Gladfield Malt Celebrates 100% NZ-Grown Barley Success
A central Canterbury business which turns malting barley into a key ingredient in beer making has celebrated its 100% New Zealand-grown status with a special event.
The Government and horticulture sector have unveiled a new roadmap with an aim to double horticulture farmgate returns by 2035.
The roadmap builds on the sector's Aotearoa Horticulture Action Plan (AHAP). It was launched by Associate Agriculture Minister Nicola Grigg, in partnership with the sector, at the Horticulture Conference in Wellington today.
Horticulture New Zealand chief executive Kate Scott says work on the AHAP has, to date, focused on delivery of early-win projects and implementation planning.
"The new roadmap signals the transition from aspiration to implementation," Scott says.
"All actions will be completed with sustainability in mind," she adds.
Associate Agriculture Minister Nicola Grigg says the Implementation Roadmap launched today will assist in driving the ongoing success of Kiwi growers.
"It includes practical actions that build on work to boost growth and resilience, focusing on three key areas: building foundations, driving farmgate value and enabling a future-fit sector," Grigg says.
She says that collective input and support from industry, government, Māori, and research providers will be key to the success of the roadmap.
"This support signals a joint commitment to implement the AHAP, and the roadmap will drive its successful delivery," Grigg says.
Andrew Gibbs, independent chair of the AHAP, says this next phase will generate a concerted effort across the roadmap's priority areas.
"The planned actions include a strong focus on enduring policies and approaches that will help future-proof our horticulture sector," Gibbs says.
"This includes areas such as workforce, labour and employment settings, growing exports, facilitating access to germplasm, improving crop protection tools and practices for growers, and celebrating Māori success in the horticulture sector," he says.
Gibbs says the roadmap takes a phased approach to deliver the AHAP.
"A stocktake in 2024 identified more than 530 discrete initiatives that align with AHAP actions, many of which are already underway or have now been completed," he says. "This was a key consideration when deciding the actions to include in the Implementation Roadmap."
“While all actions in the AHAP are a high priority, we will be taking a sensible, phased approach.
“The success of the AHAP and achieving the goal of doubling farmgate value by 2035 will require close collaboration.
“It also serves as a challenge to all the quad partners of industry, government, Māori, and research providers to take action – their contribution and support will help us achieve sustainable growth, and drive grower success across New Zealand.”
New Zealand dairy farmers are set to be the first in the world to receive access to a new digital physical milk pricing tool that enables them to fix the price for their physical milk.
State farmer Pāmu is opening its farm gates this summer in an effort to give the rural sector the opportunity to see how large-scale, multi-system farming is delivering productivity and profitability across New Zealand.
A five-year study has found that the cost of reducing emissions without technology may be significant and unsustainable for Northland dairy farmers.
DairyNZ says Waikato farmers need certainty on Plan Change 1, but they say that certainty must be matched with practical, workable rules and a clear transition that doesn't get ahead of the new resource management system currently under review.
While the Government has moved quickly to make commercial hauliers' lot easier during the current fuel crisis, they appear to be stuck in the creep box when it comes to the agricultural industry.
Waikato farmers have been told that the Government’s new planning system legislation and the region’s Plan Change 1 (PC1) “won’t mesh together very well”.

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