Psa impact seared into the mind - Kiwifruit Vine Health
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Psa impact seared
into the mind
Robbie (right)
and Scott Ellison.
It arrived like a whisper but fast turned into a scream. Psa was first identified in
New Zealand 10 years ago and what followed was one of the most tumultuous
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times in the history of the kiwifruit industry. Now Kiwifruit Vine Health has
commissioned a project which follows some of the main players from those early
days of Psa and tells their stories. The following are excerpts from two such tales,
as told to local writers Sue Hoffart and Elaine Fisher.
Robbie Ellison – family feels Robbie was glad to be home and pleased international skifield work and kiwifruit.
NZ KIWIFRUIT JOURNAL Feb / Mar 2021
S
to see healthy vines as he spent the
everal moments from the Psa saga Light was fading as Robbie drove past the
weekend catching up on spraying. The
stand like vivid mental photographs Zespri building that Sunday evening, en
orchardist wasn’t thinking about Psa
in Robbie Ellison’s memory. route to his Mount Maunganui house. But
though, he had succession planning on
The first occurred about 8pm on Sunday his mind. He wondered how he might he recognised the two figures standing,
night, November 7, two days after the step back further from involvement in 18 talking earnestly outside the marketing
orchardist and his wife Karen returned hectares of kiwifruit and perhaps begin co-operative’s head office. What on earth,
from a European holiday. While overseas, to divvy up ownership of four Te Puke he wondered with some trepidation,
their plans to visit Italian kiwifruit orchards properties amongst the couple’s three were New Zealand Kiwifruit Growers
were curtailed by the rampant spread of a sons Trent, Scott and Sam. Two were Incorporated chair Pete Ombler and Zespri
bacterial infection that was creating havoc already working in the business full time, chief executive Lain Jager doing there at
within the industry. while Scotty divided his seasons between that time of night? 61
The next morning, I was driving to work and the phone goes. It was a Katikati
grower and he says ‘Psa’s in New Zealand’. That’s the first thing he said.
“You just know something big is going in no doubt the issue was serious. Craig winter pruning and constantly cutting out
down” Robbie says of this, thinking Thompson, now at Zespri, was a family any leaders that showed signs of dieback
back then. friend and the two men had spoken about or ooze.
the devastation Psa was causing in Italy,
“The next morning, I was driving to work “That was a big mistake, it was obvious as
where Craig had lived and worked. Robbie
and the phone goes. It was a Katikati soon as we got to bud burst, and we ended
expected things were going to get tough for
grower and he says ‘Psa’s in New Zealand’. up cutting it off in September anyway. We
gold growers. In his case, 30 percent of his
That’s the first thing he said. Not hello. should have taken the crop off and cut it off
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holdings were Hort16A.
I know exactly where I was at the time, straight away but we weren’t sure.”
halfway along the swamp road between Sure enough, Robbie and Sam’s suspicions
Sons Trent and Sam wielded chainsaws to
Te Puke and Welcome Bay. I thought, were quickly confirmed; an inspection
bring down the vines. Then, just as they
‘bloody hell’.” revealed one gold block at Brown Road
were finishing, they walked into the next
looked okay but the second was certainly
Robbie drove straight to Trevelyan's pack- block and found 22 of the 23 vines showing
infected. The orchard stood directly in the
house and quizzed the first person he symptoms. So they kept cutting until all 1.1
path of the prevailing wind.
found. Where is this Psa thing, he wanted hectares of gold had gone.
to know. Is it Kerikeri? Gisborne? The reply What’s more, symptoms had also appeared
Robbie describes the first tell-tale cankers
was a hammer blow; the infected property on the first-year canopy along the front
he saw, like pus-filled wounds dripping with
lay 200m from two of the Ellison’s four block of the Ellisons’ Red Fox orchard, on
red exudate. In those days, the sound of
Te Puke orchards. Te Matai Road.
chainsaws roared through his place and on
By Wednesday, son Sam had found strange Several months of uncertainty followed his neighbours’ orchards. Road frontages
little angular spots on Hort16A leaves before instruction came in February 2011 to were frequently pocked with piles of vine-
at their Brown Road place, downwind cut down the problematic Te Matai Road filled plastic bags along orchard frontages.
of Olympos orchard. Within days, the vines, below the graft, to knee height.
It was an awful time, he says, and the
spotting had spread through numerous
The Brown Road place had a stay of uncertainty was far from over. Would they
male plants and some of the females.
execution. For 10 labour-intensive months, lose the remaining gold block at Te Matai
While there were plenty of unanswered the family and their staff battled to save Road the following season? How long
62 questions, from the outset Robbie was the vines, harvesting a crop, embarking on before Psa hit their other two properties?
What about the green? He held grave “In those first six months, you could - and Positivity paved the way
fears for the remaining 70% of his crop some growers did - feel some resentment
Robbie Ellison is a natural optimist who
and wondered, could he and his family towards people higher up in industry.
looks for silver linings, like the resilience
lose everything? In their defence, we had never come up
learned and the fact that plummeting
against something like this. It was difficult
“There was a point when I thought ‘hell, orchard prices allowed son Trent to buy
we could lose all this. I might not have for decision makers. It was hard for Zespri,
into the market at a great price.
anything to transfer to my sons.” being the marketing arm. We had some
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real holes in our on-orchard biosecurity.” But he does not minimise the extent of
On Red Fox orchard, the green was saved He is certain the formation of Kiwifruit Vine the crisis.
from destruction by a last-minute policy Health (KVH) has been key to managing “In our community, it wasn’t just us
change. A contractor was lined up to cull the initial Psa crisis and ongoing issues growers that were worried, it was our
the vines on the Monday morning until with the bacteria, as well as addressing orchard employees, our packhouse
an announcement on the previous Friday future threats such as brown marmorated employees and the wider community
afternoon deemed the infected green could because Te Puke is quite dependent on
stink bug and Queensland Fruit Fly.
stay. Those particular vines produced fruit the kiwifruit industry.”
“The industry is without doubt better set
NZ KIWIFRUIT JOURNAL Feb / Mar 2021
for another decade and were only recently
cut to make way for Zespri Red. up, we’ve got a better of chance handling Robbie is adamant that getting away
these things well now. Once Psa was from the orchard is the key to maintaining
He says the initial scramble for information decent mental health. It’s a lesson the
under control, so to speak, there was
and guidance was difficult for everyone orchardist has taken to heart himself and
some question about the need for an
and it became obvious that no-one was one his sons instinctively knew to follow
organisation like KVH. But clearly there is
properly prepared for a horticultural during the Psa outbreak. He repeated
very much still a role for them.”
biosecurity incursion. the same message to others who were
“In my mind we will have future biosecurity struggling to cope with the financial
“We had meat inspectors inspecting our
breaches and we will need to handle those uncertainty and devastation inflicted by
orchards,” he says, of the early response
with a coordinated approach.” the bacteria.
from the Ministry of Agriculture and
Forestry (MAF). In his case, he claims fishing and a daily 63
café ritual have helped him deal with to put your head down. You learn skills
adversity and says the act of offering help to be able to cope with this stuff, actually
to others hasn’t hurt, either. Robbie was being aware of your mental health, getting
among a small team who travelled to off the orchard. It’s not the fact that things
other kiwifruit regions, to speak at grower happen, it’s how you deal with them
support meetings. Avoid blaming others that matters.”
and focus energy on dealing with the task
at hand, he advised. And make mental Karen Roche – Psa a
wellbeing a priority. small-town hammer blow
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Forty years in horticulture and some In shock value terms, Katikati packhouse
brutally bad seasons have taught Robbie boss Karen Roche rates the arrival of
how to withstand knocks. He remains a horticultural bacteria alongside an
philosophical about future threats, unforgettable royal death.
including the effects Covid-19 may have
The Birchwood General Manager likens
on his business.
Psa’s appearance in the Bay of Plenty to Karen Roche.
“At the moment we’re looking good but it’s news that the Princess of Wales had died in
an uncertain world. That’s part and parcel a car crash 13 years earlier.
down with a glass of wine.”
of being a grower. We face uncertainty. Are “I remember where I was when Lady Diana
we going to get through without a frost or That night, Karen and her colleague started
died and it was a bit like that,” Karen says
hailstorm? How is Covid-19 going to affect of the day she learned a Te Puke orchard out the way they would continue; they
demand for our fruit?” had been struck by the virus. made a plan and began phoning their
orchard managers to share the scant
“Since Psa, this orchard has been hailed “It was around five in the evening and my information on hand.
twice in consecutive seasons,” he says, grower services manager Jane Wordley and
nodding his chin beyond the rows of Zespri I were still here at work when we heard. Over the ensuing days, they set to work
Red that form part of his Red Fox orchard. We were thinking, what the hell? How trying to deal with immediate fears and
“Both times it cost quite a bit of crop but could it possibly get here? I’ve got a little practicalities and all the questions they
that’s the sort of thing that can happen fridge in the office where we keep wine, couldn’t properly answer. Would it be as
64 when you’re a grower and you’ve just got usually for grower events and well, we sat bad as the stories emerging from Italy?
We battled that attitude for a long, long time. Even when they got Psa, there
was denial. They didn’t really believe it, they’d say ‘it’s just spotting, I’ve seen
that before’.
Would the industry survive? Would anyone equipment and not letting vehicles onto Her workplace family was fearful of the job
keep their jobs? And where on earth did a the orchard. losses that initially looked inevitable as the
person find disposable overalls in extra- industry battled the bacteria, and Karen
“We did all that but still we got it. Usually
large sizes? worked hard to reassure them. She was
after a massive wind, you’d see it had
doing the same thing each time she visited
“All of a sudden, there were all these sneaked into somewhere that had some
town and found herself talking to worried
hygiene considerations. Once we started shelter trees down. It was a beast of
store owners and managers who would
sending our people out to monitor a thing.”
quiz her about Psa and its progress, fearing
orchards, we had the whole exercise of
When Psa landed in Karen’s lap, she for their livelihoods and employees.
trying to find these white suits, what to
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was three years into the role and still
use and of course we’ve got all kinds of “They were scared. Katikati is a very small
body shapes needing them. We had to learning, with 10 full time staff and 50
town so the shopkeepers were totally
source sanitising gear for tools, stuff for supplier orchards, centred around the
reliant on kiwifruit and a booming kiwifruit
hands, foot baths, the list went on and on. Katikati district. While it was her years industry. The poor townspeople, every
The contractors who were going onto the of administrative and other industry time I’d go into town they’d say, what do
orchard had to do a clean-up spray of experience that won her the job, she you know?”
their gear. Growers didn’t always have swears it is parenthood that best prepared
her to manage the packhouse and tackle Growers were frightened, too, and plenty
hoses or water where it was needed, so
the Psa fallout. The mother of three – one resisted the hygiene precautions, adamant
NZ KIWIFRUIT JOURNAL Feb / Mar 2021
you had to find a water source. Everything
unexpected set of twins and a child with it would never reach their orchards in
took longer.
a disability – says running a post harvest Katikati or Waihi.
“Later, when we picked and packed, we
operation is much like looking after a “We battled that attitude for a long, long
were advised to sanitise the picking bags
busy family. time. Even when they got Psa, there was
on and off the orchard, to only use picking
“You’re juggling lots of balls, exactly like denial. They didn’t really believe it, they’d
gloves once on an orchard. We were going
when you have kids going to three different say ‘it’s just spotting, I’ve seen that before’.
through all these picking gloves. We had
The growers who had been in denial were
to supply the tractor drivers with brushes sports events and you’ve got to have a
the ones hit hardest mentally.
so there was no plant material on the plate for one. In the packhouse, being a
tractor or bins and that meant another 15 mother helped me more than anything “But at Birchwood, we knew it was
minutes when you got to work and half an else. And staff squabbles are just like inevitable. If it had got to Te Puke from
hour at the end. We were washing down dealing with fighting kids.” overseas, it was blinking going to get here. 65
In the early times, I
really did think there’s
got to be a silver bullet,
they’ll find this magic
spray, but we finally
figured that was not
going to happen. We
were going to have
to live with it.
We did get some grace in that we were growers were invited to meet informally green and it looked likely the industry
fortunate to be able to observe what was with staff, over a glass of beer or wine. might weather the storm. Karen and her
happening in Te Puke and we wanted to Professional counsellors were also brought team continued to devour information,
front foot it. We wanted to be prepared.” in to help both staff and growers cope. trying to advise growers on the best
Karen says Zespri’s Canopy website was “I remember one of the things they said approach, advising they strike early and
a godsend, providing constantly-updated was how to sleep at night. They were giving prepare for the worst; book contractors
information. Later, it was support from us tools to switch off when your brain is quickly, bring a digger in to ensure there
Kiwifruit Vine Health (KVH) and New going 100 miles an hour. That was me. I’d was a hole ready to bury any infected vines.
Zealand Kiwifruit Growers Incorporated be running over everything I’d been doing “It was a continual learning curve. I
(NZKGI) that made her feel less alone during the day. Now, did I do that? Did I remember vividly we blowtorched
and better informed. Both Karen and Jane organise that? Did I let them know? Have I some Psa and burnt it. Everyone was
dispatched constant updates to growers missed something? For me, the answer was
trying different things and we had to be
and regularly gathered staff to share news having a piece of the paper by the bed, to
continually telling growers, don’t listen to
in-between attending a seemingly endless write it all down. Lists, always lists.”
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those snake oil people. In the early times,
stream of meetings.
Both Karen and her orchard services I really did think there’s got to be a silver
“That’s what I remember, the meetings. manager had a personal stake in finding bullet, they’ll find this magic spray, but
Lots of miles, lots of late nights. All the the best ways to manage the bacteria. Jane we finally figured that was not going to
phone calls and newsletters. Those and her husband had signed a deal to buy happen. We were going to have to live
newsletters were hard. I’m more operations a 4-hectare orchard planted in green and with it.”
and financials but all of a sudden I was gold, with settlement day falling just 24
hours after the Psa announcement. Karen And it wasn’t all bad. She recalls the
having to become an expert wordsmith to
and her husband also owned an orchard. strong sense of camaraderie and support
get the information out there.
between everyone from the Zespri chief
“The more information we got, the more “We had green and Gold9 but we didn’t executive down.
we realised how little we knew. We were know it would be okay so we made a plan.
just flying by the seat of our pants, hoping When Psa decimated it, we were going to What’s more, Karen admits Psa did have
whatever product we were using was right. make it into a golf driving range. Or maybe one upside.
Often it wasn’t and we had to say, ‘they’re blueberries. That’s how we were thinking “It gave us Gold3. Hort16A was horrible to
not recommending that anymore’ and early on.” pick and pack because it had a beak. That
change what we were doing.” was a problem if you mishandled it, it got
By the time the infection reached the
Katikati area, Psa was better understood a little cut. Even packing, it was really hard
Informality the key and there were glimmers of hope on to stop that physical damage. And Gold3
Jane and Karen implemented a weekly the horizon. It was becoming clear that is such a beautiful fruit to pack. It’s even, it
66 Tuesday afternoon catch-up session, where Hort16A gold vines were harder hit than doesn’t get that blemish.”
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