Fruit fly discovery puts growers, exporters on edge
Fruit growers and exporters are worried following the discovery of a male Queensland fruit fly in Auckland this week.
Fruit and berry grower Julian Raine has been elected president of Horticulture New Zealand.
Raine is Nelson based and has 30 years' experience in the industry. He takes over from Andrew Fenton who has been president since HortNZ's inception in 2005.
Raine has extensive experience both in growing and wide-ranging roles in industry organisations.
"Julian has been a director of the New Zealand Boysenberry Council and Nelson Seasonal Employers Inc, is chair of the New Zealand Nuffield Farming Scholarship Trust and a trustee of the Massey Lincoln Agricultural Industry Trust," says Fenton.
"He is very well respected in the industry and the ideal person to help steer the organisation through the next stage of its journey towards the goal of becoming a $10 billion industry by 2020."
Raine has been a grower since the early 1980s. He is a partner in Wai-West Horticulture, which grows apples, boysenberries and kiwifruit on 140ha, and in Hinetai Hops, which grows blackcurrants and hops on 70ha. He is also chairman of Berryfruit Export NZ Ltd.
He was elected to the HortNZ board in 2011.
Legal controls on the movement of fruits and vegetables are now in place in Auckland’s Mt Roskill suburb, says Biosecurity New Zealand Commissioner North Mike Inglis.
Arable growers worried that some weeds in their crops may have developed herbicide resistance can now get the suspected plants tested for free.
Fruit growers and exporters are worried following the discovery of a male Queensland fruit fly in Auckland this week.
Dairy prices have jumped in the overnight Global Dairy Trade (GDT) auction, breaking a five-month negative streak.
Alliance Group chief executive Willie Wiese is leaving the company after three years in the role.
A booklet produced in 2025 by the Rotoiti 15 trust, Department of Conservation and Scion – now part of the Bioeconomy Science Institute – aims to help people identify insect pests and diseases.

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