Roadmap set to double hort exports by 2035
It's critical that the horticulture sector works together as part of a goal to double the sector’s exports by 2035.
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.
The head of the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) biosecurity operation, Stuart Anderson, has defended the cost and the need for a Plant Healht and Environment Laboratory (PHEL) being built in Auckland.
BNZ says its new initiative, helping make the first step to farm ownership or sharemilking a little easier, is being well received by customers and rural professionals.
The head of Fonterra's R&D facility in Palmerston North is set to literally cross the road and become the new vice chancellor at Massey University.
Allan Freeth, chief executive of the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) has announced he is resigning.
A rare weather double-whammy has seen many South Island farmers having to deal with unseasonal snow while still cut off from power supplies after an unprecedented windstorm.
One of Fonterra's largest milk suppliers says Fonterra's board and management have got what they wanted - a great turnout and a positive signal from shareholders on the sale of its co-operative's consumer and related business.