Land use fact sheet
Cherries
Cherries can show high returns but they need careful management. They require specific climate conditions and tend to be more susceptible to pest and disease than other fruit.
The Central Otago season runs from the end of December to mid-February and is focused on export markets. The Hawke’s Bay season runs from mid to late November to early January and is focused on the domestic market.
Demand for export cherries has grown over the last 10 years, with market access into China and other countries that celebrate Chinese New Year, when it is traditional to give cherries as gifts. Most of this demand has been met by new plantings in Otago.
Overview
Regions
More than 720 hectares of cherries are grown in New Zealand. Around 90% are in Central Otago.
Growing conditions
Cherry orchards are trending away from low intensity systems towards more intensive trellis systems.
Climate
Cherries need plenty of sun in summer and at least 800 hours of temperatures between 2oC and 12oC in winter.
Commercial scale
You'll need at least 25ha of land unless the orchard will be run by an owner-operator and can use existing infrastructure.
Getting started
Cherry trees deliver their first light harvest after 3 to 4 years. This will increase each year until maturity, around 6 to 8 years.
Skills / employment
It is difficult to make a profit without the expertise of a skilled orchard manager to keep trees healthy and productive.
Regions
There are an estimated 726 hectares of cherries planted in New Zealand, with around 90% of them in Central Otago. The rest are planted in other parts of the South Island and in Hawke’s Bay.
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Commercial scale
25 hectares (where an orchard manager is also carrying out practical orchard work).
Smaller areas of 7ha – 10ha can be profitable if they are run by an owner-operator and if they are run very efficiently. You will also need to have access to infrastructure, such as packhouses, cool storage and agricultural contract services for workforce and machinery.
Getting into the industry
According the MBIE publication 'Investment opportunities in the New Zealand Cherry Industry', costs to establish a cherry orchard have been estimated at $150,000 to $200,000 per hectare for a 20-40 hectare operation, including:
- land preparation
- trees
- trellis
- irrigation
- other infrastructure.
It is important to seek qualified, experienced advice to plan and provide a budget for your development.
Cherry orchards are trending away from lower-cost, lower intensity bush systems and towards higher up-front investment in more intensive trellis systems. The approach that you choose will determine your planting density, which can range from 800 to 1,600 trees per hectare.
Growers often plant a range of varieties to provide cross-pollination and to lengthen the season. This also helps to spread out cashflow and reduce the risk of losses caused by a lack of enough seasonal labour at the right time.
All systems require permanent irrigation. You may also need bird protection and weather protection like hail netting, rain covers and wind machines.
Cherry trees deliver their first harvest 3 to 4 years after planting, with mature yield being achieved after 6 to 8 years.
Make sure you have access to a market for your fruit by the time the trees are in production. Summerfruit New Zealand is the industry organisation for cherries in New Zealand. They provide a range of support and resources to help growers sell on the domestic and international markets.
Skills and employment
The manager or owner-operator must be knowledgeable and skilled in all aspects of growing cherries as they are a challenging crop, with a relatively high risk of failure.
Understanding whenua management
Employees on a cherry operation need training or supervision for tasks like:
- pruning
- picking
- operating machinery like tractors
- handling dangerous goods like sprays
- undertaking weed, pest and disease monitoring and control activities.
Harvesting is very labour intensive. Growers rely heavily on seasonal labourers — this has been highlighted by growers as a risk for the industry.
Recognised Seasonal Employer (RSE) Scheme
The Recognised Seasonal Employer (RSE) Scheme can help you find and recruit seasonal workers from overseas. You must register as a recognised seasonal employer and meet a number of conditions to be able to use the scheme.
Compliance
As with any business, there are compliance regulations in regard to health, safety and wellbeing, employment law and tax obligations. Some of the key industry-specific compliance obligations are listed below.
Levies
Growers are supported by Horticulture New Zealand as well as industry body Summerfruit New Zealand. Both organisations collect compulsory levies under the Commodity Levies Act 1990.
Horticulture New Zealand collects $0.14 per $100 of sales. Summerfruit New Zealand collects 0.75% of the sale price collected by the grower. These levies can change, so check the websites to make sure you have the latest information.
Horticulture New Zealand membership levy
Summerfruit New Zealand guide to commodity levies
Export market compliance
The Summerfruit NZ Export Marketing Strategy sets out the rules for growers, exporters and pack houses who wish to export cherries. These rules include being licenced by the Horticulture Export Authority and being registered with Summerfruit New Zealand as an exporter.
SummerGreen is an integrated pest management programme that focuses on reducing agrichemical use, monitoring insects, controlling pests and diseases, and improving water quality and soil health.
Contact Summerfruit New Zealand for more information.
Food safety
All growers must meet the requirements of National Programme 1 under the Food Act 2014 to ensure the cherries you’re supplying to the market are safe to eat. The requirements include rules about how the crop is handled, managing spray residue, and withholding periods.
GlobalG.A.P.
You need to be GlobalG.A.P. accredited in order to export your cherries. It is not compulsory if you are not exporting, but it makes it easier to comply with Food Safety and other regulations.
GlobalG.A.P. accreditation confirms that you have complied with all food safety regulations and that food is produced using environmentally sustainable practices. It has social practice add-ons, and an additional environmental management add-on that is expected to cover most requirements of the NPSFM.
Council regulations
Many councils require consents for access to irrigation water and for other activities related to changing land use.
Talk to your local council before investing in any detailed planning or other work to ensure you are aware of any consents or permits needed to develop an orchard on your whenua.
Meeting council compliance obligations
National policy statement for freshwater management (NPSFM)
The National Policy Statement for Freshwater 2020 gives local authorities direction on how they should manage freshwater under the Resource Management Act 1991. As such, some local authorities require growers and farmers to create a Farm Environment Plan (FEP). Make sure you're familiar with the FEP expectations in your region. Check with your local council about the requirements for your whenua or planned development.
Even if your region doesn't yet require an FEP, it's good practice to put one in place for your whenua as part of your business plan. The Foundation for Arable Research (FAR) provides templates you can use to create an FEP.
Growing conditions
Cherries require deep, well drained soils. They can be grown on soils that would not be considered suitable for arable cropping as long as they have suitable irrigation and nutrient management.
Intensive orchards that use trellised, high-density planting need to be on flat land. Lower density planting with free-standing or bush systems can be developed on land with up to 10% slope.
Trees need to be protected from wind, which can damage fruit.
Bees, usually from hired hives, pollinate cherry orchards. Some varieties need to be cross-pollinated by a different variety of cherries. In this case it will be necessary to plant more than one variety in the orchard.
Cherries are very susceptible to disease, including:
- Bacterial blast, Pseudomonas syringae, can kill large numbers of young trees when the orchard is being established. Infection tends to follow environmental stress, like frost injury.
- Silver lead, caused by Chondrostereum purpureum, which starts in pruning wounds or broken branches.
It takes careful, skilled management to keep the trees healthy and productive.
Rain covers are needed in areas where there is a possibility of heavy rain during summer, especially close to harvest when it can cause fruit to split.
Climate
The ideal climate for growing cherries has:
- More than 800 hours of temperatures between 2°C and 12°C over the winter dormant period. This provides the 'winter chill' that stimulates even blossoming once temperatures rise. Most of Hawkes Bay does not experience this winter chill, so growers use a 'dormancy breaker', which is a chemical that causes the tree to blossom.
- No frosts, or protection from frosts below -1.5°C from mid to late August, onwards.
- Low rainfall and low humidity over the blossom period which is mid-September through to mid-October.
- Low rainfall and low humidity from 2-3 weeks before harvest to completion of harvest.
- Moderate to low wind exposure. In windy locations you'll need shelter belts.
- High sunshine hours over the growing season.
- Maximum daily temperatures over 13°C during the blossoming period, in order to get good bee activity.
- 800+ Growing Degree Units (Base 10°C).
Water
During New Zealand summer conditions, cherries need about 30mm per week although a hot, dry, windy day may see daily water use rise to 6-7mm.
Market
The number of individual cherry growers has changed very little in the last 10 years, but there has been steady growth in the:
- export market
- volume of cherries produced each year
- average output per orchard.
The market is seasonal, with around 80% of the national crop exported and targeted to arrive in countries throughout South East Asia in time for Chinese New Year. This falls on a slightly different date each year, between late January and the end of February.
The timing of the export crop coincides with the harvest window of December to February for Otago cherry orchards. In contrast, Hawke's Bay cherry orchards are ready for harvest through November and December, so the primary focus for this region is the domestic pre-Christmas market.
Our main competition on the export market is Chile, who produces nearly 90% of the total volume of cherries exported into the global market. We can't compete on volume so our marketing strategy is focused on quality and product differentiation.
Future industry
The industry is focused on growing the value of the export market by targeting high value ‘niche’ markets, to cover New Zealand’s high costs for labour and export freight.
Cherry varieties are evolving rapidly, especially premium late and early season varieties. The industry has historically been receptive to grafting over to new varieties, which is shown in the steady increases in average yield across the industry over the last 10 years.
Issues facing the industry include:
- labour constraints at harvest
- competition from Chile
- access to skilled permanent staff
- slow progress in the development of precocious dwarf rootstocks suited to intensive production methods.
Biosecurity is a constant issue. A number of pest and diseases that are present overseas have not yet arrived in New Zealand and have the potential to damage the industry. Industry and the Ministry for Primary Industries work together to manage this risk.
Operational costs
Annual running costs are comprised of:
- employment, for permanent and seasonal employees
- overheads including fuel and electricity
- maintenance of equipment and infrastructure
- fertiliser, sprays and other products
- various other minor and major costs.
It is important to seek qualified, experienced advice when planning your budgets.
Grower returns
Production volume varies between:
- 8 to 10 tonnes per hectare for light cropping varieties
- 14-16 tonnes per hectare for heavy cropping varieties.
Estimated returns for the local market from mid-November to Christmas are around $10-$15/kg before packing, packaging and freight are deducted.
Buyer demand for cherries drops after Christmas. At the same time, big volumes come online from the Otago orchards. This sees prices fall to around $4.50-$5.50/kg to the grower.
Export returns in 2017 were estimated at $20/kg and have now fallen to around $17/kg. These figures are approximate because prices vary based on fruit size, fruit firmness and appearance.
Seek advice
Seek advice early, before you invest in any design or development.
Talk to your local Te Puni Kōkiri office to see how they can support you through your decision-making process. They will be able to provide advice and find out whether your project qualifies for funding.
Talk to the industry organisation to see what support and resources they can offer to people thinking about growing cherries.
If possible, seek out advice from people who grow cherries in your area as well as knowledgeable suppliers.
Talk to qualified consultants who are experienced in cherry growing and other land developments in your area. They will be able to provide detailed, impartial advice on what will (and won't) work on your whenua.
About this fact sheet
This fact sheet provides general information to help start and inform conversations. It is not comprehensive enough to support detailed decision-making.
The information in this fact sheet has been contributed by AgFirst, Hortinvest and Te Puni Kōkiri kaimahi. Data that has not been credited in the body of the fact sheet has been sourced from StatsNZ or provided by the contributors.
You can provide feedback on the content on this or any fact sheet by emailing the Whenua Māori Service at whenuainfo@tpk.govt.nz