Double the sweet corn harvest for Wattie’s

Double the sweet corn harvest for Wattie’s

Ten thousand tonne of top quality Hawke’s Bay sweet corn will be processed at Heinz Wattie’s Hastings factory in the coming weeks.

This is double the tonnage from previous years, as the Company caters for demand from Kiwi consumers and export orders.

Agriculture Manager Ivan Angland says Wattie’s grows and harvests both the standard variety sweetcorn, as well as supersweet corn for its product range.

“This is looking like a great year for Hawke’s Bay sweetcorn. Not only are we doubling the volume, which is a real step up in a single year, but the crop is looking very promising, with great yields. The corn crop loves the kinds of rain we’ve been getting.

“We are the only corn canning operation in New Zealand, and we had the opportunity this year to significantly increase volume. The corn will be harvested and processed at a rate of 1000 tonne a week. During the same period, we will also be processing other major crops, although these are later than initially forecast.”

Heinz Wattie’s is the only company to can corn in New Zealand, so that consumers can enjoy locally grown Cream Style Corn (from standard variety corn), and Corn Kernels (from supersweet corn).

Included in the 10,000 tonne is Wattie’s Organic Corn which is processed and canned in a separate operation. To ensure its integrity, the harvesters and plant operations are cleaned down before the organic crop is brought in.

More sustainable cropping

Ivan Angland says there is growing interest amongst the company’s suppliers in investigating and adopting new farming practices that will increase the sustainability of their operations.

“We now have a significant portion of the corn crop which is “strip tilled”, a practice by which only the strips for planting the crop are cultivated. This reduces damage and disruption to the soil, increases water retention and reduces energy inputs. If you are not cultivating where you are not planting, you are saving on tractor fuel.

“With our encouragement, individual growers are assessing the benefits of such systems, and we are confident they will be extended in the years ahead.”

ENDS

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