Maori-owned orchards bounce back from cyclone damage
A large Māori-owned kiwifruit business that was badly damaged by Cyclone Gabrielle has bounced back with a vengeance.
Andrew Fenton, the president and chair of Horticulture New Zealand since it was established in 2005, will not seek reappointment as president following HortNZ's annual general meeting in late July.
In making the announcement Fenton says he is "very proud of what HortNZ had achieved over the past eight years and it was now time for new leadership.
"It has been a real team effort and we could not have achieved what we have without the strong support of our grower members.
"We started with a strong foundation established by the Fruitgrowers Federation and Vegfed and have built on that in a very positive and powerful way for growers."
Fenton will continue to serve on the board (his current term expires in 2015) to support the new president who will be elected by the eight grower board members following the AGM on July 30.
Among the regular exhibitors at last month’s South Island Agricultural Field Days, the one that arguably takes the most intensive preparation every time is the PGG Wrightson Seeds site.
Two high producing Canterbury dairy farmers are moving to blended stockfeed supplements fed in-shed for a number of reasons, not the least of which is to boost protein levels, which they can’t achieve through pasture under the region’s nitrogen limit of 190kg/ha.
Buoyed by strong forecasts for milk prices and a renewed demand for dairy assets, the South Island rural real estate market has begun the year with positive momentum, according to Colliers.
The six young cattle breeders participating in the inaugural Holstein Friesian NZ young breeder development programme have completed their first event of the year.
New Zealand feed producers are being encouraged to boost staff training to maintain efficiency and product quality.
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