YOUR INDUSTRY
HOW ONE COMPETITION HAS CHANGED THE FUTURE FOR THIS BUDDING HORTICULTURIST
A Hawke’s Bay Young Fruit Grower of the Year Competition in action
Studying for a Bachelor of Agriscience majoring in horticulture at Massey University helped fuel Regan Judd’s passion for horticulture, but taking out the Hawke’s Bay Young Fruit Grower of the Year Competition in 2019 has given Regan a lot more than he expected. With the 2020 competition cancelled due to Covid-19, Regan Judd has offered his advice to those thinking about entering June’s competition – ‘just do it!’ Hawke’s Bay is the home for two-thirds of New Zealand’s apple and pear production, so it’s not surprising that the region’s Young Fruit Grower competition has traditionally attracted its fair proportion of pipfruit contestants. The competition run by the Hawke’s Bay Fruitgrowers’ Association (HBFA) is now in its 16th year. “At the time there was an obvious gap in the industry to support and encourage the development of young horticulturists,” says Leon Stallard, past president of HBFA (2005–2014). “So I came up with the Young Fruit Grower concept, twisted a few arms and here we are 16 years on.
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It’s just incredible to see the competition running nationwide and recognised as a very successful framework to identify and develop our future leaders.” “We had 60 or so people turn up to watch the first competition at Pernel Café back in 2005 – most were ringin’s!” Leon says. “There was little planning, or more rightly as we said back then ‘what happens is the plan!’”
Horticulture is a growth industry and there are endless career options if individuals do the mahi, are determined and want to succeed With the event growing in popularity every year, the Association starts planning for it five months out, with the final eight spaces strongly contested and an awards dinner that sells out well in advance. “Horticulture is a growth industry and there are endless career options if individuals do the mahi, are determined and want to succeed,” says HBFA president, Richard Pentreath.
