Leander Archer
Looking on the bright side and maintaining a positive attitude is something that has always been high up on my list of values. To use a concept from a Mark Manson book, life is really a continuous series of problems, and its human nature that if we have a gap, we’ll find another problem to fill it. The choice is whether you fill it with bad problems, or good problems. And a lot of the time, we don’t get a choice on the problem, we only choose how we react.
As you progress through the harvest- mustering all your mental resources to tackle this challenge- remember that this is one of life’s good problems to have. NZ has a great crop of fruit sitting out there, that the world wants. Labour, logistics and COVID-19 are likely to throw you some curveballs, trickier than what you’ve seen before. But in my six years at AgFirst, I have met so many growers and I am continually impressed with the humour brought to the job, and their ability for calm in the face of dark and ominous clouds.
This year you’ll want to have a plan A, B and C ready to pull out as needed to help you keep your calm. Plan A will be to find the labour and with clever use of growth regulators, harvest 100% of the crop. Plan B will be to sacrifice later picks of poor paying varieties or blocks. Plan C might be to bypass complete lower value blocks. Have this plan ready and waiting to fall back on.
It’s a pleasure to work with you and be a part of this industry. Keep hold of humour, pause to breathe, and do your best.
