A family-owned Waikato blueberry farm had over 90% of its crops wiped out by frost during last week's polar blast.
Monavale Organic Blueberries, located on the Moanatuatua Plains near Cambridge, say they're New Zealand's largest certified organic blueberry grower which has been operating their 110 acre orchard since 1985.
"On the morning of Friday October 7 we had the worst frost in the three-generation history of our orchard that has destroyed approximately 90% of our crop," the blueberry growers told 1News in a statement.
"Temperatures plummeted to -5C on our orchard."
Over 90% of their crop was destroyed, which was illustrated in before and after images.
"Blueberries, unlike some other fruit, only flower and fruit once per year, so we won’t get another chance to produce a crop for another 12 months.
"We flew two helicopters as frost protection, but the weather event was so severe that the helicopters couldn’t save the crop."
Monavale Organic Blueberries says it had expected to harvest 300 tonnes of berries between late this month into May next year.
"Although this will have an affect on our supply chain, we will endeavour to supply our customers with any remaining fruit that has survived the frost.
"We are saddened by the flow-on effect this event may have on our workers, suppliers, transporters, and customers."
Monavale Organic Blueberries says the weather event has also impacted other horticultural businesses in the Waikato.
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