Middle NZ: Robotic harvester a game changer

Linda Hall is Assistant Editor, Hawke's Bay Today.

If you read Saturday's paper may have seen the article I wrote about apple picking for the day.

Again at harvest time in Hawke's Bay this year there was a labour shortage.

The shortage appears to have eased somewhat although there are still advertisements for workers on the ground or in packing sheds.

This is not a new problem for Hawke's Bay but from what I have just seen on social media it may well be a thing of the past sooner than we imagine.

I was fascinated watching the world's first commercial robotic apple harvester made by Abundant T&C.

I watched the short clip over and over.

I don't know how it works but from watching the video it looks as if this tube reaches out and sucks the apple in.

From my wide experience of one day picking I do know that treating the fruit with the utmost care is vital so the journey along the "sucking tube" to wherever it lands would have to be very gentle.

I was guilty of causing "thunder" when I tried ever so carefully to lower my picked apples into an empty bin. The noise carried right through the orchard as the supervisor called out "Who's is that?"

So the robotic harvester would have to have a place for the fruit to land softly.
I have no doubt that it does. The people building these machines know what they are doing.

So in the not too distant future there will be no labour shortage and people won't be able to complain that they don't want to go picking because it doesn't pay enough.

You can bet your bottom dollar that when that day comes people will complain that robots are taking over their jobs.

One day there may not be the opportunity to earn money while travelling, or work weekends to save for that holiday.

I also mentioned in my story that the Government were looking at restructuring secondary tax.

In my opinion this is a fantastic move. How often do you hear about people working three or four jobs to make ends meet.

Putting more money in their pockets will help those struggling to feed and house their families.

Having that extra money to pay the exorbitant rents these days could be the difference between children going to bed hungry or happy.

I actually feel sorry for anyone trying to get in to the property market these days. One young lady said to me recently that she didn't see any way she would ever be able to afford to buy a house.

Figures such as the ones in yesterday's NZ Herald are sobering reading. For instance in 2010 in Wellington a home for below $500,000 could be bought in 67 per cent of suburbs. Today only 14.9 per cent of suburbs have homes below the half a million dollar mark.

I certainly don't think wages have kept up with that increase in the past five years.
So yes let's forget the restructure — just get rid of secondary tax altogether — it just punishes people for working hard.

*Linda Hall is assistant editor of Hawke's Bay Today.