3 Kings Cherries co-owner Tim Paulin. PHOTO: ODT FILES
Last year, the region's orchards were overrun with people seeking work with more than 7000 on a job-seekers list.
Two years before that with border closures disrupting travellers' plans they were battling to find enough people to get the fruit from the trees to market.
However, this year there were just the right number, orchardists said.
3 Kings Cherries co-owner Tim Paulin said he had just enough staff on his orchard above Clyde.
"It's OK but I could do with a few more."
He had a mixture of backpackers and university students who were from Central Otago, who came back to work for him most years.
The backpackers were a mixture of people from Europe, Asia and a few Canadians, Mr Paulin said.
Despite the patchy weather their crop was tracking well, he said.
3 Kings began planting on the site in 2019 and had been adding trees each year.
The cherries were packed in an on-site pack house. Their biggest export markets were Taiwan, China, Singapore and Thailand with damaged cherries going to Eden Orchards for juice.
In Cromwell, Webbs Fruit co-owner Simon Webb said he also had just enough staff.
"I was a couple short the other day but all of a sudden they arrived."
People contacted Webbs via their website or knocking on the door looking for work.
This year he was not seeing many people looking for work, unlike last year, Mr Webb said.
"You don't want to see that, to see backpackers not being able to get work."
He mainly employed university students, many with family connections to the area. There were about 25 students and two backpackers working there yesterday.
"They are brilliant kids," he said.
There were also eight or nine Cromwell school students working for him.
They were an investment in the future and you had to look after them, he said.
School students tended to flag in the afternoons and while he encouraged them to keep going he was sympathetic.
While university students usually wanted to work 45-50 hours a week to save as much as possible for the next year, school students usually did 30-40 hours a week, he said.
"You've got to be realistic."
While the weather had been a bit erratic it was not unusual and it usually picked up at the end of the month when school went back.
Their peaches and nectarines were looking brilliant and apricots mostly good despite some frost damage, Mr Webb said.
