Planting the future

This marks the official start of our inaugural bare root planting season at the site and with it, a major milestone in our journey to strengthen and futureproof our nursery operations.

Setting began in June and will continue through to the end of August. By then, our crew of around 50 will have planted an impressive 6.4 million bare root cuttings across nearly 12 hectares. It’s the first time we’ve grown a bare root crop outside of Te Ngae, and expectations are high for how the new site will perform.

To mark the significance of this milestone, our Board and Senior Leadership Team visited the nursery on 5 June as part of a board field trip. Board Chair Jon Hartley and Chief Executive Ryan Cavanagh were among those who rolled up their sleeves to ceremonially set the first cuttings — captured in a special photo that symbolises this exciting new era.

“Setting the cuttings is a big moment for the business,” says Labour Supply Specialist Areta Peters. “There’s a lot of excitement around seeing how the crop performs in a completely new environment.”

While the setting season spans just a few months, the work that goes into getting to this point is year-round. It begins with the mother stock — plants aged between one and four years — which are carefully nurtured by our Mother Stock Specialist, Katie Luies. She manages the health and productivity of the plants and oversees the planting of new mother stock to support future seasons.

In the lead-up to planting, our Bare Root Specialist Jonathan Lane and his team prepare the soil and planting beds, ensuring they’re in the best condition to support healthy root development and crop success. 

Workforce planning is another essential part of the puzzle. Areta works closely with labour contractors to secure seasonal workers and coordinate efforts across our nursery and tree crop teams, ensuring all parts of the operation run smoothly now and into the next season.

The shift to Rerewhakaaitu is a leap forward in scale and capability and sustainable practices for our business. “Our nursery has been built with the future in mind,” says Nursery Operations Manager Craig Ford. “This first crop is the beginning of what will be a long and productive new period for us.

The team’s hard work is laying the groundwork for healthy clonal and family cuttings that will head out to our forest estate next year."