Waimea Weekly Locally Owned and Operated
Wednesday 1 February 2023
Floyd a cut above Tasman shearer Floyd Haare successfully defended the Tapawera Shears Open shearing title on Saturday. Floyd, 35, originally from Southland but now based at Bainham, near Collingwood, dominated the four-man final, shearing the 20 sheep in 19min 24.22sec, beating secondman-off and eventual runner-up Nick Nalder, of Tākaka, by more than two sheep, a buffer of almost 9pts on time. There was more than two minutes back to veteran Blenheim competitor Chris Jones, who won the Open Plate at Tapawera last year, and who at the age of almost 65 has competed at all three Top-of-the-South shows so far this season, also finishing third at the Marlborough show in October.
Floyd Haare successfully defended his title at the Tapawera Shears on Saturday. Photo: Barry Whitnall / Shuttersport.
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Orchards take new staffing initiative ANNE HARDIE The apple harvest begins this month (February) and a tight labour market combined with low backpacker numbers prompted one business to take the innovative step to set up a recruitment stand in the Richmond Mall to find staff. Heartland Fruit NZ packs and
markets Luv’ya apples in Richmond for a number of growers and employs up to 150 staff, with its busiest period between the start of harvest in mid-February through to July. Operations manager Daniel Manson says it has been a tough couple of years finding staff due to Covid-19, especially last year when overseas backpackers with
LOCALLY OWNED AND OPERATED
Working Holiday Visas (WHV) were shut out of New Zealand. It left them short of staff through the season and the packing operation on Beach Road had to reduce three production lines down to two. He says the business still achieved its goals for export and local markets, but it was challenging for all areas of the business. Though the borders are open
again, he says the number of backpackers seeking work for the coming season is still low. “We aim to hire as many local workers as possible, but there is never enough for all the jobs available and so we fill the gap with backpacker workers.” The company tries to attract seasonal workers including backpackers from cherry packhouses
in Central Otago as the cherry season finishes before the apple harvest begins. But this year the cherry season is running later due to weather and it will be too late to get those workers for the beginning of the apple harvest in Tasman. Few backpackers prompted the
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