Avocado award 2023 – Frank Bagenstoss

The Avocado award is to acknowledge and recognise contributions to the avocado sector that change or alter the business resulting in advancement forward in the avocado sector.  The purpose of this award is to recognise contributions in all areas of the sector and including but not limited to marketing, research and development and product and production innovation. This category of award is open to any industry stakeholder or participant.

Congratulations to Frank Bagenstoss who is a deserving winner of the avocado award. “I’ve been growing avocados 29 years now and I’m still learning. Like we all are. We all learn new things all the time. I’m the only one pruning trees on my orchard. So I’ve got to know the avocado tree pretty well. It’s good to see all the innovation that’s starting to happen now. A lot of people are doing a lot more now and that’s good.” -Frank

Frank and his wife Coryl own a three-hectare orchard at Te Puna, which they purchased from Frank’s brother. That year they planted 350 avocado trees on two hectares of the property and so the story began of years and years to follow of avocado innovation and adventures.

If there are three things that immediately spring to mind with Frank it is innovation, dynamic pruning, and a willingness to share knowledge. Frank is well known for his desire to continually try things in new ways with his avocado trees and its not uncommon to see him change his pruning style very frequently! Keeping everyone on their toes…and guessing, what will he do next? With this comes a very open willingness to share his knowledge and learnings which has supported many growers in the industry who have enjoyed several field days at Frank and Coryl’s orchard. They have also hosted some government groups and last month hosted a group of teenagers from Tauranga Boys’ College.

This self-professed ‘mad pruner’ has said the climate in the Bay of Plenty is marginal for growing avocados because it gets too cold and wet. “Our trees tend to be very vegetative, which is different to most other growing countries,” says Frank.

In the early days on their orchard, Frank followed the Australian experiment of pruning trees into hedgerows but after several years he decided this didn’t work as it didn’t let enough light in. He then moved on to his own theory, similar to hedgerows but with space between each tree; pruning trees to create an oval rather than a round shape, with two picking bays cut into either side of the tree.

He has metal tags on each tree that tracks the history of production of each and what year’s he’s injected them. A level of detail not many growers look at.

He also believes it is important to choose an orchard site that is frost free and has good air drainage. It’s a lesson the couple has learnt from experience. In 2009 their orchard had the heaviest frost in 30 years, with temperatures below minus four degrees Celsius. “I had just finished pruning my trees and they were lowered and very open, to allow light penetration. I lost 55 per cent of hanging fruit and five 9-year-old trees died outright. Most of the other trees suffered cold damage to budwood and structural limbs, which lasted for years.

When you visit Frank and Coryl’s orchard it is difficult to identify which growing set up he thinks is best. There is a huge range of trials on the go with new thinking and new modifications made each season. He has always focused on maximising yields and management efficiency through light interception and ease of access into the tree. In more recent years Frank has been trialling a lot of the apple and cherry two-dimensional production systems.    While it may be difficult to tell visually which system he thinks is best from the orchard you only have to ask what his front runner is and he’s only too happy to take you through why he’s passionate about his latest system.

Frank has engaged with researchers and many plant physiologists eyes have lit up when they see what Frank has achieved on his orchard and what might be possible with the humble Hass avocado tree. He participated in the PGP: Canopy management working group where his pruning method (at the time) was characterised and with videos and other resources put together of what he’s been doing.

Things have not always been easy on the orchard for Frank and Coryl but Frank has been steadfastly innovative and passionate. He is always quick to give a hand, pass on knowledge and has given his all to this industry without a doubt. We thank Frank for his substantial contribution and knowledge to this avocado industry and congratulate him on this award.