Welcome to the March – April edition of the Just Avocados newsletter.
Before I provide an insight to the what’s on offer this month, let’s look briefly at how the season ahead is shaping up.
While industry volumes won’t be back to the heights of the 2016 -17 season, where the industry exported 4.7 million trays, they are up on last year – current estimates range between 3.7 to 4 million export trays.
Harvest planning for the coming season has commenced, and we thank all of you who have already provided me with your preferred harvest period and timing. Over the next few months I will have the 2019-20 harvest planned for all supplying regions. Please get in contact if you haven’t already and let us know about your orchard plans – the more
we know, the better we can be prepared to accommodate your requirements.
Working with you and understanding your drivers for harvest timing (returns, tree health, return crop) underpins the structure that allows Just Avocados to deliver values that align with your orchard and business goals. Further to this season, we are adding exciting new initiatives to the pool rules that I look forward to communicating to you in more
detail at the season review presentations – note the dates on page 2.
In the following pages, Jacob provides a high-level overview of the 2019-20 marketing strategy, Erica updates you on what to focus on during Autumn and provides a timely approach to fungal rot management. Kyra shares the fundamentals of soil biology – a subject she is very passionate about. Helen sheds some light on understanding library
tray reports, and explains some of the features of the new NZ Avocado spray diary which will be released before the season ahead. Ashley reminds us of the pests of concern for China – if you have any questions around China compliance, please speak to our team.
I hope that you have found some time for some R&R over the last month or two – the new season is just around the corner! I look forward to seeing you all
at the season review presentations..
Things you should now be thinking about are:
- Have you signed the China and Thailand register?
- Is your spray programme conducive to allow all-market access?
- Do you understand the chemical withholding periods?
If you are unsure about any of the above, please speak to either Kyra or John for assistance.
Crop estimation will once again be critical to extracting the best returns out of the market, and it is pleasing to note that the Just Avocados 2018/19 crop estimate vs actual trays exported was an improvement from the 2017/18 season. However, we still have room for improvement – and this will be a focus for your grower services team.
I will once again remind you that understanding your individual drivers and orchard goals are the key to us delivering value, so take some time to think about what you want to achieve this season and how we can assist – whether it’s orchard health, harvest plans and timing, current crop loading and future production or technical support. We have worked hard on providing a model that provides flexibility, and the detail in the planning is how we can achieve this. We will be meeting with you all over the next couple of months to discuss this.
In this newsletter, Jacob provides a high level 2018/19 marketing overview, John covers pruning and information on fruit staining and Erica explains the fruit set conundrum and potential factors that influence fruit set. Kyra’s first newsletter contribution gives you an update as to what she has been up to and Helen covers off the ever-increasing demands of compliance – don’t forget that when it comes to compliance we have an experienced team who can assist with all facets.
For those of you who attended the field days, I hope that you had a great time and got real value out of these days – please feel free to pass on any
feedback you have.
Soon we will advise the dates for our end of season meetings and I look forward to catching up with you all.
Regards,
Jarrod