Northland courgette grower Brett Heap has just made a decent profit selling 6ha of gently rolling market-gardening land, and he couldn't be more angry.

"Disgusted" is the word he uses. "My business is finished. You can't run a business if you can't get the workers. And that's a problem this Government just isn't interested in."

Heap, an outspoken critic of the current policy to throttle the seasonal labour programme to bring in foreign horticultural workers, has made good on his vow of last season, to throw in the towel on growing after 40 years in the industry, the Herald reports. 

He told Heather du Plessis-Allan he sought approval to get 11 workers into the country, but was not allowed to bring them in. 

"At that time, 14 months ago, the Prime Minister came out and said food producers were an essential industry. 

"I thought that sounded good, but silly me. It's a pretty hallow statement, nothing came from it"

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