Reflections on My Time as Your President
Season Kick-Off
Spraying is in full swing across the region, with trees in petal fall/fruitlet stage with everything looking good. There are forecasts of a strong El Niño phase intensifying through late spring and summer. For us here in HB, this typically means a much higher risk of strong westerly winds with hot, dry conditions. So, preparing for this will be extremely important in managing our crops through the 26/27 growing year.
- Irrigation maintenance is Key: Check your infrastructure early so your systems are all ready to go. Test your soil moisture probes and double-check your regional water consent limits to make sure you know exactly how much you can use and when.
- Manage Spray Windows: Stronger, more frequent winds mean our spraying windows could be tight. Monitor daily forecasts and plan your spray periods.
- Hot Weather: Sunburn will likely be an issue later in the season so get a plan ready for how you will manage this.
Please make sure that water meters and/or telemetry units are working well and accurately recording all water used. Having accurate water use records is going to be important no matter what the new resource management system looks like, so make sure your system is working well, and that you periodically check it, to make sure it continues to operate correctly over the coming season.
Young Grower National Final The 2026 Young Grower of the Year National Final took place in Cromwell Central Otago on the 27th–28th August. I was down there along with a good contingent from HBFA to support Maddi Sharidan our HB Reginal winner.
All the finalists completed a series of practical and business including agronomy, machinery, compliance, biosecurity, innovation project, leadership panel discussion. The event concluded with contestant speeches at gala dinner and wards night.
Pukekohe agronomist James Blair (AS Wilcox) took out first place followed by Amber Davy (Canterbury) coming in second with third place was Amelia Marsden (Nelson)
HBFA Annual General Meeting (AGM)
Our Annual General Meeting is coming up fast. It is a great opportunity to connect, reflect on the year, and look ahead to how the association can best support you. I encourage you to come and catch up with the team.
- Date & Time: Wednesday 28th October 2026, 6:30pm
- Location: Foodeast Haumako, 4 Hanui Road, Tomoana, Hastings
- Drinks and nibbles supplies.
Time to Stand Down
I mentioned at last year’s AGM that I would not be seeking re-election at this year’s AGM. My history at HBFA goes like this – I sat as a visitor at our HBFA’s executive meetings for 18 months when Lesley Wilson was our president. In the September of 2017 I was elected to the committee. I spent 3 years as an executive, 1 year as vice president and then the following 5 years as president. It has been a huge privilege and honour for me to lead the association and contribute toward the support our growers. It’s now time for someone else to the organisation forward.
The last Five Years as HBFA’s President.
When I look back, a lot of work happens behind the scenes. Over the past years, I have written 55 president reports and chaired more than 50 committee meetings. Every one of those reports or meetings were focused on one thing, the interests of our members and the wider fruit growing community.
Challenging Times.
My term as president definitely came with some challenges. Early on we had to handle the tail end of covid. Four months into my new role we had to make the hard decision to postpone our industry awards night because we went into level 2 on that day. We supported our members as much as possible with labour shortages, helping to connect growers so they could share labour and machinery with each other and generally just keep an eye on one another during these unprecedented times.
Then on February 14th, 2023, our industry’s biggest challenge – cyclone Gabrielle. Orchards wiped out, homes destroyed, lives impacted. This was an incredibly tough time for so many growers. I am extremely proud with HBFA’s immediate action and support in helping the growing community. With Dean Smith in the Managers seat, we were quick to secure financial, health and well-being support (which we also made available to vegetable and grapes growers). We hosted networking events and dinners to bring our growers together to help form connections and support for one another. I was ushered very quickly into the world of media & interviews which I used to support our growers needs, promote and advocate for our fruit growing industry.
Moving the Association Forward.
Even with all the disruptions, over the next couple of years we managed to progress and get some major projects across the line to secure the future of HBFA. In 2024 the executives agreed it was time to sell our commercial buildings. While not an easy decision to be made, it was one that was necessary and the time was right. This has freed the association up from property management and has left us with a very strong “cash asset” balance sheet. Throughout 2025, we worked on our new constitution. With the new “Incorporated Societies Act 2022, it was a legal requirement for us to do so. In March 2026 our new constitution became a legal entity.
HBFA Young Growers
For me a highlight has been our “Young Grower” events. The calibre of young people in our industry is amazing there is so much talent. Our evening gala dinners have been high level occasions with Cabinet ministers attending the last 5 events. We couldn’t do any of this without the support of our sponsors, growers, our executive and events team.
Thank You.
HBFA has always existed because growers have turned up year after year, (for 127 years) and volunteered their time and resources to serve the bigger picture, our industry, the Fruit Growers of HB. I want to thank all the executives I have worked with over the past 9 years. We have achieved so any things over this time, but there is always more to do, more people to support, more projects to accomplish, more advocacy, but hey, that’s what the Hawkes Bay Fruit Growers Association are here to do.
Come along to our AGM on the 28th October to welcome in our new executives the new President into his role here at HBFA.
Ngā mihi nui,
Brydon Nisbet
President
Hawke’s Bay Fruitgrowers’ Association
