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Mr Apple has 1250 hectares of apples in Hawke’s Bay.
The chair of New Zealand's biggest grower, packer and exporter of apples says it's been a bumper season.
Mike Peterson is the chair of Scales Corporation, which owns Mr Apple along with several other operations within the horticultural sector. Mr Apple has 1,250 hectares of apples in Hawke's Bay, their only growing region.
Peterson says immediately after Cyclone Gabrielle, his company took action to get back up and running which is why things are so good today. He says some companies didn't do this and are struggling for a variety of reasons.
Peterson says capital is precious right now in Hawke's Bay and he feels for some of the smaller orchardists who are having hard times two years on from the cyclone.
"We are going well and continuing to invest in premium products. We understand exactly what we need to do to grow with our varieties; it is really a solid growing platform. We haven't gone down the fully automated track, but we're sort of in the band of fast followers but not leading the pack," he says.
Peterson says Mr Apple is introducing technology where it's needed and says it's about being smart in business and having a good balance sheet. So far, he says it's been a cracker of a season and things are looking good.
"This season is one out of the bag, but I have learned over the years you never to jinx the crop. We could get a hailstorm tomorrow and the whole thing is gone. So, fingers crossed for this year's harvest," he says.
Nearly three years on from Cyclone Gabrielle, Hawke's Bay apple orchardist Paul Paynter says they are still doing remedial work around their orchards and facing financial challenges.
If there was a silver lining in the tragedy that was Cyclone Gabrielle, for New Zealand Young Grower of the Year, Grace Fulford, it was the tremendous sense of community and seeing first-hand what good leadership looks like.
Listed carpet manufacturer, Bremworth is undertaking a $6 million expansion at its Napier plant more than two years after the site was heavily damaged by Cyclone Gabrielle.
The road between Napier and Wairoa is on the mend.
The Good Carbon Farm has partnered with Tolaga Bay Heritage Charitable Trust to deliver its first project in Tairāwhiti Gisborne.
When American retail giant Cosco came to audit Open Country Dairy’s new butter plant at the Waharoa site and give the green light to supply their American stores, they allowed themselves a week for the exercise.
Fonterra chair Peter McBride says the divestment of Mainland Group is their last significant asset sale and signals the end of structural changes.
Thirty years ago, as a young sharemilker, former Waikato farmer Snow Chubb realised he was bucking a trend when he started planting trees to provide shade for his cows, but he knew the animals would appreciate what he was doing.
Virtual fencing and herding systems supplier, Halter is welcoming a decision by the Victorian Government to allow farmers in the state to use the technology.
DairyNZ’s latest Econ Tracker update shows most farms will still finish the season in a positive position, although the gap has narrowed compared with early season expectations.
New Zealand’s national lamb crop for the 2025–26 season is estimated at 19.66 million head, a lift of one percent (or 188,000 more lambs) on last season, according to Beef + Lamb New Zealand’s (B+LNZ) latest Lamb Crop report.
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