For those in the agriculture and horticulture industries, the year is defined as much by the jobs being done as the calendar month or date.
For Central Otago vineyard workers, this month’s big job was netting the vines, after which staff would be keeping an eagle eye on the weather as the grapes ripen and the sugars develop ready for harvest.
McArthur Ridge vineyard manager Murray Petrie oversees 183ha of vines on the Alexandra property, assisted by 11 full-time staff, up to 20 workers on the recognised seasonal employer (RSE) scheme and up to 15 casuals as needed throughout the year.
He said staff numbers last year were "actually quite good".
"We had a lot of Kiwis who put their hands up to work."
This year, his casual staff had mainly been university students, some coming from Christchurch or Wellington to join the team.
The vineyard was also back to pre-Covid-19 numbers of RSE workers, he said.
McArthur Ridge used two types of netting, to prevent fruit loss and damage by different bird types.
Side nets were used to safeguard the fruit from starlings, while overhead nets were added to rows particularly prone to being visited by small birds such as finches and sparrows.
Complementing the nets were gas gun bird scarers and employees with shotguns also tasked to scare birds off.
Bird pressure was increasing due to more farming and cropping in the area, and starlings were particularly wasteful, stripping the fruit with their feet and leaving it lying on the ground, Mr Petrie said.
"They can be vicious."
