HAG (Horticultural Advisory Group)

Fruit growers and other irrigators have reason for optimism following the government’s recent announcements regarding RMA reforms. An extension of all existing consents to late 2027 provides immediate relief for those with expiring consents whilst new policy guiding future resource consents is worked through. The government has promised that the intent of policy reforms is to address constraints that currently constrain growth in the primary sector and provide confidence for investors. Let’s hope we see this come to fruition.
At the local level, multiple work streams continue with steady progress made in recent weeks. The latest HSW members update is very informative, and I encourage all growers to become a member if you are not already. There is no cost to join, and all growers will benefit from the work this group of volunteers is doing to promote sustainable water supply for all water users. HBFA is represented on the HSW operating committee along with representatives from other sector and product groups. The scope of HSW work spans water storage, aquifer recharge studies, globalised consenting and plan change 9 policy submissions. Each of these work streams are critical in the shaping of a governance model that will provide improved water security for the whole community. I won’t dive into any detail here but please refer to technical updates provided by Charlotte Drury on behalf of HortNZ, along with the HSW newsletter. HBFA will continue to advocate strongly for its members by actively participating in pan sector groups including HSW.

Richard Pentreath
Chair of HAG

Some good news in the RMA space – in amongst all the changes announced by central government last week, a bill was passed that automatically extends all existing and expired resource consents until 31 December 2027! This is particularly good news for all of you who have expired/expiring water permits affected by the TANK Plan Change.  You water use will still need to comply with the conditions of the expired/expiring consent, but you now have more certainty about the volume of water that you will have for the next 2 years. You don’t need to do anything to qualify for this extension -it happens automatically.  Over the next month or so you will receive some correspondence from the regional council confirming the new expiry date as being 31 December 2027. It is still really important to ensure that all water used is accurately recorded by a water meter and/or telemetry, so please make sure your equipment is operating correctly.

Just a couple of other things to note – if your consent expires next May (31 May 2026) and you hadn’t quite got around to lodging your replacement application, you don’t need to do that now. And, if for some reason you do want to have your water permit (or any other consent application for that matter) processed through the council can still do that – just get in touch with them and ask them to carry on.

Any questions, please do not hesitate to get in touch with Charlotte Drury on 027 3225595, or via email to Charlotte.Drury@hortnz.co.nz. Otherwise, I hope everyone has a merry and safe Christmas!

Any questions,  please do not hesitate to get in touch with Charlotte Drury on 0273225595 or Charlotte.Drury@hortnz.co.nz

Is there a Smarter Way?

No doubt about it, farming is challenging no matter what you are producing.  Each season brings learnings, obstacles, market shifts and without fail, weather.  Growers love the challenge, the outdoors, and ultimately providing a high-quality product, but it is also easy to get lost in the day to day.

We need to adapt and address challenges, deliver stronger consistent returns, and ultimately build legacies for future generations.  How do we get there?

Routinely taking stock and asking is there a smarter way?  A smarter way may be a small change in management of a block, it might be closing the data loop on a particular action, it could be setting up a small trial to test a burning question or to simply assess the benefits of particular strategies or actions.

A smarter way might be bigger questions – What options are available to improve?  Is my enterprise resilient?  Have I developed appropriate succession pathways?

There are a range of programmes and pathways available to assist growers, one of which is ASB’s Every Hectare Matters.  The programme is about supporting farmers to unlock the full potential of land & pairing with a range of expertise to deliver.  The programme covers a range of topics including optimisation of current systems, diversification, infrastructure improvements (water reticulation, irrigation, solar etc), housing or papakāinga, and succession planning.  If you’re thinking about any of these things, have a look at the programme and see if its right for you.

Carl O’Brien

It was a dry spring and it was rounded out by below normal November rainfall, which was only 71% of the month’s average.  The low rainfall was accompanied with impressively hot temperatures, both daytime and overnight temperatures were approximately 3°C above average.  It was scorching for the time of year, which doesn’t help the land retain the moisture it has.

River flows were well below average during November and groundwater conditions across the region were also below normal.  Soil moisture ended the season near or below average and the Heretaunga Plains remained a particularly dry spot.

The hot November temperatures were stoked by sea surface temperatures that were and continue to be much higher than average.  Apart from warming our land temperatures, they also raise the likelihood that storms hitting New Zealand will bring significant amounts of rain.  That relies on the storms reaching us though but so far high-pressure systems have been mostly successful fending them off.

That’s likely to be the pattern through early summer but eventually La Niña conditions are expected to become evident as summer progresses.  Therefore, the region could expect more northeasterly winds and a few more rain-makers visiting the region. Hopefully not Christmas Day!  Overall, summer rainfall is forecast to be near normal and temperatures near or above normal.  The La Niña event is expected to wane towards the end of summer, though its influence may linger a bit longer.

Presidents Report

Just a short note from me as I’m currently sitting in Addis Ababa Airport waiting to fly to Cape Town and then home next week. This year has gone so quickly and what a great spring growing time we are having. Thinning is well underway, and the different crops look good.

Early November saw our annual fishing competition get going. A big thankyou once again to all our faithful sponsors and the new ones that came on board. We cannot hold such events without your support. Thanks to all the anglers who came out for the day and congratulations to all our prise winners.

Our next scheduled event is the HBFA awards evening in conjunction with EIT in early February.

Well, I said it would be short – I need to get moving.

Have a good read of the other articles in the newsletter to find out what’s happening around the sector.

Kia Kaha

Brydon Nisbet

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Don’t delay, get replacement consent applications lodged by 30 November!

Another reminder that if you have a regional council resource consent that expires next year (on 31 May 2026) you need to apply to replace it by the end of this month (30 November 2025). You should have received a letter from the regional council telling you this, but if you are unsure please get in touch, as we can easily check consent expiry dates for you.

 Make sure your water use is being accurately recorded

Another reminder to make sure your water use is being accurately recorded.  Keep an eye on your water meter/telemetry data to make sure it lines up with your water use. If you notice anything unusual (like really low recorded use when you are irrigating normally) check it out and get it fixed asap

Decisions on Napier Proposed District Plan released

The decisions on the Napier Proposed District Plan were recently released. HortNZ submitted on a number of matters relevant to the horticulture sector, and is currently reviewing the decisions to decide whether or not there is a need to appeal anything that just doesn’t work from a horticultural perspective

Any questions,  please do not hesitate to get in touch with Charlotte Drury on 0273225595 or Charlotte.Drury@hortnz.co.nz

New Zealand Apples and Pears CEO Karen Morrish reflects on a very special highlight from 2025, attendance at World Food India and a milestone delegation to India’s Himachal Pradesh region.

Last week was World Apple Day. While not particularly well-timed for us here in Aotearoa, it does offer a fantastic opportunity to reflect on that season that was.

New Zealand’s 2025 harvest delivered exceptional, high-quality fruit, abundant yields and a prosperous export season. It was exactly what our industry needed, at exactly the right time.

It also offered milestone opportunities for the future of New Zealand’s pipfruit industry.

New Zealand Apples and Pears’ inaugural attendance at World Food India in late September and our subsequent industry delegation to the Himachal Pradesh region in northern India, was one such opportunity.

At World Food India, NZAPI joined New Zealand Trade and Enterprise, New Zealand Institute for Bioeconomy Science and other sector groups at the New Zealand Pavillion, where our Partner Country status gave us excellent profile and multiple touch points with the Indian Government.

As New Zealand Inc, we showcased our expertise in food innovation, production, processing and safety, our delicious produce itself and crucially, our manaakitanga (hospitality and generosity) to all who visited. We spoke on panel discussions and enjoyed wide-ranging discussions with interesting folk from the full spectrum of industry.

Our subsequent delegation to Himachal Pradesh followed decades of collaboration between New Zealand and Indian apple and pear growers (our partnership dates back to the World Bank Apple Industry Development Project in 1990s). However, despite our extended history, this visit was distinctly future focused for both nations.

We quickly discovered that despite our differences in scale, our goals were aligned – improve orchard gate returns, increase productivity and yields, and critically, ensure we leave a sustainable industry for generations to come.

This shared vision was reaffirmed time and again throughout our two weeks in India, with cooperation and collaboration identified as cornerstones of our relationship both now and in the future.

Back on New Zealand soil, ideal winter and spring conditions have delivered early indications of a positive harvest in 2026. Of course, it will undoubtedly come with its own twists and turns and lessons to be learned.

However, we now look at these lessons with an additional lens. It’s not just what can New Zealand growers learn as a result? But what can we all learn about the future of fruit production and the challenges we face both here and across the globe?

Tree Row Volume (TRV) – Optimising spray application

And just like that Spring is here.  Buds are breaking, covers are going on and flowering is just a short month away when chemical thinning decisions will need to be made.  Optimising spray application that ensures adequate coverage at the correct dose to get the right result is crucial to produce high volumes of export quality apples & pears.

A useful measure to help optimise the spray program is the Tree Row Volume (TRV).   TRV measures the theoretical volume occupied by a tree’s canopy and the space between the trees in a row.  It is calculated using the formula: TRV = Tree Height (m) x Tree Width (m) x Between-row Distance (m).

TRV is to serve as a guide, so you are not applying more chemical than is needed to achieve acceptable pest control.  TRV is especially important on higher tree density production systems. Without this measure of canopy volume, it is far too easy to over spray and overdose the trees.

TRV helps to optimise spray applications and chemical dosage, improve spray efficiency, whilst controlling costs, and mitigating the impact on the environment.

Remember, however that the TRV is used to calculate the theoretical application rates and that the most accurate TRV measurement will not compensate for poor sprayer set-up, un-calibrated units, poor coverage, timing, choice of chemical, weather etc…

TRV measurements do provide objective insights of your canopy which can only lead to better management decisions and productivity outcomes.

Dean Rainham

Horticultural Consultant

September turned out to be another dry month, with the region receiving only around 60% of its normal rainfall.
Rainfall was well below normal across most areas, with the Heretaunga Plains and Southern Hawke’s Bay receiving only
35% and 38% of average rainfall, while the Ruahine Range was the only area to record above average numbers at 130%
of normal September rainfall. The regional hydrology also mirrored these rainfall patterns, with river flows across most
catchments dropping to less than half of their typical September levels. Groundwater conditions, which had shown
slight recovery in August, deteriorated again this month, particularly across the Heretaunga Plains, with some sites in
both the Heretaunga and Ruataniwha Plains recording lowest ever levels for the time of the year. Soil moisture levels
also echoed the dry conditions, sitting near or below average across the region.
On a positive note, air quality remained good, with no exceedances of PM10 standards recorded in any of the airsheds
this month. Temperatures brought a more spring like feel, with warmer than average days and slightly above average
nights for most of the region- hinting at warmer times ahead!

As was the situation last season, there was plenty of winter chilling, although with a later start to accumulation than in 2024. The timing of bud break and bloom have been normal, there has been fruit set on all of the five fruit types, although there is a question around some plums. So, enough chilling, soil moisture levels were OK at this time, the bees flew when needed, and there have been few rainfall events to cause disease issues.

The earliest cherry variety was picked during the first week of November, with other varieties being harvested as the month progresses. The eating quality of the later picked varieties will improve as the month goes on, and for the first time ever the industry is thinking of exporting cherries from Hawkes Bay. I’ll be watching this space with interest with respect to quality and how well it dovetails into the export fruit from Central Otago. There are plenty of export registered packing sheds that might benefit from some work pre-Christmas.

Nectarine harvest started in the second week of November and by the end of the month all fruit types will be available in good volumes.

To quote Bruce McKay again, our best years are drought years, as long as there is water for irrigation. My son-in-law on a local dairy farm says that this calendar year has seen the lowest rainfall total since he has been keeping records with a significant number of February like highs, and three weeks of wind, soil moisture levels need a top up. We will be watching to see if the predicted La Nina conditions appear and when, and then what the impacts might be. For stonefruit growers, lower sunshine levels will be one of the key indicators influencing fruit quality, again assuming water can be applied.

The lower intake of Golden Queen and Tatura Star canning peaches by Heinz-Wattie may cause some winkles in the market in February this season and possibly next season as well. The mitigations that Watties have been put in place for contract growers of these peaches would seem to be a good market facing initiative. From here supply and demand will sort out how many of these trees survive in the ground.

In recent weeks Summerfruit NZ has successfully run a levy renewal process that was supported by a good majority of growers and gone through a reasonably non-contentious AGM. So all-in-all stonefruit is lining up, at his stage, for a good season. The icing on the cake might be an economy that is feeling more buoyant than it is at the moment.