Fully electric? Hunt on for sparky grower

By Sue Hoffart

A new Zespri-funded study aims to help kiwifruit growers assess the costs, risks and benefits of increasing orchard electrification. The study, conducted by Rewiring Aotearoa experts, is looking at practical ways electrification can reduce fossil fuel emissions on orchards, while boosting productivity and resilience.
Rewiring Aotearoa chief executive Mike Casey says the kiwifruit study will focus on orchard-based equipment and potential power generation options. It will also deliver a calculator that enables orchardists to assess costs and emission reduction impacts when fossil fuel machines are replaced with electric alternatives. Along the way, he is hunting for a potential showcase orchard.

“My personal goal is to find the grower willing to go the whole way, to provide the world’s first fully-electric kiwifruit orchard,” Mike says. “New Zealand growers have a unique opportunity to innovate and capitalise on the electrification and automation opportunity. New Zealand is one of the first countries to be at the electrification tipping point. It is now cheaper to buy electric machines and run them with a combination of rooftop solar, home batteries and our highly renewable grid, than it is to buy and use fossil fuel equivalents. Even when you include the upfront costs and cost of finance.”

Mike would know. He and wife Rebecca became the first commercial food growers in the world to operate without burning fossil fuels. Their 6ha Central Otago cherry orchard, Forest Lodge, uses electricity to power everything from irrigation to frost fighting and even New Zealand’s first electric tractor. They supplement grid power with an extensive solar and battery array that generates and stores electricity on the property.

Growers, orchard management companies and contractors have been invited to participate in an online survey. However, the Rewiring Aotearoa team is also visiting a range of kiwifruit orchards to quiz growers in more detail.

“We want to do individual case studies to understand the idiosyncrasies of individual orchards, to do a deeper analysis. We need to approach this from the perspective of not only what are we going to do to reduce emissions but also what reduces grower costs. It’s really important to focus, not just on a per hectare basis, but also on a per machine basis.

“What’s the potential return on investment? You might have one machine where the capital cost has a really long payback but there might be another machine that’s used almost daily, or a 25-year-old tractor that you can either replace with a new diesel or a new electric. And where you’re financing a new sprayer or tractor, if you include the interest and capital, is it actually cheaper to run than the fossil fuel machines you’re currently using? What machines can you retire early and still save money?”

The Rewiring Aotearoa crew is also asking growers to identify solar panel-friendly rooftops and chunks of land that may be suitable for energy generation and storage.

“One came through yesterday, that has five hectares that are not suitable for planting. That could make a massive difference. Instead of buying energy from offshore, they could now generate it locally.”

Third generation orchardist Daniel Kenna is an enthusiastic study participant. He met its authors on the Kenna family’s 16ha gold orchard near Katikati, then joined his parents and siblings to discuss electrification options around the kitchen table.

“We want to understand the business case,” Daniel says. “We’re certainly not experts but we want to learn, we want to know and we want to test and trial. Mike and his team opened our eyes to the possibilities and gave a bit of clarity around the electrification journey.”

Together, they discussed the possibility of combatting escalating power costs by installing solar panels on marginal land. They also looked at replacing orchard vehicles with electric alternatives.

“Right now, it’s cost-prohibitive to buy electric vehicles but that’s not going to be the case forever. Once we have solar panels in, hopefully vehicle costs will have come down. “I see electrification as playing a role in reducing the kiwifruit industry’s emission footprint and I think it’s important that we get that right. So working with Rewiring feels to me like the best next step.”

Fellow grower Brandon Cross says future electrification makes sense for Ngai Tukairangi Orchards. The regional orchard manager looks after Ngai Tukairangi’s 57ha of Gold3 and Hayward fruit, both conventional and organic. He met with the Rewiring Aotearoa representatives on the trust’s orchard on the Matapihi peninsula, in Tauranga. The visitors toured the orchard, asked plenty of questions and discussed everything from irrigation systems to solar panels.

“The things Mike’s doing on his cherry orchard with total electrification, the savings, it’s pretty cool,” Brandon says. “It’s definitely inspiring. There are real benefits in it and I would like us to be there but it’s going to take a bit of time for us, as an industry.”

Brandon says reduced fossil fuel usage and increased electrification fits with the trust’s goal to become carbon neutral and its values around caring for the land. And while the costs don’t currently stack up – some technology is expensive, some is not readily available he expects that will change. “If the tech were more accessible, it’s something we would consider tomorrow. Having these discussions has got us thinking it over so when the opportunity comes up, we’ll at least be ready. It’s a step in the right direction.”

Fully electric? Hunt on for sparky grower
Sue Hoffart

A new Zespri-funded study aims to help kiwifruit growers assess the costs, risks and benefits of increasing orchard electrification. The study, conducted by Rewiring Aotearoa experts, is looking at practical ways electrification can reduce fossil fuel emissions on orchards, while boosting productivity and resilience.

Rewiring Aotearoa chief executive Mike Casey says the kiwifruit study will focus on orchard-based equipment and potential power generation options. It will also deliver a calculator that enables orchardists to assess costs and emission reduction impacts when fossil fuel machines are replaced with electric alternatives.

Along the way, he is hunting for a potential showcase orchard. “My personal goal is to find the grower willing to go the whole way, to provide the world’s first fully-electric kiwifruit orchard,” Mike says.

Photo 1. Rewiring Aotearoa visited kiwifruit orchards recently as part of the orchard electrification study.

NZ KIWIFRUIT JOURNAL Oct / Nov 2024 53

“New Zealand growers have a unique opportunity to innovate and capitalise on the electrification and automation opportunity. New Zealand is one of the first countries to be at the electrification tipping point. It is now cheaper to buy electric machines and run them with a combination of rooftop solar, home batteries and our highly renewable grid, than it is to buy and use fossil fuel equivalents. Even when you include the upfront costs and cost of finance.”

Mike would know. He and wife Rebecca became the first commercial food growers in the world to operate without burning fossil fuels. Their 6ha Central Otago cherry orchard, Forest Lodge, uses electricity to power everything from irrigation to frost fighting and even New Zealand’s first electric tractor. They supplement grid power with an extensive solar and battery array that generates and stores electricity on the property.

Growers, orchard management companies and contractors have been invited to participate in an online survey. However, the Rewiring Aotearoa team is also visiting a range of kiwifruit orchards to quiz growers in more detail. “We want to do individual case studies to understand the idiosyncrasies of individual orchards, to do a deeper analysis.

“We need to approach this from the perspective of not only what are we going to do to reduce emissions but also what reduces grower costs. It’s really important to focus, not just on a per hectare basis, but also on a per machine basis.

“What’s the potential return on investment? You might have one machine where the capital cost has a really long payback but there might be another machine that’s used almost daily, or a 25-year-old tractor that you can either replace with a new diesel or a new electric. And where you’re financing a new sprayer or tractor, if you include the interest and capital, is it actually cheaper to run than the fossil fuel machines you’re currently using? What machines can you retire early and still save money?”

The Rewiring Aotearoa crew is also asking growers to identify solar panel-friendly rooftops and chunks of land that may be suitable for energy generation and storage.

“One came through yesterday, that has five hectares that are not suitable for planting. That could make a massive difference. Instead of buying energy from offshore, they could now generate it locally.”

Third generation orchardist Daniel Kenna is an enthusiastic study participant. He met its authors on the Kenna family’s 16ha gold orchard near Katikati, then joined his parents and siblings to discuss electrification options around the kitchen table.

“We want to understand the business case,” Daniel says. “We’re certainly not experts but we want to learn, we want to know and we want to test and trial. Mike and his team opened our eyes to the possibilities and gave a bit of clarity around the electrification journey.”

Together, they discussed the possibility of combatting escalating power costs by installing solar panels on marginal land. They also looked at replacing orchard

We need to approach this from the perspective of not only what are we going to do to reduce emissions but also what reduces grower costs.
REPORTS

Photo 2. The Rewiring Aotearoa team with Katkati’s KW Kiwi crew, discussing orchard equipment.
54

I see electrification as playing a role in reducing the kiwifruit industry’s emission footprint and I think it’s important that we get that right.
REPORTS

Photo 3. Rewiring Aotearoa staff with Ngati Tukairangi orchard team members.
NZ KIWIFRUIT JOURNAL Oct / Nov 2024 55

vehicles with electric alternatives.

“Right now, it’s cost-prohibitive to buy electric vehicles but that’s not going to be the case forever. Once we have solar panels in, hopefully vehicle costs will have come down.

“I see electrification as playing a role in reducing the kiwifruit industry’s emission footprint and I think it’s important that we get that right. So working with Rewiring feels to me like the best next step.”

Fellow grower Brandon Cross says future electrification makes sense for Ngai Tukairangi Orchards. The regional orchard manager looks after Ngai Tukairangi’s 57ha of Gold3 and Hayward fruit, both conventional and organic. He met with the Rewiring Aotearoa representatives on the trust’s orchard on the Matapihi peninsula, in Tauranga. The visitors toured the orchard, asked plenty of questions and discussed everything from irrigation systems to solar panels.

“The things Mike’s doing on his cherry orchard with total electrification, the savings, it’s pretty cool,” Brandon says. “It’s definitely inspiring. There are real benefits in it and I would like us to be there but it’s going to take a bit of time for us, as an industry.”

Brandon says reduced fossil fuel usage and increased electrification fits with the trust’s goal to become carbon neutral and its values around caring for the land. And while the costs don’t currently stack up – some technology is expensive, some is not readily available – he expects that will change.

“If the tech were more accessible, it’s something we would consider tomorrow. Having these discussions has got us thinking it over so when the opportunity comes up, we’ll at least be ready. It’s a step in the right direction.”