Quarter of the year gone already

I thought I’d look back on my first column for 2023 to mark the fact that a quarter of the year has gone already and its Easter at the end of this week.

In my first column, I thanked growers – in particular, vegetable and berry growers – on behalf of consumers of the busy time they had over Christmas. I also noted that while there had been no major adverse weather events, widespread wet weather and wind had a negative impact on all growers.

Of course, no one was to know that weeks of extreme weather were just around the corner, starting with the Auckland anniversary weekend storm in that region, and ending (we hope for quite a while) with the Valentine’s Day devastation that Cyclone Gabrielle caused across the Hawkes Bay, Tairawhiti Gisborne, Northland, Bay of Plenty and northern Manawatu regions. 

Cyclone Gabrielle has been a massive blow, in particular, to the Hawkes Bay apple and Northland kumara industries however all growers across the affected regions are suffering. Hundreds of millions of dollars in cold hard cash and future opportunities have been lost, along with confidence in the future. While it is human nature to look for silver linings, it’s far too early to tell with any level of confidence just what the long-term impact will be. And where the silver linings are, if there are any. 

Those of us – including Government Ministers and officials – who have visited the worst affected regions are in awe of the resilience of each of the affected communities. But it’s tough and it will continue to be for many years ahead. 

In my first column for 2023, I said that ‘Health and wellbeing needs a much greater focus from the Government, given increasing levels of obesity, mental health and general health issues in both adults and children in New Zealand.’ At the same time, I noted that ‘Our entire sector is under pressure after almost three years of major labour, logistics and market disruptions’.

I did not list the weather because at that point, while the growing season had been mediocre, looking at the industry across the country, most growers were getting by, even if the situation was not sustainable, and things needed to be improved – for example, in the areas of rising production costs, the bite of supermarket margins; resource management, immigration and labour laws and regulation. 

There’s been a lot of discussion about wellbeing in the primary sector for quite some time, as well as in the media in general. One of the factors that influence wellbeing after a major event is knowing – knowing what the plan is because it gives people a sense of control and focus.

As I touched on last week, the Government has lots of factors to consider as it develops a nationwide, sustainable approach to the impacts of recent – and future – adverse weather events.

By 14 April, it will be two months since Cyclone Gabrielle struck. That’s not a long time by some measures but an age if you have been directly affected. From conversations our sector has had with central Government, we gather they are nearing the end of their discussions with insurers, regional Government, and the banking industry on what the future could look like. 

Our message to Ministers is: please give affected parts of the primary sector certainty as soon as possible, as a boost to wellbeing as well as being a fundamental boost to the future.