James Blair Named 2026 Young Grower National Champion
James Blair, an agronomist for AS Wilcox and the Pukekohe regional champion, has won the 2026 Young Grower national title.
A referendum on HortNZ's levy closed last Friday – September 28 – showing 85% in support and confirming grower backing for levy funding for the next six years.
The referendum asked for approval of a grower levy of 15 cents for every $100 of sales on all fruit and vegetables to raise about $2.5 million a year for HortNZ to work on industry-wide issues, like biosecurity policy, land and water use issues and seasonal labour needs.
"It is gratifying to see growers understand the value of the work done on their behalf and most importantly, the strength we all gain from having a unified voice for all growers," HortNZ president Andrew Fenton says.
"The industry faces enormous challenges now and in the next few years. So it's critical to have a unified voice if we are going to overcome these challenges and grow the industry value."
The levy referendum for Horticulture New Zealand was conducted alongside four referendums for the vegetable industry product groups Vegetables New Zealand, Potatoes New Zealand Inc, TomatoesNZ and Process Vegetables New Zealand. All these groups achieved positive referendum support.
A commodity levy referendum vote is unusual in that the votes are counted in two ways, once on a one-grower-one-vote basis and again on a 'weighted' value basis. The organisation holding the vote needs to achieve a majority in both to be successful.
