The Big Cherry orchard owner Chris Toms said while it was too early to gauge if any damage had been done after a rainy weekend, he had concerns for the weather for the rest of the week.
Yesterday, the MetService issued a severe thunderstorm watch predicting localised downpours of up to 40mm per hour for the east coast of the South Island, and including Central Otago, between 2pm and 9pm.
Helicopters were used to dry cherry trees as water caught in the fruit would make it split. They had not been needed so far but with yesterday’s forecast it was quite possible they would be needed today, Mr Toms said.
Despite a helicopter costing up to $3000 an hour, it was important to protect the crop.
"The sooner you get the water out of it, it stops ring splits at the top of the fruit."
Fruit splitting because of the rain would make exporting cherries very difficult and it was possible to lose half the crop because of it.
"It’s twice as hard to pick, twice as hard to pack and the quality of the fruit is not quite as good for exporting," he said.
Remarkable Orchards manager Sid Birtles said any rain was not good for cherries, affecting the domestic market as badly as exports.
The weather in Central Otago was difficult to predict so he had decided to take a wait-and-see approach.
"It’s a difficult exercise to get the forecasting right sometimes."
Like other orchardists, he used helicopters to dry out the cherries if it rained.
Despite the uncertainty regarding the weather, things were looking positive so far, Mr Birtles said.
Clyde Orchards director Kevin Paulin said so far they had sat with their fingers crossed regarding the forecast.
"At this point it hasn’t been an issue."
As well as using helicopters, Clyde Orchards also had smart roofs that automatically closed during rain to protect the cherries.
"I’ve still got a lot of crops outside of the covers," he said.
Central Otago Heliwork pilot and chief executive Paul Booth said he had already gone out to two orchards five times in the past 24 hours to dry cherries.
He expected to be busy until Boxing Day.
— Ella Jenkins
