Horticulture

Competition from cut-price prison labour has prompted the horticultural industry to call an emergency meeting next month.

Apple and pear growers have finally notched up a win against Australia at the World Trade Organisation over use of non-tariff trade barriers to block the export of NZ pipfruit across the Tasman.

Fruit and vegetable growers fear they will be the losers if a plan to increase GST goes ahead.

A report on the Recognised Seasonal Employer (RSE) scheme, which brings Pacific workers to New Zealand to fill horticulture and viticulture workforce gaps, shows while some difficulties have been presented, it has generally been a useful and positive initiative.

For wine lovers, it sounds like a dream job - evaluating more than 80 Central Otago wines in a "marathon" tasting at Gibbston Valley Wines.

Central Otago orchardists report the highest number of job seekers yet this year, but say the crunch time will be in the next week or two when the cherry season is at its peak.

Just weeks before harvest, paeony growers in the South are hoping they will be able to introduce measures to get around a United States ban on all New Zealand flowers and foliage imports.

Central Otago employers who use the Department of Labour's Recognised Seasonal Employment (RSE) scheme are more than happy with the service being provided by their Vanuatuan workers despite the fact the workers cost employers $3 an hour more than anyone else.