Cyclone recovery research aims for better information
Scientists from Plant & Food Research have been collecting data from apple orchards in Hawke’s Bay to better understand the impact of Cyclone Gabrielle.
Pipfruit NZ is changing its name to New Zealand Apples and Pears Inc.
The name change will be launched at the Agricultural Fieldays in Mystery Creek later this month; Pipfruit NZ is exhibiting at the Fieldaysfor the first time.
Pipfruit NZ chief executive Alan Pollard says the old name was causing confusion outside the farming community; the organisation was being linked to oranges and plums because they have pips.
“Pipfruit NZ is only about apples and pears; it worked okay as we used to interface only with growers,” Pollard says.
Nowadays the industry deals with students, potential workers, the Government and international clients.
Pollard says New Zealand Apples and Pears has been chosen as the new name; the logo has also been modified.
He says the new name and logo will be made public at the Fieldays for the first time.
Pollard says the decision to exhibit at the Fieldays is three-fold; tell visitors that NZ is the number one apple industry is the world, reminding school students of careers in the industry and working with machinery importers and dealers on biosecurity issues.
New Zealand's diverse cheesemaking talent shone brightly last night as the New Zealand Specialist Cheesemakers Association (NZSCA) crowned the champions of the 2026 New Zealand Cheese Awards.
Tracing has indicated that the source of the first velvetleaf find of the 2025-26 crop season, in Auckland, was likely maize purchased in the Waikato region.
Fish & Game New Zealand has announced its election priorities in its Manifesto 2026.
With the forage maize harvest started in Northland and the Waikato, the Foundation for Arable Research (FAR) is telling growers of later crops, or those further south, to start checking their maize crop maturity about three weeks prior to when they think they will start silage harvesting.
Irrigation NZ is warning that the government's Resource Management Act (RMA) reform risks falling short of its objectives unless water use for food production and water storage infrastructure are clearly recognised in the goals at the top of the new system.
More than five million trays, or 18,000 tonnes, of Zespri’s RubyRed Kiwifruit will soon be available for consumers across 16 markets this season.