Freshco director Greig Taylor at River Cottage Orchard in Longlands Hastings in spring. Photo / Michaela Gower
Freshco director Greig Taylor at River Cottage Orchard in Longlands Hastings in spring. Photo / Michaela Gower
For orchardist and Freshco director Greig Taylor there is nothing better than looking out over his orchard knowing he is growing apples efficiently and cost-effectively.
He has called on technology and evolution to enhance effective water usage in his orchards and wants more people to understand how they do it.
Taylor opened up one of his orchards to Hawke’s Bay Today earlier this year to help reassure the public that water was being put to good use and not wasted.
“As water users, we feel there is a lack of understanding and a bit of education we can do.”
At River Cottage Orchard on Davis Rd in Longlands, Hastings, Taylor is now seeing the impacts of his improved tree structures.
Planted in 2017 the apple trees are grown from a dwarf rootstock, meaning the area the roots will grow out smaller, meaning the tree is smaller and requires less water intake.
The trees are also modified to grow less vegetation such as leaves on smaller branches and trunks but produce the same, if not more, flowers for fruiting.
“It is a much more efficient way of getting twice as many apples using a whole lot less water, just with the structure density and rootstock.”
Taylor said this was all aided by the irrigation system attached near the bottom of the trees that worked by watering the fruit trees via a drip system.
He said evolution in watering systems also allowed for better water use and less waste.
The drip, which can be turned on and off when required, means each tree can get one litre of water per hour.
The technology in the irrigation system can be monitored off Taylor’s phone and alerts him to any breakage in the pipes, immediately switching off the water pump off to mitigate water wastage.
“The technology is enhancing all the time and we are investing heavily so that we use a whole lot less water.”
He said they were able to use high-tech technology to measure evaporation rates and were able to measure soil moisture at different depths.
“You need water to sustain life and grow food.
“You can’t turn up to the supermarket and expect there to be food there if you haven’t used water to grow it - It’s fundamental.”
It was established from a working group of 30 members from industry, stakeholders, NGOs and tangata whenua found the best way to achieve the necessary reduction in the water allocation was the “actual and reasonable use” approach.
This work culminated in the council’s Tank Plan, change 9, a plan for the Tūtaekurī, Ahuriri, Ngaruroro and Karamū water catchments overlaying the Heretaunga aquifer (hence the name Tank).
The plan responds to the findings that much more water has been allocated from this aquifer than can be sustainably taken and the existing pattern of take has adverse effects on connected rivers and streams due to the stream depletion effect from pumping groundwater.
In July, HBRC said the method would need to reduce the consented volume of water by at least 65 billion litres (25,000 Olympic swimming pools), and there was a broad consensus that the aquifer was overallocated under the current consenting regime.
Hawke's Bay Regional Council offices Napier. Photo / Warren Buckland
Hawke’s Bay Regional Council on Tank and water-saving
HBRC policy and regulation group manager Katrina Brunton said they acknowledge and support the great work that many growers and farmers have and continue to do to increase their efficiency of water use.
Brunton said through the process there had been an increase in the awareness of the value of water.
“These efficiencies will continue to be essential and a requirement for all consent holders as further pressures on water availability are increased due to climate change.”
Brunton said the HBRC is aware of the concerns of consent holders and other stakeholders.
“The Tank Plan Change has come about after a long and involved collaborative process involving multiple stakeholders, and a decision by an independent panel of commissioners who heard and considered the full range of evidence from council and the submitters on the plan.”
Mediation of the plan is scheduled to be completed in December 2024 and Environment Court hearings will be held in 2025, but parties could appeal the court decision to the High Court, potentially creating further delays.
Michaela Gower joined Hawke’s Bay Today in 2023 and is based out of the Hastings newsroom. She covers Dannevirke and Hawke’s Bay news and loves sharing stories about farming and rural communities.
