$8b export milestone
HORTICULTURE MINISTER Nicola
Grigg says she takes her hat off to all NZ growers for the hard yards they have put in over the last few years which have resulted in horticulture exports expected to reach the milestone of $8 billion this year.
She says this has happened even though the sector has had to deal with some terrible weather events including Cyclone Gabrielle.
“This 12% growth is absolutely amazing,” she says.
The MPI Situation Outlook Report for Primary Industries (SOPI) released just before Christmas showed that kiwifruit exports this year will be worth more than $3.4 billion – up from $2.8 billion a year ago.
At the same time, apple and pear exports will make just over $1 billion. These figures are somewhat astonishing given that so much fruit has been under pressure from the aftereffects of Gabrielle and other adverse weather events, and in normal circumstances, these figures would likely have been higher.
Grigg points out that to ensure that this growth continues, it is important that parliament gets the regulatory settings right, removes red tape, gets consistent rules right across the country and listens to the grass roots industry.
“My job is to get out to the regions and meet with the various horticulture sector groups and take their feedback to parliament so that my colleagues and other ministers are aware of the needs of the sector I am charged with championing”, she says.
Grigg says while each of the sector groups have their own individual issues, in essence they are quite similar to each other.
Labour is a common concern and that is why the Government had made change to the RSE scheme.
Access to water and water stor-
age are high on the priority list, she says, which is why a review of the National Policy Statement on freshwater is being undertaken.
The other issue she flags is one of access to capital for the sector and points to the inquiry into the banking sector as one means of address-
ing this. “My job is to keep advocating for the growth of the sector and, so long as we here in the parliament get it right and the sector has the ambition and fortitude, then the sky is the limit,” she says.
MASSIVE BOUNCE BACK
THE DIRECTOR General of MPI, Ray Smith, says the growth in the kiwifruit sector is a massive bounce back.
In MPI’s latest outlook report, kiwifruit exports in 2025 will hit nearly $3.5 billion which Smith says is amazing given the problems including adverse weather the sector has had to deal with in the past couple of years.
“Issues such labour shortages, fruit quality issues and ongoing adverse weather conditions. They have done an amazing job despite all the problems they have faced,” he says.
Smith says horticulture is now NZ third largest export earner, having pushed forestry into 4th place and chasing down the meat and wool sector which earns just over $11 billion.
He says another highlight in the SOPI report is the apple sector with export earnings now sitting at just over $1 billion. He says but for Cyclone Gabrielle, they may well have achieved this goal earlier. He says people like our apples and see them as a good healthy product.
“With kiwifruit and apples, we now have two very large and developed industries with good technologies going in and good labour supply. We will see good growth this year,” he says.
Horticulture Minister Nicola Grigg (right) and Tukituki MP Catherine Wedd spreading Christmas cheer around Parliament on behalf of fruit growers last Christmas. PHOTO: FACEBOOK
Apples start strong in Hawke’s Bay
JUST ON two years
ago Cyclone Gabrielle wreaked havoc in Hawke’s Bay causing massive damage to NZ’s largest apple growing region.
The impacts of that storm are far from over and are set to change the viability of businesses and lives of many people.
But this season the general manager of the Yummy Fruit Company, Paul Paynter, says they have been having a magnificent growing season. He says they had an unusually dry, warm spring and so fruit quality looks excellent.
“We couldn’t be happier,” he told Hort News He says they have been picking their first apples for the season, in
their case SweeTango, an early variety developed by the University of Minnesota in the US. It gets its name because of its flavour profile, which is equal parts sweet and tangy with hints of fall spices and vibrant acidity. On the outside, SweeTango is blush with hints of deep red and subtle hues of yellow.
Paynter says because the season has been so good, they have been picking these apples a week earlier than usual. But there is just a small problem: despite being such a good growing season, the fruit size is a bit smaller than normal.
“I don’t understand the reasons for this and it’s disappointing given that we have had such good growing season,” he says. In terms of markets,
Paynter says the market will be Asia and it will be Asia forever. He says the bottom has dropped out
of the US market due to an oversupply of local fruit there, which has depressed prices. He says
at one stage the US was one of their biggest markets but it’s hardly worth selling there now.
“Asia has been our biggest market over the last couple of years, taking about 75% of our exports, and China is the single largest. But we don’t want it to be too big because something could go wrong,” he says.
Despite that caution, Paynter is very positive about the Chinese market, having been there recently. He says while people say the annual growth rate there is only 5% annually, they need to realise that NZ and many other countries would be more than happy if their country had a 5% growth rate.
“The place is buoyant and booming and their type of economic slowdown is our type of economic boom,” he says.
As well as apples, the Yummy Fruit Company
grows stonefruit and these trees have suffered both short and long term damage from Gabrielle.
Paynter says they are 40% down on stone fruit production this year. He says while apples are more resilient to rain, stone fruit like arid conditions and certainly don’t like being partly submerged in floodwaters as they were with Gabrielle.
He says many stone fruit trees continue to die because of the cyclone. Paynter says the rains that hit Hawke’s Bay over summer also affected fruit quality causing some stain on fruit and other fruit to shrivel. He says the weather has been the best for picking stone fruit and he says some cherry growers in Hawke’s Bay have been hit in a similar way.
Inconsistent rules ‘stifling productivity’
PRODUCTIVITY IN the horticulture sector is being thwarted by different regions in the country having different rules for commercial growers and orchardists.
The Minister of Horticulture, Nicola Grigg, told Hort News that many large companies in the sector have sites in up to four different regions and they have told her this lack of consistency in rules governing what they can and can’t do in each region is a real barrier to their productivity. She says one of her major tasks in the coming year is to put an end to
this inconsistency.
“My goal is to ensure there are national legislative settings are framed in such a way that the rules can only be interpreted in one way and for me that is a very big piece of work,” she says.
Grigg says each regional council seems to interpret rules differently and to that end she plans to visit all the regions and get feedback from growers and orchardists and take this feedback to parliament so that it can be incorporated in new legislation.
She says the other big issue for
her in 2025 is removing red tape and eliminating unnecessary and unhelpful processes that stifle productivity in the horticulture sector.
“By early this year we’ll see the completion of the RMA Amendment Bill which had it first reading at the end of last year. That is pretty much singularly focused on removing the barriers to the productive agricultural economy so looking forward we will see changes begin to take effect on farm,” she says.
During the year she and the agriculture ministers will feed in material
to be incorporated in the bill which should be completed by the end of the year or early 2026.
The other area of concern to Grigg is the trade barriers that still apply to horticulture exports. At the end of last year the Horticulture Export Authority released a comprehensive report on barriers to trade for the sector and this showed that existing trade barriers cost the sector $135 million annually. This doesn’t include the impact of no-tariff measures (NTM’s) which cover separate rules that individual countries apply to imports from NZ,
regardless of whether we have an FTA with them.
Grigg says the Government has commissioned a special report on trade barriers which identified that across the whole agri sector there were 190 such barriers which cost NZ$10 billion a year.
Grigg says the non-tariff measures are very complex and says she is aware that strawberry growers and lime orchardists are suffering because of these.– Peter Burke
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Peter Burke peterb@ruralnews.co.nz
General manager of the Yummy Fruit Company, Paul Paynter, says they have been having a magnificent growing season.
Cherry on top – exports reach record levels
NEW ZEALAND
cherry
exports may be headed for a record year in terms of volume, says Summerfruit NZ chief executive Dean Smith.
With the tail of the season still to come, Smith said latest figures showed that volumes topped 4,000 tonnes on the back of Chinese New Year demand in east Asia, surpassing last year’s 3,800 tonnes.
That was despite a slow start with exports down 20% early in the season.
Cherries remain the biggest export earner among the fruits under the Summerfruit umbrella, although Smith says there are there are niche markets for the others – apricots, peaches, nectarines, and plums – and there are “aspirations” to increase exports, particularly of apricots.
Smith said cherry yield and quality had been “largely favourable” for Central Otago growers despite some changeable weather conditions.
“They had some late snow events, and there was some isolated frost damage, those sorts of things. So growers down there have really had to work quite hard to nurture their fruit through.”
Mark Pay, general manager of global marketing and sales for Cromwell-based NZ Cherry Corp, said the number of growing degree days was slightly behind last year, making the fruit a little
late, with volume down slightly on forecast, but quality was exceptional.
The company’s 40ha cherry orchard is New Zealand’s largest fully climate-controlled netted orchard, producing for both domestic and export markets.
Pay said it was a season of two halves with a great Christmas demand “that always exceeds supply” and then the export market for Chinese New Year, which this year fell at the end of January.
While some cherry companies harvested early, sending slightly immature fruit to the market, NZ Cherry Corp chose to stand by quality and “do the right thing by the fruit,” he said.
“Pricing held up right through until Chinese New Year.”
But Pay said they faced the usual problems of securing seasonal labour, and transport to export markets.
“We always get bumped for live seafood on the airlines.
“There were more options available this year, a few more flights available, so that was good. But it was still extremely tight.”
Dean Smith said Hawke’s Bay and Marlborough were earlier, given their geographic location.
“The yields were impressive in both Hawke’s Bay and Marlborough and the maturity also was fantastic.
“So, it was an earlier season with very good fruit quality and that’s really continued through the balance of the season.”
Smith said domestic consumers also enjoyed really good summer fruit through the season.
Just how well domestic consumers view the sector is the subject of a market survey which has just begun, with the results expected to be reported to the Summerfruit NZ annual conference in late June.
“As an industry we’re very concentrated on looking to deliver the best possible consumer eating experience. For us to understand that we need to understand what consumers think about us, how they perceive the quality experience and what aspect of quality they most appreciate.”
Meanwhile, Smith says Hawke’s Bay growers’ recovery from Cyclone Gabrielle remains “vari-
able” two years on.
The cyclone didn’t “dish out the misery evenly” with some growers disproportionately impacted, he said.
“Some growers are still very much in the recovery phase in terms of sourcing trees to replant or replace orchards that were demolished.
“There’s still a long tail in terms of its impact in relation to tree health. Obviously the root stocks that we grow summer fruit on don’t like getting wet feet and sometimes the effect of that isn’t immensely apparent.
“Having said that, there’s also growers that have had a pretty good season this year, getting back to what we would consider normal.”
NEW CEO
DEAN SMITH has been in the role of CEO of Summerfruit NZ for about four months, having succeeded Kate Hellstrom at the end of September.
He brings to the role considerable experience in the wine and fruit industry in the Hawke’s Bay, including heading up the Hawke’s Bay Fruitgrowers’ Association in the aftermath to Cyclone Gabrielle.
In a post announcing his appointment, Smith said his vision for the industry was to consolidate and continue to expand, leveraging the investments that growers have made and will make in new varieties, and growing and harvesting methods that ensure consumers get the best taste experience possible, season after season.
“This approach will ensure that summerfruit growers prosper and returns improve.”
Nigel Malthus
Summerfruit NZ chief executive Dean Smith
Exports topped 4,000 tonnes on the back of Chinese New Year demand, surpassing last year’s 3,800 tonnes.
Apricot brand makes a summer splash
APRICOTS FROM New Zealand’s largest Summer series exporter, Ardgour Valley Orchards, burst onto the world stage and domestic supermarket shelves under the Temptation Valley brand last month.
For the first time, New Zealanders have also been able to buy Temptation Valley apricots and Temptation Valley cherries online for next-day delivery.
Ardgour Valley Orchards’ international sales and marketing manager Sharon Kirk said the Temptation Valley brand was developed to resonate with apricot consumers the world over. The brand’s launch would be a dramatic entrance for the first five specialty apricots released for commercialisation by New Zealand’s Plant & Food Research two years ago.
“Summer series apricots by Temptation Valley are uniquely New Zealand, moreish and tempting.
“We developed an emotive brand to describe the feeling of summer love through the slightly different seasonal timing of summer series apricots,” she said.
“We have the most beautiful looking, delicious apricots in the world and we want people to ‘fall in love’ with every bite of every apricot by remembering what it’s like to fall in love.
“First you meet some-
“Summer series apricots by Temptation Valley are uniquely New Zealand, moreish and tempting.
one and there’s a spark, so the first to ripen is Summer Spark. That spark turns into desire (Summer Desire), then the charm develops as you get to know someone, (Summer Charm) and, as you fall in love, there’s a passion (Summer Passion) and finally a blaze (Summer Blaze).”
While all varieties were highly blushed, juicy and sweet with an expected brix around 18 compared with the industry stan-
dard of 9-11, each had its own distinct eating attributes, she said.
“Over time, consumers will develop a taste for their favourite from the summer series just as they have with other wellknown apricot varieties.
“Temptation Valley is a beautiful, upbeat brand that matches the vibrancy of the apricots. The packaging is delightful, attractive and developed around a Garden of Eden theme that is one of
VOLUME DOUBLES
OF APPROXIMATELY 150 tonnes of Temptation Valley apricots to be harvested this season, about 100 tonnes will be exported to Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Dubai, Saudia Arabia, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand. This is more than double the volume produced last season and is due to tree age and ideal conditions during the blossoming and fruit-set period.
Sharon Kirk says Ardgour Valley Orchards had a 56%
share of the summer series market and was the largest producer growing the summerfruit under licence to NZ Summerfresh, the commercial partner of Plant & Food Research. It is also one of the largest apricot producers in New Zealand with some 25 hectares of apricots and 13 hectares of cherries under production.
The first of Temptation Valley’s cherries to harvest, the Stardust variety had attracted a premium inter-
richness and irresistibility. A sticker on each punnet, box and carton signifies which variety is inside.”
Ardgour Valley Orchards also produces Kioto variety apricots as well as four cherry varieties including hero cherry, distinctive white-fleshed, red-blushed Stardust and red varieties, Lapin,
nationally with retailers in the Middle East and Asia seizing on its point of difference to develop creative retail programs, she said.
Stardust cherries will be available from early January for about 10 days. Of 25 tonnes to be harvested about 20 will be exported. About 20 tonnes of the other red varieties will be exported.
New Zealand consumers can find Temptation Valley’s Summer series apricots at leading independent retail
Kordia and Sweet Georgia.
For the export trade, Temptation Valley apricots will be presented in deep blue boxes (3kg, 5kg) while Temptation Valley cherries will be packed in red boxes (1kg, 2kg and 5kg).
A 900g apricot punnet will also be available domestically.
outlets nationally, Costco in Auckland and potentially leading supermarket chains nationally. They can also buy Temptation Valley apricots and cherries online through the newly launched Ardgour Valley Orchards’ web store.
Ardgour Valley Orchards’ apricot and cherry harvest began in late December with the peak of the season coinciding with Chinese New Year celebrations in late January. Apricots will be available until late February.
Ardgour Valley Orchards’ international sales and marketing manager Sharon Kirk.
Summer Spark are the first Temptation Valley apricots to ripen.
Corn makes Christmas hit
Peter Burke peterb@ruralnews.co.nz
GISBORNE’S RECORD hot dry summer weather has produced rewards for one of the country’s largest commercial growers based in the region –Leaderbrand.
The beneficiary of that weather is sweet corn.
Gordon McPhail, Leaderbrand general manager for farming, says the crop thrives on this type of weather. He says this meant that sweet corn was in shops two weeks ahead of the normal schedule with the result that they sold more than two million cobs before Christmas.
He says corn is one of New Zealanders’ favourite vegetables and says its versatility makes it a popular choice for families – especially because it is very kid friendly.
“We pride ourselves on our corn grown here in Gisborne. It’s our aim to grow beautiful green husks packed full of fat, sweet, yellow kernels. We harvest by hand so we’re able to select the best maturity and quality, while reducing any damage,” he told Hort
News
McPhail says growing corn is very dear to his
own heart because one of the first jobs he had after graduating from driving
tractors and picking broccoli was to grow the corn. He says Gisborne has
always been a corn growing region and there’s a cluster of world-lead-
ing corn growing entities based in the town for that reason.
BETTER ROADS NEEDED
BEING BASED in Tairawhiti may have some advantages in terms of climate, but isolation from the rest of the country has always been a problem. This was highlighted two years ago with Cyclone Gabrielle and other rain events which cut Gisborne off from the rest of the country for days and hit growers like Leaderbrand.
Gordon McPhail says roading is going to be a slow burn issue for Gisborne because of the nature of the terrain both north and south of the town and they are not expecting any miracles.
“What we really need to see is some hard action on bypasses. You can repair the roads all you like but you have got some fundamental fractures in parts of the network which are always going to be there. I think that is something that as a community we must be a bit more aligned on and come together as to what the solutions are rather than focus on the problems,” he says.
McPhail says Gisborne has got a lot of untapped potential, but the limitations start with the roading network we have at present.
“The sunshine hours, heavy soil types, being coastal and good day and nighttime temperatures are all factors in producing the sweetness of the corn,” he says.
Another popular summer fruit grown by Leaderbrand is watermelons and as well as the traditional green on the outside and red on
the inside, they have produced a new variety which has yellow flesh and a different flavour. McPhail says the aim has been to produce a melon with a higher flavour.
“Our real focus to find something that is a real point of difference in the market,” he says.
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POTATO GROWERS EYE INNOVATION, GROWTH
AS WE look back on the past year, I am proud to reflect on the remarkable progress and achievements that have defined our success.
Through teamwork, strategic initiatives, and focused leadership, we have reinforced our position within the industry and set the stage for even greater accomplishments in the year ahead.
2024 in Review
1. United voice and working together
This year, we made it a priority to amplify the voice of our growers; effective communication is the backbone of any successful organisation. We held several meetings with government representatives and ministers to ensure that the perspectives of New Zealand potato growers were heard and understood. In addition, our presence at the World Potato Congress allowed us to forge valuable international relationships that will benefit New Zealand’s potato industry for years to come.
2. Leadership in the field
expertise across New Zealand, attending Vegetable Research Roadshows and showcasing key Potatoes New Zealand proj-
ects. On the international front, we launched the International Partnership for Research and Development at the World Potato Congress, opening doors for global collaboration.
3. Working together
2024 was also defined by valuable collaborations across the industry. By partnering with other vegetable groups and key stakeholders, we were able to deliver stronger results for our members, leveraging shared resources and expertise to drive progress and address shared challenges.
Looking ahead to 2025
As we look toward the coming year, we are excited about the many opportunities that lie ahead. Our focus will continue to be on growth, innovation, and building a strong, sustainable future for the New Zealand potato industry.
We have some exciting initiatives launching soon that align with our strategic goal of growing great people. Thank you for your ongoing support of the potato industry.
• Kate Trufitt is chief executive of Potatoes NZ
Gordon McPhail, Leaderbrand
Potato growers are excited about the many opportunities that lie ahead.
Kate Trufitt
Young Horticulturist
OF THE YEAR 2024
KAIAHUONE RANGATAHI O TE TAU
2024 RESULTS FROM GRAND FINAL HELD 30 & 31 OCTOBER, KARAKA, AUCKLAND
1st Prize Kyla Mathewson
2nd Prize Anna England
3rd Prize Taylor Leabourn
WOOLWORTHS INNOVATION PROJECT OTHER AWARDS
T&G Fresh Practical Components Craig Scott
Winner Anna England
Runner Up Kyla Mathewson
3rd Place Craig Scott OVERALL
Fruitfed Supplies Leadership Taylor Leabourn
Woolworths Best in Sector Craig Scott
Bayer Best Practice Kyla Mathewson
Horticentre Trust Sustainability award Taylor Leabourn
Craigmore Sustainables Best Speech Taylor Leabourn
2024 finalists (L to R) Tai Nelson, (Young Viticulturist), Kyla Mathewson, (Young Amenity), Anna England, (Young Plant Producer), Craig Scott, (New Arborist), Taylor Leabourn, (Young Grower)
Ecorobotix announces NZ dealership
SWISS BASED Ecorobotix has announced its entry into the New Zealand market through a strategic partnership with Canterbury-based New Zealand Tractors.
The collaboration introduces farmers and growers to the ARA ultrahigh precision sprayer, which offers a new spotspray technology to transform farming practices and the use of phytosanitary products.
The introduction of the ARA sprayer is said to provide game-changing advantages for agriculture in NZ, delivering lower labour costs by drastically reducing the need for manual weeding crews, addressing a major challenge in the industry, saving time and money.
The ARA’s ultra-precise 6x6 cm application format also serves to min-
imise the use of phytosanitary products and promotes environmental sustainability by helping to reduce herbicide use by up to 95%.
Additionally, crops are said to be healthier by avoiding unnecessary herbicide application on crops, so promoting healthier, faster-growing plants with less phytotoxicity.
Said to be versatile and efficient, beyond weeding, the ARA sprayer can also apply phytosanitary products and fertilisers with pinpoint precision, offering unmatched efficiency across multiple farming operations.
It is configured with a dual, front-mounted water (600l) and product tank (300l). The chemical mix is pumped to the rear, where three, 2-metre enclosed spraying modules feature 156 highprecision spray nozzles spaced at 4cm apart, to
cover the 6-metre working width.
Suitable to operate at speeds of up to 7.2km/h, outputs of 3.5 to 4ha should be easily achievable. The enclosed spray modules also means that spraying can also take place in windy conditions,
if necessary, as any spray drift is eliminated.
ARA is designed to operate in a wide variety of crop types including, sugar beets, potatoes, onions, spinach, beans, thistles, docks and grassland weeds, offering precise spraying of herbi-
cides, fungicides, insecticides, fertiliser and bio stimulants.
In operation the machine takes high-speed photographs as it passes over the ground, using three-phase, plant by plant recognition driven by AI, before activat-
HORTNEWS
Introducing Hort News, a national publication serving the needs of our booming horticulture sector.
Distributed with the leading national farming publication Rural News, Hort News will be delivered to all key horticulture regions nationwide.
It is the complete solution for readers and advertisers, covering every aspect of the wider horticulture industry – news, agribusiness, management, markets, machinery and technology.
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ing specific spray nozzles for product application, while at the same time recording statistics automatically to the Cloud for future analysis of areas covered, amount of product used and a site-specific application map.
Algorithms can be crop specific, to control the application of selective herbicides close to the crop, the application of non-selective herbicides, with a predetermined safety zone, alongside the application of fungicides, insecticides, fertiliser and bio-stimulants to the crop only, or the whole area, with the exception of the growing crop, with safety zones.
Non-crop specific algorithms offer universal functions, including green on green herbicide application for weed control pre-planting, or the application of fungicides, insecticides, fertiliser and
bio-stimulants, on all green plants only. Meanwhile, band spraying can be catered for, with a specific row algorithm, treating weeds between the rows, or applying all major product types to the growing crop only.
New Zealand Tractors owner Grant Reith comments, “we have carried out extensive due diligence and believe that this product will make a huge difference to spraying operations for specialised growers, with a massive reduction in chemical usage, but also to grassland farmers who wish to target problem weeds like docks or thistles. It also makes a positive impact in reducing ecological impact and improving plant health and vigour, to the point where crops like onions are harvest-ready up to two weeks earlier.”
Visit www.nzt.nz
Mark Daniel markd@ruralnews.co.nz
Ecorobotix ARA ultra-high precision sprayer.