increase font size
HortNZ acting chief executive Michelle Sands.
Six of New Zealand’s top young horticulturalists will put their skills to the test in the national Young Grower of the Year final in Hastings next week.
Finalists from the Bay of Plenty, Gisborne, Hawke’s Bay, Nelson, Central Otago, and Pukekohe will compete in a series of challenges at the Tōmoana Showgrounds on October 9.
These include excavator operation, nutrition and fertigation, innovation, integrated pest management, agrichemical stewardship, horticulture biosecurity, fencing and repairs.
The winners will be announced at the annual gala dinner at Toitoi: Hawke’s Bay Arts & Events Centre on October 10, where finalists will also take part in the Balance Leadership panel and FMG speech competition.
HortNZ acting chief executive Michelle Sands says the Young Grower of the Year event and the regional competitions, which are run independently of the national final, play an important role in supporting the next generation of industry leaders.
“The regional organisers who host and run the programmes do a great job and it’s very exciting to see such a high calibre of talented young people coming through these to compete for the national title,” Sands says.
“HortNZ takes great pride in hosting the national final in different parts of the country every year and we appreciate the support we receive from growers and our sponsors,” she adds.
The 2024 regional winners are:
To purchase tickets to the gala dinner, head to www.younggrower.co.nz
The Horticulture sector needs a fit-for-purpose system for freshwater farm plans that works for the sector and delivers on environmental outcomes, says Michelle Sands, acting chief executive of HortNZ.
Horticulture New Zealand says that while it welcomes plans to extend planning permissions for post-cyclone rural recovery work in Hawke’s Bay, Tairāwhiti Gisborne needs to be included in that work.
A group of Canterbury farmers who work together exploring the various uses of liquid injection systems on their seed drills was the worthy winner of the Working Together Award at the recent 2024 Arable Awards, says the group’s FAR Facilitator.
The worm challenge for sheep and beef farmers is increasing as the warm, moist weather of spring and early summer arrives.
A scientist instrumental in the development and commercialisation of the novel endophyte AR37 scooped the Ballance Agri-Nutrients Science and Research Award at Beef + Lamb NZ Awards last night.
OPINION: Rural New Zealand has been taking some very big hits of late. The latest of these, the closure of Alliance’s Smithfield plant at Timaru, is yet another blow for the heartland – the engine room of the economy.
Farmers and growers can now easily manage their seed requirements thanks to a pioneering FarmlandsPRO feature launched by Farmlands.
Matt Bolger, the Pro Vice-Chancellor of The University of Waikato Management School, is joining Fonterra’s management team from March next year.
OPINION: Former politicians seem incapable of staying away from the limelight after they retire.
OPINION: The latest travel receipts for MPs are in (April – June 2024).
