Business Rural North Winter 2021

| 65 RURAL SERVICES » Harvest Matawhero Transport Harvest the go-to for fruit, fert, livestock Kelly Deeks L ong-standing rural transport firm Harvest/ Matawhero Transport runs a profes- sional and efficient operation with plenty of resources to allow for timely delivery of fruit, livestock, fertiliser, and feed from Gisborne to the Hawke’s Bay, the Waikato and beyond. Harvest/Matawhero Transport owner Dave Wilson was raised on a small sheep farm in Auckland and initially followed his roots into shepherding before setting up an agricultural contracting business. He bought his first truck in the early 1980s as a reinforcement for his diggers and dozers. By the late 1980s, New Zealand was feeling the effects of the Black Monday stock market crash, and Dave says all the cockies put their money away in their pockets. “So I got rid of the diggers and dozers and started carting cows to the South Island as an owner driver with Otoro- hanga Transport.” After five years he took a couple of years out of the transport industry when he and a mate bought a fishing boat and went trawling together, but came straight back to trucks, driv- ing for local carrier Alan Hope then buying the business in partnership a year later. “It started off with a huge price tag and ended up $60,000 for the five trucks and another $60,000 for goodwill,” Dave says. “They were pretty old trucks. You had to wear a raincoat when it was raining.” “They were pretty old trucks. You had to wear a raincoat when it was raining.” Call us on 06 868 7200 Cartage of livestock, fertilizer, general farming supplies citrus, apples, and kiwifruit. Harvest/Matawhero Transport started out carting fruit, and eventually got into stock. An old workmate of Dave’s owned Matawhero Transport with a couple of trucks and was looking to give it up. Dave bought him out but he is still driving for Harvest/Matawhero Transport. Harvest Transport now runs 11 trucks, four stock trucks, a couple of tip trucks which cart fertiliser, hay bales and wool bales, and five fruit trucks all with Moffett truck mounted forklifts. “We never have to worry about waiting for the orchard owner to come and unload us, we do it all ourselves.” Harvest/Matawhero Transport carts stock to the Hawke’s Bay three to four times a week to Silver Fern Farms processing plants at Takapau and Hastings, and often brings loads of stock back for relocation onto Gisborne farms. The firm has contracts with Kaiaponi Farms to cart citrus and apples to its post-harvest packing facility in Gisborne, and carts about 300 loads of kiwifruit to the Opotiki Packing and Coolstorage facility 150kms away. About 15,000 to 20,000 tonnes of fertiliser is carted by Harvest/Matawhero Transport every year to airstrips for farmers. Dave says the firm has about 100 customers in the year-round cit- rus game, and at least as many or more farmer clients. Harvest/Matawhero Transport runs 11 trucks, four stock trucks, a couple of tip trucks which cart fertiliser, hay bales and wool bales, and five fruit trucks all with Moffett truck mounted forklifts.