13 AUGUST 2010 - Aon is pleased to advise that growers can once again purchase Hail & Frost Insurance for the coming season. Growers can choose to take either Hail or Frost or combine the two perils.

This year the policy has been enhanced and growers can now opt to take a CTL (Constructive Total Loss) extension. Aon have also improved the excess structure.

For growers that have had Hail claims under the ZESPRI Pool Policy and are therefore now on a higher deductible under the ZESPRI Pool Policy - taking a commercial cover to top up the benefit makes even more sense.

As one grower said ' If you think hail makes your fruit look bad, its nothing compared to the mess it makes to your bank balance'.

The flyers and details have been distributed by your Suppliers, if you have not received your copy please contact Paul Martin Phone 09 362 9079, Fax 09 362 9121 or email paul.c.martin@aon.co.nz. A copy is also available for download below.

9 APRIL 2010 - Contractors Tax has now been extended to the vegetable industry.

If you contract a contractor to work for you, unless that contractor has a certificate of exemption, then you are required to deduct 15 cents from your payments to the contractor.

Click on the link below for a copy of the updated brochure.

NOVEMBER 2009 - There has been an increasing number of eye injuries in our orchards including 2008 with an orchard worker losing sight in one eye. To assess whether eye protection should become mandatory for anyone going into an orchard, which was the Government’s initial approach, a project was undertaken. NZKGI, ACC, Health and Safety (Department of Labour) and OPAC initiated the project to identify the level of risk that is present in kiwifruit orchards. NZKGI ran the project, but did not fund it.

The result was the development of best practice guidelines to eliminate, isolate and minimise the risk of eye injuries occurring on kiwifruit orchards. A process is established in the guidelines to first identify any wire hazards and, if possible to eliminate it, or to isolate it, and if that is not possible to minimise it. If elimination is incomplete or not undertaken eye protection is compulsory.

On the last page of the booklet an assessment of the available safety glasses is given based on trials that have been conducted and the glases can be obtained from your local Protector Safety Store. The guidelines have been published and distributed to all growers. If you did not get a copy of the guidelines please contact NZKGI for a professionally printed copy on (07) 574 7139 or toll free 0800 232 505.

A web version copy of the guidelines is available by downloading the attachment. Please note it is 2 MB in size so may take a while to download depending on connection speed.

SEPTEMBER 2009 - Department of Labour has produced a new first aid guide that will help employers comply with their legal obligations and keep their workers safe.

The guide includes easy-to-use worksheets to help employers tailor their first aid preparations to suit the hazards in their individual workplace. A copy of the guide and summary sheet is available by downloading the following documents.

• We are getting an increasing number of complaints from the public about how bird strike is being dealt with.
• For advice on how to manage this - please download the documents listed below.
• How we as an industry manage this has enormous potential to be a public and in-market relations nightmare.
• If you or a member of the public have any problems associated with how an orchardist is dealing with bird strike ring NZKGI’s bird strike hot line 0800 232 505.

27 AUGUST 2008 - In light of the tax evasion schemes in the horticultural industry that the IRD as been cracking down on recently, Minter Ellison Rudd Watts have written an article setting out the tax requirements of a grower or contractor. This article would set out the basic GST/PAYE/Withholding tax requirements just to ensure that those in the industry are clear on their obligations.

A copy of this article is available for download by clicking on the PDF attachment below.

The opinions expressed by the authors in the following article may not reflect NZKGI's opinions. NZKGI does not make any representation as to the accuracy of information in this article.

Joanne Dunne is a Partner and Marcus Roberts a Law Clerk in the tax team at Minter Ellison Rudd Watts, a law firm with offices in Wellington and in Auckland. Joanne can be contacted at joanne.dunne@minterellison.co.nz, or direct on (09) 353 9990 if you have any queries about this article.

Stay Safe This Summer

Department of Labour research into 362 workplace fatalities for the six years from 2000 to 2005 showed that the rate of workplace fatalities was higher during the summer and autumn months, with a peak in January. More recent Department of Labour statistics confirm the trend.

Seven factors were identified as directly contributing to the fatalities. They were:

• Human error
• Not following accepted procedures
• Poor workplace design
• Poor safety culture
• Lack of personal protective equipment
• Lack of experience

The research found that increases in summertime workplace fatalities can essentially be explained by seasonal variations in the agriculture industry, the industry with the highest fatality rate.

Other key research findings include: workers aged between 45 and 54 are most at risk and there are two peak times when work-related fatal accidents are most likely to occur – late morning and mid afternoon.

Riding an off road vehicle was found to be the most dangerous activity – 52 percent of work-related fatalities involved a vehicle “off road”.

The Department of Labour is, for the second year, running a public awareness campaign aimed at reducing the death toll in our workplaces during these high risk months.

A copy of the full report is available from Department of Labour's Website.

NZKGI have developed a budget/cashflow spreadsheet for growers to use. This is an important tool to help to make better on-orchard decisions and to have more control on the financial decisions you need to make.

The spreadsheet is to help growers manage their orchard as a business. The information in income is only a guide and growers should be conservative in budgeting their income and should speak to their Supply Entities about the possible timing of the payments to them. The on-orchard expenses (both direct and indirect) are based on averages and growers need to replace these with their own figures. If your expenses are higher than the guide figures you should ask yourself if the service you are receiving justifies the additional expenditure, e.g. you may spend more on picking because your yield is greater.

The budget/cashflow tool is very useful in negotiating with the bank and allows you to plan ahead when making financial decisions.

A copy of the budget spreadsheet for either a GREEN or GOLD Kiwifruit Orchard is available by contacting NZKGI's Office on 574 7139 or 0800 232 505 or click here to email NZKGI and a copy will be E-mailed out to you. The spreadsheets are also available by logging into the grower only section and downloading a copy. If you need assistance in using the budget/cashflow tool, please contact NZKGI's Office,