First rain free cherry harvest in nine years

ANDREW RITCHIE

Blair McLean of Cherry Bank Cherries says this harvest has been worth the wait. The McLean family have had to wait nine years for a rain-free harvest and are thrilled to be reaping the benefits.

A steady stream of traffic coming in and out was skillfully being directed by Blair in a high-vis jacket and a Santa Claus hat when Top of South Farming paper visited the orchard.

The season has not all been plain sailing with mid-September gales shredding the overhead nets. During the replacement of the nets, many of the highest-placed flowers were destroyed resulting in a slightly reduced crop. About a week or two behind in ripening however the fruit is clean and as damage free as one could hope for. Grading takes only six hours a day because of the high quality of the crop.

“The local market is hungry for cherries this year so the whole crop is going to the domestic market, rather than the export trade,” says Blair.

Unlike the previous year, labour is plentiful for the picking season. There has been a continuous flow of workers, most of whom are backpackers. In central Otago there has been a waiting list of two to three thousand people looking for work.

At Marlborough’s Cherry Bank Approximately 25 per cent of the crop goes to pick your own customers. The family grow up to ten cherry varieties, spreading the risk in a tricky season and lengthening the picking period.

The harvest started on the 20 November this year and finished in the middle of January by which time everyone was ready for a well-earned rest.