Throughout New Zealand, crop producers, including grapes, apples and kiwi, have started harvesting.

According to Mike Chapman, President of New Zealand Horticulture, there is a shortage of labor in all sectors and the situation is not improving.

Chapman said the government has consulted on policy changes regarding temporary work visas and vocational training to address the labor shortage in the industry. Horticulture in the country is in a phase of rapid growth, and in the next 10 years, he said, will require at least 26,300 new, well-trained people.

“The government-proposed vocational reform is the first opportunity in decades to move towards creating a vocational training system that is suitable for New Zealand's growth and expansion in the future,” continued the New Zealand Gardening Chair.

In the meantime, gardeners continue to complain about a shortage of workers. For example, Fairview Orchard, a gardener who works in Roxburgh, said that he was having difficulty collecting enough pickers for his apple crop.