Storm thrashes kiwifruit crops 

Source: ONE NewsGreen kiwifruit on vine

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Some Bay of Plenty kiwifruit growers are trying to salvage crops devastated by a freak hail storm.

The storm hit at about 5pm on Monday and growers say they may have lost millions of dollars of produce.

So far 90 orchards have been effected, but growers are still checking the damage and the toll could grow to around 300 producers.

"It was like someone getting a shot gun and just firing it into all of the (kiwifruit) canopy," says Te Puke grower Tom Rutter.

The storm is more bad news for the already struggling industry, although kiwifruit marketer Zespri says it is too early to tell what impact it has had.

"Our sympathy goes out to any grower that has been impacted by this event. At this point in time we are unsure of the extent of the potential damage within the crop," says Zespri spokesperson Carol Ward.

Zespri is asking growers who have been affected by the storm to contact them for help.

Zespri corporate and grower services director Carol Ward says that the crop management programme had been put on hold until the extent of the damage was known.

For Todd and Viki Rutter this was to be their best crop ever, one hail storm later and their entire kiwifruit  crop could be gone.

They say they are gutted, devastated and tired from not sleeping.

"It hit consistently across the entire orchard. There is no area that's hit more then the other," says Todd Rutter.

The National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) says the freak weather strike is very rare and extreme.

"It's a bit like having a pot on a stove, you've got heat at the bottom and cold at the top and it bubbles up and blows up these big thunder storm clouds," says NIWA spokesperson James Renwick.

Kiwifruit Growers chairman Peter Ombler says some growers might have to wait a day or two to gauge the extent of the impact, because fruit which was not split by hail could still be badly bruised.

About 40% of the green crop and 70% of the gold crop had been harvested when the storms hit.

Ombler says some growers would have access to industry insurance for hail damage.

The bad weather is expected to clear by the end of the week.