Latest news with #HortNZ
NZ Herald
22-07-2025
- Business
- NZ Herald
Life membership of HortNZ to Gisborne company LeaderBrand's Dr Stuart Davis
Dr Stuart Davies' "outstanding service and leadership within the country's horticulture sector" has been recognised with a Horticulture NZ Life Member honour. LeaderBrand sustainability manager Dr Stuart Davis has been honoured with a Horticulture New Zealand Life Member award. It recognises his 'outstanding service and leadership within the country's horticulture sector', a LeaderBrand release says. The accolade was awarded in a special presentation attended by Horticulture New Zealand (HortNZ) chairwoman Bernadine
NZ Herald
21-07-2025
- Business
- NZ Herald
Northland kūmara growers ready for new Freshwater Farm Plan rules
The aim is to improve water quality and reverse past damage to waterways while recognising the good work many growers were already doing. According to Northland Regional Council, the region's biggest freshwater problems are high levels of sediment and Escherichia coli (E. coli), and a lack of riparian vegetation to support healthy ecosystems. The new rules were designed to address these problems and ensure growers operated within environmental limits. Blundell said Northland growers had been working with Horticulture New Zealand's (HortNZ) Growing Change programme and Kaipara Moana Remediation (KMR) to ensure their Freshwater Farm Plans were ready before the rollout. Through Growing Change, HortNZ provided one-on-one support from horticultural consultants to help growers develop their plans using the NZ Good Agricultural Practice (NZGAP) Environmental Management System (EMS) add-on. Blundell's company and its suppliers were among the first to gain NZGAP accreditation. Growing Change also partnered with KMR to build resilience across the Northland/Te Tai Tokerau kūmara industry, including through native planting schemes. Kūmara is gaining popularity overseas and widely considered a superfood. Photo / Unsplash, Mary Potoplyak Blundell said support was critical as growers faced escalating costs and increasing regulation. 'There's a compliance cost – and all the costs of growing keep rising: machinery, diesel, fertiliser, electricity, rates, freight, and land.' HortNZ chief executive Kate Scott said that with mounting pressure on the horticulture sector, regulatory settings needed to support growers like those producing kūmara in Northland to keep growing healthy, affordable food. Blundell also serves on the executive of United Fresh, which promotes fruit and vegetables to consumers. He said another threat to the sector – and NZ's food security – was a shift in consumer habits from fresh vegetables to cheaper, less nutritious options like rice or pasta. Blundell said sweet potato was gaining popularity overseas in Europe, Spain, and the United States and was widely recognised as a superfood. Kūmara holds deep cultural importance. The Ōwairaka red variety, commonly used in hāngī, is not grown anywhere else in the world. The vegetable's significance to Māori was recognised under the Wai 262 claim to the Waitangi Tribunal, which protected taonga Māori. New Zealand does not import kūmara – a status Blundell said is worth protecting. Biosecurity risks were high, and almost all kūmara grown locally was consumed domestically, with only some frozen wedges exported to Australia. Most kūmara production is based in Northland/Te Tai Tokerau, which supplies 90% of the domestic market. It is a vital industry for this region, where a socio-economic profile of Kaipara district last year found 42.3% of residents lived in the most deprived decile. Sarah Curtis is a news reporter for the Northern Advocate, focusing on a wide range of issues. She has nearly 20 years' experience in journalism, much of which she spent court reporting. She is passionate about covering stories that make a difference.
Otago Daily Times
24-06-2025
- Business
- Otago Daily Times
Clyde grower seeking HortNZ role
Central Otago fruit grower Lochie McNally is the only southerner standing for election to the Horticulture New Zealand board of directors. The candidates standing to fill three vacancies on the HortNZ board are Mr McNally, Simon Cook, Shane Flynn, Tom Keefe, Dermott Malley, John Murphy, Carol Palmer, Erin Simpson and Shaun Vickers. Mr McNally and his wife Gretchen and their three children have owned and operated a summerfruit orchard and packhouse in Clyde for the past seven years. The three main issues facing growers were economics, access to reliable irrigation and land-use change, Mr McNally said. Financial sustainability was essential and a priority for growers, as high on-farm inflation coupled with softer domestic demand had reduced profit margins, he said. Access to reliable irrigation rights with longer renewal terms had become more challenging, with freshwater polices yet to be fully understood nationally and consistent regionally. He understood the importance and necessity of irrigation and had been a member of Earnscleugh Irrigation Company Ltd for six years including as former director and current chairman. Land-use change from rural to residential, including on highly productive land, was an issue. "[It] must be managed to protects our right to farm as much as it provides for people's right to housing." Mr McNally's experience includes working more than a decade as a rural agribusiness manager in Otago, servicing clients across most primary industries including horticulture, dairy, and sheep and beef. He is a member of The Institute of Directors New Zealand. Last year, he was selected to attend the "To The Core" leadership and governance development programme, supported by Farmlands, Silver Fern Farms and LIC. He attended Lincoln University and gained a bachelor of commerce in agriculture, majoring in valuation and farm management. "I've had an involvement in the industry now for seven years and in governance for six years and I've thrown my hat in the ring." HortNZ chairwoman Bernadine Guilleux encouraged all eligible growers to take part in the vote to help shape the future direction of the industry. The board was looking for skilled, forward-thinking leaders who wanted to work together to help build a sustainable future for the horticulture industry. "This is a chance for growers to choose the individuals they believe will best represent the diversity and breadth of our industry across crops, regions and perspectives. "The board is seeking a broad range of skills and experience, particularly in the areas of finance, biosecurity and risk management, science and innovation, education, and Te Ao Māori. "Adding these skills to the mix around the board table will help HortNZ continue delivering strong, effective advocacy to support New Zealand's commercial fruit and vegetable growers." Voting closes at noon on July 10.
Scoop
17-06-2025
- Business
- Scoop
Horticulture Sector In The Spotlight
Inland Revenue (IR) says it is seeing a few concerning practices in the horticulture sector, including people being paid under the table. Most people do the right thing and pay the right amount of tax, however in the past 10 months IR has found $45m of undeclared tax in the horticulture industry. Tax an afterthought Inland Revenue spokesperson Tony Morris says with some in the sector still recovering from the devastation of Cyclone Gabrielle, and dealing with increasing compliance costs and labour shortages, paying tax has often become an afterthought. 'Along with paying people under the table, IR is seeing cash sales not being reported correctly (including payments to contractors) and withholding tax not being deducted on schedular payments made, deducted at incorrect rates or not being reported to Inland Revenue,' Tony Morris says. 'While many growers are doing things right, they typically hire labour through a contracting firm, which then frequently pays the labourers in cash. Some of these contracting firms then use convoluted business structures to try and hide those payments. 'Not only does this mean they could avoid their tax, but it also means the labourers can get benefit payments they aren't entitled to or avoid their child support or student loan payments. Audits and prosecutions 'Inland Revenue is cracking down on this by requiring many contracting firms to withhold tax from their labourers payments, and pay that directly to IR. Where Inland Revenue identifies growers and other payers not correctly deducting or accounting for the tax, we are also following these up. 'IR is also pursuing the contracting firms through audits and through prosecutions. There are nearly 100 such audits active at the moment. Joint efforts 'With a high use of cash and migrant labour, the horticulture industry is also a sector open to abuse of workers. IR works with other New Zealand Government agencies to address these issues. 'Alongside Hort NZ and Zespri, we work hard to ensure growers and contracting firms are aware of what they need to do to get things right, and appreciate the efforts of the many who do get it right,' Tony Morris says.
NZ Herald
19-05-2025
- Business
- NZ Herald
Young Grower of the Year 2025: Lydia Goodman wins Central Otago regional title
After moving to New Zealand, she shifted from cattle and crops to cherries, discovering a love for horticulture. 'I literally fell into it when I was a backpacker in Wānaka. 'My working visa was about to expire, it was post-Covid, and the industry was crying out for workers.' Goodman snapped up the Government's offer of Supplementary Seasonal Employer (SSE) visas and started work in a cherry orchard in Tarras. 'I just loved it, the outdoors work and the passion and leadership in the industry. 'I have been here ever since.' Now Goodman has five years of experience managing teams in orchard and packhouse operations and holds Level 3 and 4 Certificates in Fruit Production. She entered the Young Grower competition to develop her technical skills, build connections with like-minded professionals, and challenge herself. 'It was a great experience completing seven modules across the day, along with two practical components, and a speech in the evening. 'The big one for me was pruning a tree in front of two big names in the field.' Goodman, who manages a team of 12 RSE workers, as well as being a manager in the pack house, said she loved the outdoor work and the passion and leadership in the industry. 'One of the best things is teaching the team how to do their job, and seeing the passion develop as they learn and understand things like the physiology of a tree. 'That really fuels me.' Her ambition is to become a Central Otago cherry grower. Runners up were Jared Loewen from Roxburgh, who is redeveloping his family's orchard, Stone House Gardens, to improve productivity and sustainability; and Mackenzie Maaka from Cromwell, who is studying Level 4 Horticultural Fruit Production at a polytechnic. The Young Grower of the Year competition celebrates the success of young people in the industry and encourages others to consider a career in horticulture. Local organisers host and run the regional competitions independently, with Horticulture New Zealand (HortNZ) hosting the final in a different part of the country each year. Entry is open to both commercial fruit and vegetable growers from across the regions, up to the age of 30. HortNZ chief executive Kate Scott said the competitions played an important role in highlighting the wide variety of career opportunities in the industry. 'The regional Young Grower competitions and the national Young Grower of the Year final could not happen without the commitment of so many industry professionals across the country who give up their time to help organise them,' Scott said. 'Thanks to their dedication, we can celebrate the skilled young people we have pursuing careers in the sector and raise awareness of those career opportunities to others.'
