HortNZ Welcomes Plant Variety Rights Amendments for Growers and Breeders
Horticulture New Zealand says proposed changes to the Plant Variety Rights Act 2022 will drive innovation, investment and long-term productivity.
Horticulture NZ chief executive Nadine Tunley will step down in August.
The HortNZ board says it is disappointed to see Tunley go, but she leaves HortNZ with “a strong team, strong structure and strong direction set out in the strategy and the Aotearoa Horticulture Action Plan”.
“While the timing of a valued CEO’s departure is never ideal, the board and Nadine feel it is important that with a new commodity levy proposal about to be voted on, HortNZ is able to recruit a replacement CEO that can lead the organisation and deliver the strategic outcomes for the next six years, with the full energy required,” the board says.
Tunley took over as HortNZ CEO in May 2021. She has been involved in the apple and pear industry since 2000. She was chair of NZ Apples & Pears Inc from August 2012 until April 2018, and has been a director of HortNZ since 2010.
Her involvement in the industry began just prior to deregulation in 2001, where she was tasked with exporting some of the first shipments made outside of the single desk model.
The fundamentals of the beef and lamb sector are sound, despite some challenges on the horizon, says Beef+Lamb NZ chair Kate Acland.
For the third season in a row, Fonterra farmers are in for a farmgate milk price near $10/kgMS.
The chief executive of Apples and Pears New Zealand, Danielle Adsett, says fruit quality this year is phenomenal and the sector is hitting crop estimates, which is great for growers.
Centre right parties are backing policy positions pushed by three farmer lobby groups ahead of the general election.
Waikato agribusiness leader Geoff Maber has been appointed an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit (ONZM) in the 2026 King's Birthday Honours.
Potatoes New Zealand and Garden to Table have partnered together to celebrate a versatile vegetable and the people behind it.

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