Jens Liesebach, KGI Lower North Island Representative
The Mystery Creek Field Days has kicked off in Hamilton and Zespri CEO Dan Mathieson will update growers on how the season is progressing and the latest from our global markets.
The Zespri team has visited Hawke’s Bay twice in the last three weeks. The first event was run by the nutrition experts of the Zespri Global Extension Team. The interactive session on kiwifruit nutrition included discussions about key nutrient sources, losses, soil and seasonal processes that are important to consider when reviewing your annual soil test and fertiliser plan. A highlight was the introduction of a quick and easy nitrate testing kit.
The second event that Zespri hosted focused on the Producer vote, asking Growers if they support conducting a one season commercial trial involving the monitoring, procurement, and marketing of up to 200,000 trays of Chinese-grown Gold3 kiwifruit. Growers will also be asked to decide if they support the use of a China origin Zespri brand on Chinese-grown Gold3 kiwifruit, which meets Zespri Class 1 standards as part of the sales and marketing trial in dedicated retail outlets. It was great to see that 11 growers cast their votes after the informative meeting. Voting will close at 12 noon on 25 June 2021.
Nominations for the 2021 Regional Representative Elections are open until 21 June. The nomination form as well as important information about being a Regional Representative and supplementary documents can be found on the NZKGI website here.