges delivering enough fruit to customers. We envisage that returns on the local market at this time will likely be the SIZE JUL-01 JUL-02 AUG-01 AUG-02 SEP-01 SEP-02 CLASS 2 16 $16.30 $12.21 $12.26 $ $16.49 $ $15.00 $12.90 $13.31 $18.32 $16.51 $ $17.59 $12.42 $15.40 $16.16 $16.41 $ $13.42 $10.59 $11.87 $11.54 $9.53 $ $5.95 $7.47 $6.28 $4.78 $5.48 $ $4.94 $4.63 $4.91 $4.91 $3.94 $5.29 Mix $3.86 $11.06 $4.51 $3.29 CLASS 3 16 $7.80 $8.29 $12.17 $13.32 $19.44 $ $15.27 $9.66 $11.61 $13.35 $16.51 $ $15.32 $10.55 $12.53 $12.69 $13.79 $ $7.57 $7.61 $10.85 $9.41 $6.47 $ $2.99 $1.88 $5.61 $6.56 $5.99 $ $3.44 $3.63 $4.52 $5.76 $4.13 $4.49 Mix $11.78 $3.82 $11.84 $10.50 $7.59 $12.02 NET Grower Returns ($) per 5.5kg tray best we have seen. The consumer demand for avocados is increasing at a phenomenal rate. Product traceability, GAP Accreditation and Food Safety Lance Dodd, DOMESTIC PRODUCE MANAGER continues to be a discussion point throughout the sector, so please get in contact with us if you need more information relating to this subject. Eastern Bay of Plenty Discussion Group Over the past two years we have been coordinating a discussion group in the Eastern Bay of Plenty region. This is made up of growers from predominantly the Whakatane/ Edgecumbe/ Opotiki areas. Meetings are run every 3/4 months. They are a great opportunity for growers to get on each other s orchards and go into detail about what each grower is doing. Usually we have around 25 people attending, and we focus on a key point to discuss at each meeting, for example nutrition, irrigation, pruning. The group is a very friendly bunch and perhaps the most positive outcome is the relationships that have developed over the time. Our next discussion group in the Eastern Bay will be in late summer. We are also looking at starting one in the Katikati region in the new year.

7 NOVEMBER 2015 TREVELYAN S AVOCADO QUARTERLY 7 Interested in planting new PVR protected cultivars? Prime Pickings GENERAL NEWS We get a number of requests from growers interested in planting Hass on the new clonal rootstocks. Some growers are uncertain as to how to go about ordering trees and the associated processes regarding the PVR agreement. The simple answer is as follows: Understand what the new rootstock or pollinator cultivars offer in terms of orchard performance and whether this is what you are looking for. Some preliminary performance data is available on the AIC website (New Zealand data) or on AvocadoSource.com (global data). Determine how many trees you need based on the area you wish to plant. The clonal trees are more expensive so think about your spacing carefully. Make sure you have a PPIN before contacting a nursery to place an order. Contact either Riversun Nursey (Gisborne) or Lynwood Nursery (Whangarei) and place your order you will be required to pay a tree deposit to secure your order. The waiting time for new trees is currently for the spring of 2017! At an appropriate time prior to delivery of the trees, the supplying nursery will contact the Avocado Industry Council. At this point the Avocado Industry Council will progress the Plant Variety Rights non-propagation agreement with the grower. Once this is signed off the nursey can supply the grower with the trees. The trees can then be planted. Should the property be sold and change hands, the Avocado Industry Council will progress a new agreement with the new owners once a new PPIN has been issued. If you need any guidance or more information please contact either Daniel or Jonathan at Trevelyan s and we will help where we can. 3m hydralada $6, Call Graeme Thrupp Fertiliser spreader $ Call Graeme Thrupp Nursery contact details: Riversun Nursery Amy or Hayley on or info@riversun.co.nz Lynwood Nursery Stephen on or stephen@lynwood.co.nz CABE mower $1, Call Graeme Thrupp

8 8 TREVELYAN S AVOCADO QUARTERLY NOVEMBER 2015 GENERAL NEWS StaffProfile Raewyn Taite Packhouse Manager. What is your role and how long have you worked at Trevelyan s? My role with Trevelyan s is Packhouse Manager for both kiwifruit and avocados. I have been with Trevelyan s since April What s your favorite thing about working at Trevelyan s? I love the different challenges that each day brings. The saying you learn something new every day definitely applies in this job. Add people and their different cultures to the mix and you have a rainbow of interesting work days ahead of you. in the area. From personal experience it can be very difficult to bring up your child/children and not have even the basics to provide for them so I hope that my small contribution towards that helps others in need. Prime Pickings Used Hydralada Maxi 1002 Model Elevating Work Platform $25, GST Hours Year 2000 Telescoping Boom Extension Hydraulic Slew Cage Two Wheel Drive Hydrabrake System Twin Castor Rear Axle Proportional Hydraulics Auxiliary Oil For Chainsaw Picking Bag Yanmar Diesel Engine Call Grant and Adele on What are your main interests/ hobbies outside of work? I enjoy travelling and took a recent trip to Thailand with my daughter and a work colleague. I also enjoy netball and just recently retired from the game. What would you like people to know about you? I was born and raised in Mount Maunganui. I have a 21 yearold daughter who also works at Trevelyan s as a Packing Supervisor. I am a regular supporter of KidsCan and currently sponsor 2 local children Who has been the biggest inspiration in your life? My biggest inspiration was and will always be my dad. He taught me to earn the respect of others. Do not take their respect for granted and to work hard every day to maintain that respect. Always stay humble and never think that you are better than anyone else in the world. Size Matters Each quarter our pack house is on the lookout for the largest avocado that comes through Trevelyan s we will measure it, weigh it and let you know here which grower produced it. DEC 8 th Grower Meeting The Christmas AVOCO grower meeting will take place at Tauranga Golf Club on Tuesday 8th of December. Bar will open at 5.30pm and the meeting starts at 6pm. Finger food and drinks will be served from about 6.30pm. For further information contact John Cotterell on WEIGHT: gm GROWER: Terry & Lynley Davies orchard, Te Matai Rd. VineOnline TRENDING WEBSITES, YOUTUBE, FACEBOOK & INDUSTRY e-info trevelyanspcl DISCLAIMER: The information contained in this document is given in good faith, but because in providing this report it has been necessary, in some circumstances, to rely on the information provided by others and a number of future factors, this may influence the result. Accordingly, Trevelyan s Pack and Cool Ltd and their employees do not accept any liability should any grower or other party incur any loss having relied on information given in this document.