Kumara farmers in Northland have spent the year salvaging remains of their crops after most of them were wiped out by Cyclone Gabrielle.
However, there is good news in store for kumara lovers as Kaipara growers expect a plentiful supply with harvest fast approaching.
This means a drop in prices is likely to follow too.
Kaipara kumara farmer Doug Nilsson is relieved the worst seems to be over.
“Mentally it feels a lot better, you feel like you’re a kumara grower now as there’s something going in the ground,” he told 1News.
Back in February his farm was hit hard, meaning 1500 tonnes of kumara didn’t make it to supermarket shelves.
He estimated a $4.5 million crop was lost at the time.
“We haven’t exported any kumaras into the domestic market this year,” Nilsson said.
“We’ve actually been importing them, as we lost all our seedlines as well. This year it’s been a lot of rebuilding.”
There is light at the end of the tunnel though, as this season’s crop will be ready for harvest in January.
Kumara growers are confident if all goes to plan with this harvest it will mean prices will take a tumble, hopefully ending up back on more Kiwi plates during the height of summer.
