But closed borders to travellers has still cut off supply to a third of the industry’s workforce.
Central Otago cherry farms have been some of the hardest-hit by the labour shortages.?
The region, like many in horticulture and agriculture, has relied on a workforce heavily dominated by foreign workers.
While last week’s announcement that one-way quarantine-free travel corridor for vaccinated workers under the Recognised Seasonal Employer (RSE) scheme would commence from October?brought some relief, growers in the region were continuing to face challenges with filling up roles.
The one-way quarantine-free corridor will bring some 14,000 workers to our shores, but that was still a long way from numbers the industry had pre-Covid, Summerfruit NZ chief executive Kate Hellstrom said.
Locals, backpackers and RSE workers previously each made up about a third?of the workforce.?
Hellstrom said the quarantine-free travel had been the result of more than 10 months of fortnightly talks, but with record low unemployment in Central Otago, farmers were struggling to find locals and working holiday visa holders.
45 South Cherries chief executive Tim Jones said the business had never experienced a skills shortage of?this scale in the business’ 80-year history.
※We’ve been pretty lucky with the backpacker population that has been coming to New Zealand for a number of years. They have formed the backbone of the cherry picking industry.
※Normally, there’s about 70,000, but with borders shut, now there’s about 5000 in New Zealand. And they’re not necessarily even working in horticulture, they’re probably pouring cups of coffee all over the place.§
He said the remaining few thousand backpackers whose working holiday visas had been extended to the end of the year were planning to leave to?Australia early next year, which was when picking season was to start. The delicate nature of cherries also made it difficult to automate the picking process.
The office of Immigration Minister Kris Faafoi said last month he would review those visa extensions closer to December if need be.
※At the time of this announcement in April, the minister signalled the Government would continue to monitor the border and labour market situations and would extend these visas again if necessary. The Government remains committed to that. Any decisions around extending those visas again will be made closer to December when the first lot of visas are due to start expiring,§ Faafoi’s spokesman said.
Last year the Ministry of Social Development (MSD) set up the seasonal work scheme, which?offered up to $200 a week for accommodation costs and a $1000 incentive payment for workers who completed jobs of six weeks or longer.
※We’ve been pretty lucky with the backpacker population that has been coming to New Zealand for a number of years. They have formed the backbone of the cherry picking industry.§
- Time Jones, 45 South Cherries
Jones said he would also like to see the scheme extended to include tertiary students, whose end of year summer break coincides with the six-week cherry picking season.
But after completing a review of the scheme, MSD had decided not to make any changes to the eligibility for the coming season, MSD Group employment general manager Hugh Miller said.
※Generally, students will not be eligible, including those who are on break and returning back to study next year, as they will not be at risk of being on a benefit long-term,§ Miller said.
MSD figures show only 550 people had been supported through the scheme since November.?
The country’s MIQ system had also made it difficult for the horticulture industry to get specialised experts into the country.
45 South Cherries hasn’t been able to get its specialised cherry graders into the country, Jones said.
※The role requires running really sophisticated computer equipment, where we take photos of every single cherry to grade it according to size, and quality. We’re looking to bring an operator in to run their equipment who has come to New Zealand year after year.
※But we are now in a situation where we don’t know whether we can get a visa for this person or find them MIQ space.§
To add to the labour shortage, farmers in the region were also struggling with the shipping and supply chain issues caused by the pandemic.
※Last year, we saw an increase in freight costs close to 100 percent. We’re in the process of negotiating freight rates at the moment, we’re hoping that it’s no worse than last year.§
Jones said he was hoping to attract enough people to be able to export more than 2000 tonnes of cherries next season -?about a third of the industry’s total export volume.
Hellstrom said?seasonal work force shortage continued to be?a?concern for growers but opening up to the Pacific Islands was a part of the solution.
※I?know all?parts of the economies are suffering from a skills shortage at the moment, we’re not the only ones. So?we’re grateful that this quarantine-free travel is underway for our sectors.§