Presidents Report
Blossoms are a buzz with bee activity. The road to harvest is well underway. The 2023/24 growing season is now in the past. it was another challenging, but now we look ahead.
So, is the 2024/25 season our time to shine. It’s a new year – a new season – a new day where everything comes together, and we produce an outstanding crop and put HB back on the national and global map as the best place in the world to grow fruit. So far everything is looking good. We have gone through a very good winter, ideal winter chilling which helps with bud set. A cold winter with frosts helping to contain disease and pests within the orchards. Earlier than usual bud break occurred in stone fruit and pip fruit this spring which points to an early harvest season and an opportunity to get our produce into the local and world markets early.
HBFA held our AGM last week. We had a good turnout of growers come along to hear how our past year has gone. Here are some snippets of how your membership at HBFA has been working for you.
Since February, we’ve been working diligently submitting five formal submissions on behalf of the industry. These include addressing critical issues like the Hawke’s Bay Regional Council’s proposed rates increases and contributing to the TANK submission in partnership with HortNZ and NZAPI. We have also submitted alongside the Hawke’s Bay Regional Economic Development Agency on the future of EIT’s education and training system, aiming to strengthen the industry’s workforce. Additionally, we’ve supported growers through the recent changes to the RSE scheme and the Fast Track Bill.
The association is also concerned with Future Development Strategy (FDS) proposed by the Hastings District Council (HDC) and Napier City Council (NCC) for developing housing on high-quality productive land. We support the “Save the Plains” draft response to the FDS. If anyone would like a copy of this, please get in touch and we will send you a copy. It’s imperative that our good horticulture land is preserved for future generation.
HBFA have also focused on enhancing our digital presence. We’re working hard to refresh our website and social media content, resulting in a significant increase in online engagement—up by 22% over the past 90 days. Interestingly, our digital audience skews are younger, with most viewers falling within the 25 to 44 age brackets. We see this shift as extremely positive and shows a growing interest among the next generation. We aim to build on this momentum to secure a successful future for HBFA.
We also said goodbye to 3 of our executives. I’d like to acknowledge Andrew Mason, Shane Flynn and Tom Keefe. They have all had various lengths of time on the board and their input over the years is much appreciated. Cindy Dixon and Wendy Dowling were both re-elected for another 3 years and my role as President was also up for re-election. (President and vice President are up for re-election every alternate year) I put myself forward for another 2-year term and was re-elected. I’m grateful for the support of our industry.
We have the National Young Grower Competition being held in Hastings this year – 9th and 10th of October. Grace Fulford from T&G was our HB winner back in June and will be representing us all in the up-coming competition. Good Luck from us all Grace.
When I was a kid growing up in Hastings (Raureka was my suburb), as you were driving into town our slogan was “Hasting the Fruit Bowl of New Zealand” – and so it is, as growers we produce outstanding fruit for NZ and the wider world, whether it’s summerfruit, pipfruit, kiwifruit, citrtus, table grapes and berries of all kinds, we grow the best and should all be proud of what we do.
When our industry succeeds, our region succeeds – our people succeed
Kia Kaha
Brydon Nisbet
President HBFA