Redoubt Hill vineyard
Episode 14, screened 11 June at 7pm on TV ONE:
Fruitful Family
Richard Horrell has tried his hand at many horticultural crops, converting his Motueka block to keep up with a changing marketplace.
In the early days, Richard followed his father into tobacco production, learning to grow seedlings, transplant, fertilise, irrigate and harvest the crop as he went.
It was a good training ground. "If you can grow tobacco, you can grow any horticultural crop," Richard says.
He made a comfortable living from 10 hectares of tobacco but that income disappeared in the 1980s when law changes meant local cigarette manufacturers no longer had to use 40 per cent New Zealand grown tobacco in their product.
The local tobacco growing industry was virtually killed off as manufacturers began to import cheaper raw materials.
Richard saw the change coming. He stopped growing tobacco and planted green Hayward kiwifruit and, later put in apples and grapes.
But, in recent years, Richard has become disillusioned with the horticultural industry. Although his orchard has grown to 30 hectares, and he's put in a lot of effort, he struggles to make money.
That effort includes switching apple varieties, keeping his Royal Gala and Braeburn but also planting Australian and French-bred strains. In addition, he's grown a block organically to try to attract a price premium, although that premium has since disappeared.
Currently Richard is converting his green kiwifruit to Zespri Gold as fast as he's allowed. He's also built a packing house that can handle both kiwifruit and apples and he packs fruit for other Motueka growers.
He still grows grapes too, but oversupply has caused prices to fall and that's also impacted on Richard's financial returns. An outbreak of fruit rot in one block this season has been another blow.
However, the business is still providing work for the Horrell family. Richard's wife Sue is in charge of quality control in the pack-house while elder daughter Louise manages fruit consignments and the kiwifruit block. Richard's son Brendon looks after grape growing but has also taken a job off the orchard to earn extra money.
Despite the problems, Richard Horrell remains optimistic about the future of the horticultural industry.
He's looking forward to New Zealand apple growers gaining access to the Australian market later this year and says it could be the trigger to restore his confidence in orcharding and also deliver a better bank balance at the end of the season.
Note: in this episode we showed two shots of Redoubt Hill Vineyard to illustrate that vineyards are on the increase around Motueka - but this has confused some people. Our story was about the nearby Horrell property - Redoubt Hill is still owned and worked by the Jackson family.
To find out more about the Horrells, contact Richard or Sue on 03 528 9853 or at 202 Queen Victoria Street, Motueka.
- Julian O'Brien, producer
Websites to visit:
www.enza.co.nz
www.motuekaonline.org.nz
Credits
Camera
Barrington West
Field sound
John Patrick
Offline editor
Brent Whitwell
Online editor
Alex Wright
Sound mixer
Ian Leslie
Research
Vivienne Jeffs
Network executive
Jude Callen
Consultant producer
Frank Torley
Associate producer
Dan Henry
Production manager
Robyn Best
Director/reporter
Frank Torley
Producer
Julian O'Brien
