Hort exporters eye Indian market
Exporters need to understand that India should not be seen as just one country to export to, rather a country of many unique states and regions.
The recent wet weather in the Pukekohe area has added to pressures to get early onion export shipments away on time.
"We have a finite window for Europe which makes up 40% of exports so that's quite important," James Kuperus, chief executive of Onions New Zealand, told Hort News.
The first shipment was able to be sent in the first week of February with the focus now shifting to supplying the Spanish market.
"It will be tight but not impossible."
While Hawke's Bay has had a difficult season, crops grown in the Manawatu and Canterbury were looking good for the peak of the export season which runs until May, counter to European production.
"It's all about managing the quality and expectations of what will be coming out of Pukekohe."
It was too early to tell what the total damage to crops in the area was. Some of the flooding had been superficial but had added to quality concerns in what had already been a very wet season.
Kuperus says growers were aware of which of their onion blocks might be of lesser quality so woud be working with exporters to send class two products to other export markets, which didn't pay a premium for top quality, or for local processing.
The final returns for the season wouldn't be known until September. In recent years, onion exports have sat around a value of $150 million annually with the crop, grown on over 2,000 hectares, mainly exported to Europe and Indonesia.
Federated Farmers president Wayne Langford says the 2025 Fieldays has been one of more positive he has attended.
A fundraiser dinner held in conjunction with Fieldays raised over $300,000 for the Rural Support Trust.
Recent results from its 2024 financial year has seen global farm machinery player John Deere record a significant slump in the profits of its agricultural division over the last year, with a 64% drop in the last quarter of the year, compared to that of 2023.
An agribusiness, helping to turn a long-standing animal welfare and waste issue into a high-value protein stream for the dairy and red meat sector, has picked up a top innovation award at Fieldays.
The Fieldays Innovation Award winners have been announced with Auckland’s Ruminant Biotech taking out the Prototype Award.
Following twelve years of litigation, a conclusion could be in sight of Waikato’s controversial Plan Change 1 (PC1).
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