A couple of challenging years has not stopped one of the country's leading commercial growers from investing in state-ofthe- art technology. This comes in the form of a new machine to harvest lettuce, spinach and other leafy green crops used to in salads in ready-to-use consumer packs.
The aim of adopting this new technology is to improve their environmental footprint but at the same time, not compromise their goal of being a cost-effective business. Leaderbrand, which has its main operation in Gisborne plus sites in Pukekohe, Matamata and Canterbury, is trialling the electric harvester in its mega (11ha) greenhouse near Gisborne.
Tairawhiti has experienced some of the heaviest rainfall in its history. Leaderbrand chief executive, Richard Burke, says in the last calendar year they got 2100mm of rain.
It's not just one year of heavy rain – it's been multiple years, and this made it difficult to grow crops in the saturated soil and to get them to market with major road closures.
Read more at ruralnewsgroup.co.nz