A touch of hail was enough to send more than a shiver up the spines of a lot of people in Hawke's Bay as temperatures plunged to as little as 5C and rain and wind whipped through the region on Monday. But fruitgrowers lived to fight another day without apparent damage, says Hawke's Bay Fruitgrowers chairman, HortNZ board member and Hastings apple orchardist Leon Stallard.

Stonefruit orchardists were most at risk in areas such as Bay View, but Mr Stallard said: "The hail that came in was small and slushy, and it was quick, and it was early enough to not cause any real damage."

It was almost as if it was the beginning of the golden summer, blossoming stonefruit orchards showing that a decent spring has arrived.

The season across the orchard industry had seemed a little early, but Mr Stallard said a week of cold days had delayed flowering. "It's back to a normal season," he said.

"It's a number of years since we've had one of those, whatever a normal season is. But the bud looks good, and the crops look good," he said. "Apples are just coming into light, braeburn are just starting to move into flower," he said yesterday. "This weather will bring it along. This is what we've been waiting for."

The more immediate risk is the frost factor, and communities close to orchards in Hawke's Bay have already been woken by alarm and protection systems kicking-in.

"That comes with living with a climate in an area that grows fruit and vegetables," he said. "It has to be understood that orchardists have to do that. We don't really want to spend thousands of dollars on diesel and other protection."

Horticulture New Zealand says the industry continues to play a vital role in New Zealand's economic growth, and is now valued at close to $7 billion, with exports making up about 8 per cent of total merchandise exports.

It says the increasingly diversified nature of the industry has about 40 varieties of fruit - including citrus, pipfruit, summerfruit, berryfruit and subtropicals - as well as more than 40 varieties of ornamentals and vegetables grown for export as food, flowers, bulbs and seeds.

Of the national apple production of about nine million cartons, Hawke's Bay accounts for about 62 per cent.

Source - http://www.freshplaza.com/