Boyds Asparagus managing director Andrew Keaney had hard and fast decisions to make on an early October morning following an unusual polar blast that brought snow and frosts well up the North Island.
The decision came down to cost: mow in 164ha or get the picking teams to work their way through the remains, harvesting salvageable new spears, while clearing the wilting wreckage off the top.
Andrew chose the mower. Bringing in workers to tidy up and do in two or three days what would normally take a day would have cost even more.
The frost hit was a set-back for those dependent on what they could sell in the domestic market. For Boyds it was around 60 tonnes of product, equivalent to 200,000 bundles, and a revenue loss of about $300,000.
''The biggest concern to me is the significant loss of revenue in a marginal business. These days our market is really the North Island, but after Labour weekend the prices drop below the cost of production.''
The frost cost ten days of production at a time of year when prices were at their best. Boyds’ usually bustling packhouse lay deserted. But it was not the end. New spears would come away. One hundred and eighty seasonal workers, many from the local community, had to be scheduled, with some paid for a portion of the usual time – to prevent them from going elsewhere and adding to the overall labour problems.
The impact on the availability of asparagus to the market would be minimal, as growers in the Hawke’s Bay and Horowhenua would make up the difference, Andrew says.
This isn't the first time Boyds had been hit with frost in 2022. Another cool night brought frost in early September, but luckily only on a 20ha block with a loss of about two to three tonnes.
''We've had frosts before, but never as widespread. We have six blocks within a 40km radius and this is the first time frost has hit them all.''
According to Andrew, there wasn't a lot that could be learned from the experience, or put in place as a protection should the same event happen next year.
''Unfortunately for us, there's not a lot we can do. It would cost $100,000 to get a helicopter in. The margins are just not there.''
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