“The impact from frost damage ripples right through the whole supply chain. Customers expect you to deliver. It’s your reputation at stake and you can’t afford to lose shelf space because it’s hard to get it back.”
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Wairau River Wines grow a variety of grapes and export 80 percent of their wines. Prior to having frost fans, they were hit by frost, and one year only got 180 tonnes off a block that usually delivers 2000 tonnes of grapes. “The two frost fan machines on our colder Wairau block save the crop every year”, says Hamish Rose.
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"BAYGOLD has four FrostBoss® C49 frost fans, which are used in combination with water for frost protection. The fans are positioned in the more vulnerable, colder, low spots in the orchards and we use them as our first line of defence against frosts. We had three consecutive frosts earlier in the week and only used the fans."
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“In the days before we had the frost fans, we sometimes used helicopters. It costs about $12,500 to contract a helicopter and once this is used up you pay by the hour. You have to make a decision by 4.30pm whether to call them in and have them on stand-by, even though you may not end up using them. Now we have the frost fans, we don’t have to make those hard calls and it’s easier to sleep at night.”
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"With a vineyard elevation 500 metres above sea level, the fan has run a couple of times over summer. I remember the time and dates and you can sense the peace of mind and relief they provide, automatically firing up around 6.00am on 21st February and also after a light frost on 19th December. It would have clocked up around 20 hours over the last 12 months.
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"Whilst it’s only every few years that frosts would have been a disaster without the fans, they're an insurance policy and they prevent what would otherwise be regular crop loss in the low points of undulating land. We have also seen greater consistency in the crop. The FrostBoss® fans are simple to operate and local support and service back up is excellent."
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"The move into citrus growing came around ten years ago and the trees have been protected by FrostBoss® fans since coming into production. I prefer fans over using water for frost protection because sprinkler lines can freeze. Whilst stonefruit requires winter chilling hours to prolong dormancy, spring frosts cause damage to flowers and fruitlets and can severely reduce yields. Stonefruit at the small green fruit stage are more susceptible to frost damage than the blossoms."
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“FrostBoss® fans are an ‘insurance policy we wouldn’t be without. We use the remote monitoring option. This enables growers to access real-time monitoring of fans via their smartphone, together with text alarms and historical data and graphs on temperature, run-hours and machine performance. We chose Frost Boss® because they are New Zealand made. The value of the local high quality afterhours service is unparalleled."
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“We’ve now got nine FrostBoss® C49 fans at Mowbray with more going in this year to protect the orchard as it comes into production. Out at Mowbray, the fans did their job running for over 100 hours last winter to prevent frost injury on the citrus. The previous season, when it was colder, some machines clocked up 270 hours.”
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