16 Mar 2015

Gisborne growers rush to harvest before storm

4:15 pm on 16 March 2015

Cyclone Pam has by-passed Northland with apparently little impact and there have been no reports of any serious damage and less rain than what farmers were hoping for.

Sea swell at mouth of Whakatane River as Cyclone Pam arrives.

Sea swell at the mouth of Whakatane River as Cyclone Pam begins to make its mark. Photo: RNZ / Alexander Robertson

Farmers and growers in the East Cape Gisborne region have been waiting for the worst of the storm to strike, but they are no longer expecting the extreme conditions that were earlier forecast.

With the amount of warning they have had, grape and vegetable growers were out harvesting as much of the crops as they could before the predicted high winds and heavy rain arrived.

Gisborne-based produce company LeaderBrand, along with the rest of the industry, has been closely monitoring the passage of Cyclone Pam.

But its general manager Richard Burke said the conditions had not been too bad so far.

"We've got a bit of wind and bit of rain, but if it doesn't get any worse than this, then it shouldn't be too much of a major for us at all, just a kind of summer storm."

The forecast is for the wind to increase, and Richard Burke said if that happened it could damage late season corn crops as well as maize.

"It'll mean more for harvest conditions and being able to pick it up, than anything else. It doesn't look like we are going to get a whole lot of flooding, the rain forecast has been toned down for the flats and it looks like we are going to be able to cope with that fairly well."

He said everyone went hard over the weekend to harvest crops including grapes, tomatoes and squash, lettuce and broccoli, picking as much as they could, knowing that they would probably have to stop harvesting for a couple of days, until the weather settles down again.

Kiwifruit growers have been on weather watch, with the harvest in the main growing area in the Bay of Plenty very close to starting, or just underway.

New Zealand Kiwifruit Growers president Neil Trebilco said growers in Kerikeri and Whangarei had not experienced weather anywhere near as damaging as first thought.

But he said growers in the Gisborne region, who were normally the first to harvest, would be awaiting the arrival of Cyclone Pam anxiously.

Mr Trebilco said strong winds and rain could potentially damage fruit and vines.

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