Hawke's Bay teen helps rural families access affordable school uniforms
Hawke's Bay teenage entrepreneur Hugo Moffett is helping the rural community access cheaper school uniforms, all without leaving their homes.
Wattie’s says the latest tomato harvest season has seen some of the highest yielding tomato paddocks in the company’s 50-year history.
This season, Wattie’s says it hit a new record with a crop of 140 metric tons per hectare, the equivalent of 5.6kg per plant.
It makes for a 5% increase on the highest yield previously achieved and is 40% higher than Wattie’s 5-year average yield.
Twenty years ago, the 5-year average tomato harvest was 80 metric tons per hectare.
The tomato harvest season started in mid-February and since then has been going 24 hours a day. Over that time, Wattie’s harvested and processed 39,000 metric tons of field tomatoes.
Wattie’s managing director Neil Heffer says that collectively the company’s Hawke’s Bay tomato growers have contributed to a ‘bumper season’.
“Our harvest team have worked extremely hard to keep the machinery operating through several wet weather spells to maximise our yield from each tomato crop. We couldn’t be prouder of the team in delivering the key ingredient to many of our Wattie’s products,” Heffer says.
“We are fortunate to have a local family helping with the tomato harvest, a family that has done so for more than two decades. They operate the harvesters and tractors right through the harvest season, approximately 70 days, day and night and we are extremely grateful for their support again this year.”
Wattie’s tomatoes are used in products like tomato paste as well as peeled, diced and canned tomato products. Others are put through a tomato evaporator and turned into condensed tomato paste which is then used in soups, baked beans, and tinned spaghetti.
Tractor manufacturer and distributor Case IH has announced a new partnership with Meet the Need, the grassroots, farmer-led charity working to tackle food insecurity across New Zealand one meal at a time.
The DairyNZ Farmers Forum is back with three events - in Waikato, Canterbury and Southland.
To celebrate 25 years of the Hugh Williams Memorial Scholarship, Ravensdown caught up with past recipients to see where their careers have taken them, and what the future holds for the industry.
Among this year’s Primary Industry NZ (PINZ) Awards finalists are a Southlander who created edible bale netting and rural New Zealanders who advocate for pragmatic regulation and support stressed out farmers.
Rockit Global has appointed Ivan Angland as its new chief operating officer as it continues its growth strategy into 2025.
Nominations are now open for the Horticulture New Zealand (HortNZ) board.
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