Horticulture Industry Forum March 2015
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Horticulture Industry Forum Tuesday 31 March 2015 9.30am – 4.00pm Venue: Hotel InterContinental, 2 Grey Street, Wellington Updated -AGENDA9.15am Tea/Coffee 9.30am 1. Welcome/Introductions – Julian Raine, HortNZ President 9.35am 2. Natural Resources & Environment a) HortNZ Update ............................................................................ presentation Tony Howey – HortNZ b) Implementation of the Transpower MOU ............................................... verbal Mike Chapman – NZKGI 10.15am 3. Project - Horticulture in the State of Himachal Pradesh ............................ verbal Alan Pollard – Pipfruit NZ 10.40am 4. Onions NZ Strategy ............................................................................ presentation Mick Ahern, Matthew Spence & James Kuperus – Onions NZ 11.00am Morning Tea 11.15am 5. Horticulture Capability Group & Strategy .............................. attached separately Horticulture Capability Group 12.30pm 6. Proposed Industry Summit on the Horticulture Capability ....................... verbal Sue Pickering – HortNZ 12.45pm Lunch 1.30pm 7. Labour a) RSE’s Responsibilities to their contractors ............................................ verbal Mike Chapman – NZKGI b) 2015 RSE Conference in Samoa Update .............................................. verbal Jerf van Beek – HortNZ 2.00pm 8. Health & Safety ................................................................................... presentation Mike Arnold, Horticulture Health & Safety Committee Al McCone, WorkSafe NZ 2.30pm 9. General Business a) 2015 Asia Fruit Logistica Planning – Alan Pollard, Pipfruit NZ ....... presentation b) HortNZ Conference Update – Leigh Catley, HortNZ ...................... presentation c) Problems with Adverse Event RAP Payments – Mike Chapman ... presentation 3.10pm 3.20pm Afternoon Tea d) e) HortNZ Scorecard – Peter Silcock - HortNZ .................................. presentation Notes and Action List from previous meeting ............................... attached P 05 3.40pm 10. Affiliates’ Reports – questions or points of clarification .................... attached P 17 HortNZ Report - questions or points of clarification ........................... attached P 31 11. Future Product Group meetings Thursday 13 August – Rydges Hotel, Christchurch (Note: the Young Grower of the Year competition will be run on 12 & 13 August and the Awards Dinner will be held on the evening of 13 August) Thursday 3 December - Wellington 3.55pm 12. Closing Remarks – Julian Raine 4.00pm Meeting Closes 2 Meeting Attendees Name Title Tony Rickman Ashby Whitehead Jen Scoular Geoff Heslop James Tavendale Anna Tier Chair Chair CEO Chair Deputy Chair Chief Executive Ian Turk Don Turner Matthew Spence James Kuperus Nikki Johnson Lesley Wilson David Watts Geoff Oliver Mike Smith Mike Chapman Mick Ahern Tony Wright Richard Pickard Pat Fowlie Godfrey Dooney Katja Bouw Isa Dyet Alan Pollard Stuart Wright Champak Metha Andrea Crawford David Hadfield John Seymour Gary Bennetts Marie Dawkins Robin Nitschke Melanie Dingle Keith Vallabh Chris Sinnott Simon Hegarty Hugh Moore Organisation NZ Asparagus Council NZ Avocado Growers Association NZ Avocado Growers Association Blackcurrants New Zealand Ltd Blackcurrants New Zealand Ltd Blackcurrants New Zealand Ltd New Zealand Boysenberry Export Council NZ Manager Feijoa Growers Assn Persimmon Industry Council Independent Chair NZ Buttercup Squash Council Business Manager NZ Buttercup Squash Council Executive Secretary Onions NZ Assistant Business NZ Buttercup Squash Council Manager Onions NZ Executive Manager New Zealand Citrus Growers Chair Hawke’s Bay Fruitgrowers’ Association Secretary Katikati Fruitgrowers Association Chair NZ Kiwiberry Growers Inc Executive Member NZ Kiwifruit Growers Inc CEO NZ Kiwifruit Growers Inc Independent Chairman Onions NZ Executive Manager Strawberry Growers NZ Inc Chair NZ Passionfruit Growers Assn Executive Member NZ Passionfruit Growers Assn Executive Member NZ Passionfruit Growers Assn Executive Member NZ Passionfruit Growers Assn Executive Member NZ Passionfruit Growers Assn Executive Member NZ Passionfruit Growers Assn Pipfruit New Zealand Inc CEO Nashi NZ Inc Chair Potatoes New Zealand Inc CEO Potatoes New Zealand Inc Business Manager Potatoes New Zealand Inc Chair Process Vegetables NZ Process Vegetables NZ Senior Business Manager Vegetables NZ Inc Chair Summerfruit New Zealand Manager Summerfruit New Zealand Manager New Zealand Tamarillo Growers Association Business Manager TomatoesNZ Chair Vegetables New Zealand Inc Executive Member Pukekohe Vegetable Growers Association Chair New Zealand GAP CEO Horticulture Export Authority Committee Member Horticulture Health & Safety Committee 3 Julian Raine Tony Howey John Allen Hayden Armstrong Mike Arnold Leon Stallard Dave Kelly Peter Silcock Shona Roberts Sue Pickering Kirsty de Jong Leigh Catley Natalie Hampshire Chris Keenan Angela Halliday Matthew Dolan Jerf van Beek Apologies Received Michelle de Jong Rick Curtis Allan Noble Julie Cross Neil Trebilco Nadine Tunley Bharat Jivan Terry Olsen Alasdair MacLeod Craig Watson Andrew Fenton Sue Grant-Mackie President/Chair Vice President Director HortNZ Board HortNZ Board HortNZ Board Director HortNZ Board Director Director Director CEO EA/Board Secretary Senior Business Manager Young Grower of the Year Manager Communications Manager Communications Assistant Business Manager Advisor Business Manager National Labour Coordinator HortNZ Board HortNZ Board HortNZ Board HortNZ Staff HortNZ Staff HortNZ Staff Business Manager Chair Chair Executive Office Chair Chair President Chair Chair Chairman Director Magazines Editor NZ Asparagus Council New Zealand Citrus Growers Katikati Commercial Growers Society Ltd NZ Kiwiberry Growers Inc NZ Kiwifruit Growers Inc Pipfruit New Zealand Inc Pukekohe Vegetable Growers Association Tararua Growers Association TomatoesNZ New Zealand Tamarillo Growers Association HortNZ Board HortNZ Staff HortNZ Staff HortNZ Staff HortNZ Staff HortNZ Staff HortNZ Staff HortNZ Staff HortNZ Staff 4 AGENDA ITEM 9 (e) NOTES Horticulture Industry Forum Meeting Thursday 4 December 2014 Rydges Hotel, Wellington Attendees: Lesley Wilson - Hawke's Bay Fruitgrowers Association, Nikki Johnson – NZ Citrus Growers’, Robin Nitschke – NZ Tamarillo Glowers Association, Tony Rickman - NZ Asparagus Council, Ashby Whitehead & Jen Scoular – NZ Avocado Growers Association, Ian Turk NZ Boysenberry Export Council (also representing Feijoa Growers Association & Persimmon Industry Council), Don Turner, Matthew Spence & James Kuperus – Buttercup Squash Council (also representing Onions NZ), Geoff Oliver – NZ Kiwiberry Growers, Mike Chapman – NZKGI, Tony Wright & Richard Pickard – NZ Passionfruit Growers Association, Mick Ahern – Onions NZ (also representing Strawberry Growers NZ), Allan Pollard – Pipfruit NZ (also representing Nashi NZ), Stuart Wright, Champak Mehta & Andrea Crawford – Potatoes New Zealand, David Hadfield & John Seymour (also representing Vegetables NZ) – Process Vegetables NZ, Gary Bennetts & Marie Dawkins – Summerfruit NZ, Terry Olsen – Tararua Growers Association, Alasdair MacLeod – TomatoesNZ, Keith Vallabh – Vegetables NZ, Julian Raine, Tony Howey, John Allen, Brian Gargiulo, Leon Stallard, Mike Arnold, David Kelly – HortNZ Board, Peter Silcock, Shona Roberts, Leigh Catley, Chris Keenan, Matthew Dolan, Jerf van Beek & Sue Grant-Mackie – HortNZ, Simon Hegarty – HEA (for some of the meeting). HortNZ Leadership Participants: Allen Lim, Nathan Clarke, Red Martin & Tony Zwart. Apologies: Geoff Heslop & Anna Tier – Blackcurrants NZ, Graham Martin – Horticulture Canterbury, David Watts – Katikati Fruitgrowers’ Association, Rick Curtis – NZ Citrus Growers, Chris Sinnott – NZ GAP, Craig Watson – NZ Tamarillo Growers Association, Michelle de Jong – NZ Asparagus Council, Julie Cross – NZ Kiwiberry, Neil Trebilco & Mike Smith, NZKGI, Nadine Tunley – Pipfruit NZ, Bharat Jivan – Pukekohe Growers Association, Ross Bawden – Te Puke Fruitgrowers’ Association, Mel Dingle – TomatoesNZ, Andrew Fenton – HortNZ Board, Sue Pickering & Angela Halliday – HortNZ. 1. WELCOME & INTRODUCTIONS Julian Raine (HortNZ President & Chair) welcomed members to the 2nd Horticulture Industry Forum and made special mention to Horticulture Leadership participants. Each of the Leadership Programme participant introduced themselves. Members noted the apologies. 2. NZ TAMARILLO COOPERATIVE Robin Nitschke made a presentation on the NZ Tamarillo Cooperative: Key points made: In 2008 the tamarillo industry was worth around $4M and had 200 growers producing 1200 tonnes. When Psyllid hit the industry was brought to its knees resulting in the industry value dropping to around $1.3M and plummeting to 35 growers producing 250 tonnes. Tamarillo and potatoes through a Sustainable Farm Fund partnered with Plant & Food Research and trialed 11 chemicals, only 3 chemicals showed effectiveness against Psyllid. On that basis an Integrated Pest Management Programme (prevention, observation and intervention) was developed. Over the following two years there was some recovery. Existing growers increased their plantings and there were a number of new entrants. Five Whangarei growers got together and identified issues facing the industry: 5 - 3. The industry would have substantial growth, the domestic market would be capped and saturated and the export market was relatively weak given that Tamarillos were a relatively unknown fruit overseas. Retailers were playing one merchant off against the other and merchants were competing for market share - ultimately driving prices down. Every grower has around 500 – 2000 kgs of fruit fall (only any good for processing). They saw this as huge wasted opportunity. Large manufacturing companies’ required 20-30 tonnes at a time. The group investigated forming a cooperative, got legal advice and talked to a number of small producer cooperatives to understand what worked and why and what didn’t work and why not. Robin joined up to NZ Cooperative Ltd and attended their seminar. From that they put together a constitution, business plan and growers’ contract. The three key considerations when setting up a small producer cooperative: 1. get the best legal advice you can afford; 2. ensure that all growers in the cooperative sell all of their product back to the cooperative; and 3. ensure the cooperative growers’ have a spirit of cooperation. The benefits 1 year on: Maximised returns to growers. Because the cooperative is one entity it stopped retailers playing one merchant off against another and has stopped merchants competing for market share. Having influence at beginning of supply chain provides more choices to add value to products at the end of the supply chain: processing - vinegars, relish, juices etc manufactured product - puree and pulp, concentrates and extracts research and development - nutraceuticals and food pilots One entity also allowed: joint promotion innovative packaging (TigerTams) establishing brand building profile A closer relationship was formed with supermarkets giving them consistent quality, consistent quantity, and better communication. Provided a funding base to develop product development and marketing. Given that Tamarillos are not a commodity but rather a specialised fruit for niche markets the Cooperative will focus on growth through value added products. Re-structuring our industry and changing its strategic focus in this way will build a more sustainable future for our growers. CERTIFICATION REVIEW Helen Gear, Secretary of PMAC and Damien Clarke and Vicky Kitekei'aho from MPI joined the Forum and made a presentation on PMAC/MPI’s certification system review. One of PMAC’s and MPI’s top priority projects for 2014/15 is a review of the phytosanitary certification system. The review’s objective is to enhance and streamline the current process (assurance system) and align expectations for Producers, Exporters, IVA’s and MPI. There is no intention to alter the fundamental shape of the process. New Zealand is the only country in the world that uses a delegated authority approach. This approach has significant advantages for all parties involved; in terms of cost saving and flexibility. All other countries use end point inspections. It is 8 years since the system was last reviewed and this review is considered essential to keep the system fit for purpose and capable of dealing with our trading partners increased requirements. It will help protect our reputation for top quality compliant produce and provide a good platform to optimise market access and facilitate future growth. 6 Over the last year MPI phytosanitary certification documents have all been reviewed (by MPI and working groups from the IVA’s and industry). The revised documents will be released in early 2015. Considerable effort has been put into clarifying parts of the documents that in the past may have been unclear to some users e.g. competency requirements. As a result it is highly likely that most MPI approved organisations (MAO’s) will need to clarify their documentation so that it aligns with the new Standards. In many cases this should result in simpler more streamlined procedures especially around the administrative components of the certification system. Facts sheets outlining the areas of change in each document can now be accessed on MPI’s website. Awareness meetings will be held throughout the country in 2015 and will be held at times when sectors are least busy. Awareness sessions will be held within MPI and for all IVA’s, MAO’s and consultants. The review team will work with sectors to identify the best time and place for such meetings and sessions will be designed so that MAO’s from any sector can attend. It will be mandatory for each MAO to attend and to review their documentation to ensure it is aligned with the updated requirements. 4. NGINZ STRATEGY, FUTURE RELATIONSHIPS AND GIA Andrew Harrison, Chair and John Liddle, CEO of the Nursery & Garden Industry NZ (NGINZ) were present for this item. Andrew Harrison made a presentation (see Appendix 1) to members covering: NGINZ’s Strategy - ‘Greenlife Double’ (doubling the value of green life by 2025) GIA (looking at opportunities for working together/partnering to achieve joint outcomes) Funding (Commodity and Biosecurity Levies) Andrew opened the floor for discussion and feedback, key points made were: Alan Pollard agreed that there would need to better engagement between the nursery and horticulture sectors around the GIA process. David Kelly stated that it took the kiwifruit industry 18 months to get Pest Management Plan in place after Psa to formally restrict plant movement so Andrew’s comments about how quickly the nursery industry could move plants up and down the country was concerning. With the new Food Bill there are regulations about what we can and can't do so for the industry’s good there needs to be level of compulsion about adhering to these systems. As a commercial producer there needs to be minimum standards applying to limit the impact of the next incursion. Andrew Harrison responded that this was an area that they need to explore and scope. Julian Raine commented that when we thinking of biosecurity we often think of it as a border issue, the nursery industry is a huge vector for the spread of pests and diseases so it is imperative to have plant standards in place. Biosecurity is not only important for around the outside of New Zealand but is also important between regions and districts. He offered assistance to nursery association and individual plant nurseries to help with those standards given that horticulture did not want to spread pests and diseases into new growing areas. Andrew looked forward to this support. Chris Keenan noted that NGINZ was looking to increase its capacity in the natural resources space and suggested that they look to leverage off the HortNZ RMA programme. Andrew responded that the nursery association hoped to partner with HortNZ. 5. PROGRESS ON THE FRUIT FLY OPERATIONAL AGREEMENT Alan Pollard provided an update on progress of the Fruit Fly Operational Agreement. This was for members in the room only. 7 6. GIA PROGRESS Each sector reported on progress with GIA: Citrus Have mandate from growers but are withholding the application for mandate at this time. We are trading off the risk of not signing the deed until we have further information about cost share. We will re-evaluated this in February 2015. Tamarillos Have aligned with the small Product Groups represented by HortNZ. Not currently involved but want to be at table. Asparagus Will not be pursuing GIA. Avocados AIC are seeking mandate from growers in February/March 2015 with a view to signing the deed. The Board have concerns at current expectation that fiscal caps are set only at a OA level, without the ability for an industry to set a fiscal cap across all OA’s. This effectively requires the industry to have an open cheque book, as no-one can predict how many biosecurity events might happen at one time, or over a number of consecutive years. Boysenberries The Council have discussed GIA - growers are positive. Persimmons This will be discussed at the 2015 AGM. With the costs involved and requirements for technical resources we will wait and see what some of the bigger groups do. However, with more information on the costings and the Fruit Fly Council negotiating the operational agreement this may change. Feijoa At the recent AGM it was agreed that the executive would work to develop and get mandate at the next AGM November 2015. Buttercup The executive has agreed to canvas the industry to seek support to sign a deed Squash but has not yet sough mandate. We are interested in what’s happening – in principal we don’t want a new levy. If we have to collect a levy through the Biosecurity Act we won't be keen. KiwiBerry KVH will act on their behalf. Kiwifruit The kiwifruit industry was the first to sign the deed, we are at the same place as pipfruit with operational agreements for fruit fly - cost share is critical feature. Our wider biosecurity levy starts next March which will nett around $600k per year to fund biosecurity readiness and there is a mechanism to upgrade that to $1M for response. Since signing the deed MPI have been more cooperative. Our key focus is on sea ports and we have been able to actively engage MPI. Passionfruit Have 100% support from our growers. Peter Silcock is currently representing our industry in discussions on the Fruit fly Operational agreement. Levy is a concern – if fruit fly was to arrive it would be devastating given that our only export market is America. Onions Have mandate and are in consultation with the GIA Secretariat and MPI to prepare the application. Strawberries In industry consultation phase. Pipfruit Pipfruit signed deed yesterday – we had issues around witnessing signatures. We are funding readiness through the Commodity Levies Act and have mandate to fund response through a biosecurity levy. The aim is to collect $200k per year to a maximum of $1M to fund our fiscal cap. Had our first response under GIA - Yellow Spotted Stink Bug which was found in a garden in Timaru that activated the response team under GIA of which KVH and PipfruitNZ were part of. The response went very smoothly. We are talking with an insurance company about whether aspects of GIA can be covered – we will share information once discussions advance. Potatoes The consultation phase has been completed and we will seek mandate by electronic survey from growers early in New Year. We are confident that we will receive the mandate and will look to sign the deed soon after that. We are working with MPI on some of the requirements of the application process. We are of the view that we better to be around the table. 8 Process Vegetables Summerfruit Tomatoes Vegetables NZ We signed a MOU with MPI and are of the view that we want to be inside camp but costs are an issue. We will wait to see where things end up. Our Board are supportive of signing deed, we are not at consultation phase because of the issues around the fruit fly operational agreements and Government/industry cost sharing. We also have issues around the fiscal cap. Will are probably looking to sign mid-year 2015. We have done some limited consultation. We put a motion to our AGM to get a mandate and got 92% support by value of the sector. The issue we have is that because we are not a legal entity we cannot sign the deed. We have to set up an incorporated society. The incorporated society cannot force the members of TomatoesNZ to join so at the moment we are taking a step back and are hoping by February that we can find some resolution. We have been through the consultation phase. Vegetables NZ has the same issue as TomatoesNZ. The Vegetables NZ Board has drafted the constitution and will hold a Special General Meeting on 16 December to get mandate to become an incorporated society and we will be seeking mandate to sign the GIA deed. Peter Silcock tabled a GIA Secretariat document which listed primary industry organisations involved in GIA and at what stage they were at. 7. HORTNZ MAGAZINES Peter Silcock referred members to the papers which provided background to this item and responses to questions asked by Jen Scoular. It also included a copy of the HortNZ magazine policy. Peter commented that this item was the result of a letter to the editor published in the October issue of the Orchardist magazine which criticised the Orchardist’s coverage of the GIA discussion at the Avocado AGM reported in the September issue of the magazine. Before turning the meeting over to Jen Scoular he asked members to note that HortNZ’s magazines were primarily funded through advertising, subscriptions and grants from vegetable product groups and the Fruitgrowers' Charitable Trust. Jen also provided some background information, she had first learned of the article from MPI who had phoned her asking if they had done something they shouldn’t have and asked if they could we help with the response around GIA. If Jen had known the letter was being published and had been offered a right of reply she would have been able to discuss this with MPI. Jen reported that the fruit groups had discussed some of the issues around the Orchardist magazine at their month fruit groups’ conference call. She acknowledged HortNZ’s magazine policy and made a number of comments: It is good that the principles include informing growers about the Product Group activities and noted that while some sectors were contributing regularly others Product Groups should contribute more. It is good to see that the editorial requirements required accuracy, fairness and balance having the right of reply added would provide more balanced reporting. It is interesting that the Directors, CEO and staff are not able to require content despite the CEO having the right to instruct the editor not to publish content - this seems to be a conflict. The policy says there are monthly meetings about sharing industry information which begs the question about how widely is it shared and she questioned if this group a good group to share information about content going forward. 9 Is the Orchardist magazine meant to be just another media outlet that we inform or is it a way of increasing visibility of the horticulture industry in a positive way that is collaborative and in partnership. Jen then put forward some recommendations and views for consideration: That product groups are informed: o provided with an update at each Forum meeting on planned content; and o asked for contributions. That Product groups are advised if specific opinions are reported or letters published about their sectors and are given the right of reply in the same edition. That accuracy, fairness and balance be measured for industry benefit, not just versus legal requirements. That the Policy includes the intent that the magazine supports horticulture in NZ. Discussion: Given that each Product Group has signed a MOU with HortNZ there should be specific acknowledgement of Product Groups and Grower Associations in the magazine policy. Some members felt that the policy is good but questioned if it reflects how the publications operate. It could be that is where the changes have to be made. There seems to be a difference between the Orchardist magazine and the Grower, the vegetable product groups contribute each month. This is how growers are informed. A vegetable group chair commented that the editor often contacts him for comment - it may be a fruit group problem. The Orchardist is a valuable magazine and it does a very good job of communicating with growers. Agree that the right of reply is absolutely essential if the content is critical and it must be timely, acknowledging that the editor has strict monthly deadlines to keep. While vegetable product groups have a dedicated section in the Grower magazine, not all fruit product groups take the same opportunity. There needs to be more thinking about how the Orchardist can promote and help fruit groups more. The magazine has lot of good news and information – should it be extended to include Product Group information (one page per Product Group). Suggest the fruit groups engage with the editor to work out how the Orchardist can be used to inform members about what they do. The magazines are widely read publications so they should never contradict what the industry groups are saying because it gives sends the message that the horticulture industry is fragmented. While there should be debate you need to hear both sides. The magazine has a good balance between technical information and general information, agree that a right of reply to letters to the editor is a good idea. The Chair thanked members for the input. He noted that HortNZ needed to engage more with the fruit groups and acknowledged the comments about ‘right of reply’. He also noted that at times there were issues around the magazine deadlines. He agreed that HortNZ would refine the policy. 8. VEGETABLES NZ STRATEGY John Seymour presented the Vegetables NZ Strategy 9. TRIBUTE TO BRIAN GARGIULO The Chair reported that Brian Gargiulo had tended his resignation from the HortNZ Board effective from 31 December 2014 to assist with Board’s succession, this would therefore be Brian’s last Horticulture Industry Forum. He acknowledged the huge contribution that Brain has made to the industry over more than 40 years. He was a driving force behind the establishment of HortNZ where he served 9 years as 10 vice-President. He also served on the board of one of its predecessor organisations, the New Zealand Vegetable and Potato Growers’ Federation, for more than 20 years, nine of them as president. Brian has been a tireless supporter of growers and horticulture, and has spent much of his life serving in grower representative organisations in Canterbury and nationally including in the raspberry, tomato and vegetable industry and finally in the wider horticulture industry. Brian received an MBE for his services to the horticulture in 1986. The Chair thanked Brian on behalf of the industry. 10. LABOUR ISSUES a) Legal Validity of Requiring RSE Employers to Police Contractors Mike Chapman spoke to this item. RSE employers are required as part of the RSE scheme to police contractors. Recently an employer was told that he had to run two weekly audits of all of contractors. If a contractor is found to have even a minor breach i.e. a non-signed employment agreement, their RSE status could be revoked. Recent enforcement had also extended to holding RSE Packhouses responsible for policing the contractors that their grower suppliers use. NZKGI with funding support from HortNZ sought a legal opinion (extract – see appendix 3), while it didn’t provide the answers expected it provided a vehicle to debate the fairness of the policy with officials. Mike invited RSE employers to discuss this further with him. b) Health & Safety Issues Peter Silcock updated members on the incident reported at the previous meeting where a grower was being prosecuted because his employee had died after rolling his tractor into a ditch. While the tractor had a Roll Over Protection Structure (ROPS) fitted it was in the down position. The Health & Safety Act stated that employers must mitigate, isolate and eliminate health and safety risks. Regulations, a code of practise and a best practise guide issued earlier this year by WorkSafe NZ all exempted orchardists from having ROPS. Despite these exemptions WorkSafe NZ had been intending to prosecute the grower for not having his ROPS in the up position. Since the last meeting the HortNZ Board had met with WorkSafe NZ and both CEO and HortNZ's President had met with the defendant’s lawyer and had written letters regarding HortNZ’s view and industry practice around ROPS. As a result there had been a small victory with WorkSafe NZ withdrawing all reference to ROPS in its summary of facts presented to the court. WorkSafe NZ were however still progressing a prosecution based on the fact that the grower could have done more to assure the safety of the employee i.e. fencing the bank, removing trees to allow more turning room and the failure to identify the hazard. Despite this small win HortNZ was concerned that the codes of practise approved by WorkSafe NZ may not be effective guidance for industry. With imminent changes to the Health & Safety Act coming up and the establishment of WorkSafe NZ there was more scrutiny and compliance action occurring. At its meeting yesterday the HortNZ Board agreed to reignite its Health & Safety Council under chairmanship of Mike Arnold to engage in more dialog with WorkSafe NZ around some of these 11 issues and how the codes of practise apply alongside the Act. The meeting Chair commented that there would be a dedicated section to Health & Safety at the March Forum given that the new Act would come into force on 1 April 2014. Essentially NZ was taking on the Australian approach. All employers, company Directors and land owners would need to be cognisant with their obligations under the new Act. 11. REPORTS FROM PRODUCT GROUPS & HORTNZ Members noted the reports from Affiliates and HortNZ. 12. FOOD SAFETY a) Food Safety Issues for the Horticulture Industry Scott Gallagher, MPI Deputy Director General joined the Forum for this item and tabled a diagram outlining MPIs objectives for the NZ food safety system. Scott commented that he was ultimately responsible for any of the activities relating to primary industries in a regulatory, assurance, audit, verification, decision-making capacity spanning food safety, biosecurity, and primary production. MPI had aligned its activities recognising its regulatory, operational and high level strategic policy responsibilities. Key points made by Scott: MPI have five objectives around food safety 1. To ensure public health is protected. 2. That food is safe and suitable. 3. That risks from pathogens, chemical contaminants, natural toxins and residues are identified and managed. 4. That NZ’s good reputation increases access to overseas markets. 5. To ensure that market access is facilitated. The relationship MPI has with the horticulture industry has to be strong. MPI recognises that industry needs to have trust and confidence in MPIs ability to do the job industry expects on a day to day basis. MPI recognises that if it doesn’t respond in a timely and a clear way it will erode the industry’s trust and confidence. It is fundamentally important that MPI has strong relationships and transparency grounded on a true sense of partnership on all fronts and that there is openness and willingness to engage and collectively work together to address any issues and mitigate risks. The learnings over the last 12 to18 months, after a number of high profile incidents, is that MPI needs to effectively communicate messages to industry and consumers here and overseas. There was an open and frank discussion about some recent issues and frustrations of trying to work with MPI and other government agencies. Scott concluded the session by committing to work more closely with industry to deal with these issues in the future. b) Management of and Communication around Food Safety Events Peter Silcock led this discussion about how industry could engage better with MPI around food safety events. Peter recommended that a protocol be developed across the industry to ensure that the appropriate sectors were engaged in the relevant incidents. He commented that HortNZ was willing to play a role in developing these in partnership with Product Groups. Before opening the discussion Peter reported on discussion with MPI at a recent United Fresh meeting where they identified industry traceability systems as being inadequate at the wholesaler, 12 retailer and distributor level. He noted that some industries had better traceability systems than others and if we were going to develop a protocol we would need to engage with other parts of the industry particularly wholesalers and retailers. Discussion: Reflecting on the Hepatitis A incident early in 2014, MPI went to the media before telling industry, this put markets at risk even though the incident was confined to a packhouse that only distributed domestically. Also in the debriefing MPI managers did not attend and instead sent an external facilitator. There were similar issues with Yersinia, while some of this issues are domestically focused requiring wholesaler and retailer involvement there also needs to be engagement with exporters. Keith Vallabh thanked HortNZ and in particular Sue Pickering, Leigh Catley and the team for their handling of the Yersinia outbreak while HortNZ CEO was away. He commented that Scott Gallagher fronted up to this meeting was positive. In the event of future incidents HortNZ should be the first point of contact and for them to take a lead coordination and communication role depending on the issue. While HortNZ can be a point of contact some of the Product Groups have significant relationships with MPI and would expect a call directly if the incident affected their sector. There are times when MPI Legal is a stumbling block and is at times inflexible. In terms of the confidentiality of information it is important that industry is involved in MPIs Strategic Group that manages responses (as they are now with biosecurity responses) because often you get access to confidential information. When HortNZ deals with MPI on food safety issues MPI seem to have to cobble a group of people together to deal with the issues, they don’t seem to have a dedicated representative or liaison person, we tend to be clumped in with general good. Industry needs work out how we want engage with MPI and communicate that to MPI providing them with a decision tree i.e. if a Product Group wants to be the primary point of contact and has the internal capability to work directly with them or wants to work collaboratively through HortNZ. When asked if HortNZ had a policy on the communication lines around food safety events, Peter responded that HortNZ had a process it follows. HortNZ’s position has always been that product groups deal with product specific issues and that HortNZ would engage with those groups. If some of the smaller groups were impacted and did not have resource to engage, HortNZ could represent them. The Chair agreed that HortNZ would put a strawman together in consultation with Product Groups for discussion at the next meeting. Peter Silcock added that he would work with Product Groups to start discussions with MPI about the shape of this engagement. Alan Pollard made a general comment around communication he made plea to HortNZ that when communicating in the media to think of the target audience both domestically and internationally and the consequence of those people reading that information. Alan provided an example of when his messaging and HortNZ’s was conflicting. 13. GENERAL BUSINESS a) International Federation of Agricultural Journalists Congress 2015 Sue Miller, National Secretary of the Agriculture Journalist Guild joined the Forum to talk about the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists Congress (IFAJ) being held in Hamilton in October 2015. The Congress is an annual event attracting 200 agricultural journalists from around the world. The Congress will have an intensive programme of speakers, farm visits and panel discussions 13 to showcase NZ agriculture and agribusiness. It is expected that each of the journalists will write two or three stories each day to be reported in foreign media and social media. The Congress has a number of sponsors including HortNZ who will be providing some financial and in-kind sponsorship. Sue tabled some sponsorships brochures and welcomed Product Groups and associations getting on-board. b) RMA Reform Bill Update Chris Keenan made a brief presented on changes to the RMA Reform Bill – see appendix 4. c) HortNZ Scorecard Peter Silcock reported that at its meeting yesterday the Board signed off the HortNZ Scorecard which will give growers an opportunity to rate HortNZ’s performance. The survey will be conducted through Survey Monkey and will be distributed to growers via email if HortNZ has their email address and by hardcopy to the others. The intention is for the survey to go out prior to Christmas if possible or early in the New Year and will be offering a prize draw as an incentive to participate. It was noted that the results of the survey would be shared at the next Forum. In conclusion the Peter asked for forum members to support HortNZ by encouraging members to complete the survey through their various newsletters. d) CATE Conference 2014 & Young Fruitgrower Competitions Mike Chapman reported on the recent Careers and Transition Education (CATE) Conference held in Tauranga which had attracted 500 secondary school career advisors. NZKGI had coordinated a stand together with Pipfruit, Avocados, HortNZ and Compact Sorting Equipment. The Stand was manned by a number of young leaders and Kate Longman from NZKGI acted as MC for the three day event. Horticulture was the only primary industry represented at the conference and through the young leaders engaging with the career advisors they were able to promote horticulture. Mike asked that the Forum make a recommendation to the Horticulture Capability Group that they consider arranging a similar stand at the next CATE conference in Palmerston North. He suggested using the local industry in the area to pull the stand together to showcase produce and promote horticulture as a career. Mike then commented on the Young Horticulturalist of the Year competition that was won by Patrick Malley representing the Bay of Plenty. While other areas of primary industry were well showcased he noted the lack of a horticulture presence particularly promotional material. Mike asked the Forum to recommend to the Horticulture Capability Group that they consider increasing the horticulture presence at the next Young Horticulturalist of the Year given that this year’s winner and ambassador was from horticulture. Finally Mike commented that the next Bay of Plenty Young Fruit Grower competition was being held on 24 June 2014, he welcomed participants from regions they didn’t have their own competition. 14 e) Report back on the NZ Pavilion at China Fruit & Vegetable Fair in Beijing – Nov 14 Alan Pollard reported on the NZ Pavilion at China Fruit & Vegetable Fair in Beijing in Nov 14 f) China is an important market so it was important to be at the fair taking and NZ Inc approach. The tradeshow was under the umbrella of China’s Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ) and run by the Beijing Entry-Exit Inspection and Quarantine Bureau (Beijing CIQ). While being at the tradeshow held no commercial benefit for exporters it was critical in terms of improving market access. Pipfruit NZ and NZTE put up the seed money and had funding support from Avocados. Each of the exhibitors had their own area and some meeting space as well as waiting areas promoting NZ Inc. The cost of putting the NZ Pavilion together was $50K (construction & design) and because of the size of the stand (225 sqm) they were awarded partner country status which elevated them in the eyes of AQSIQ. This allowed MPI’s counsellor to speak at the opening ceremony and o be part of official ribbon cutting ceremony it also granted them the opportunity to attend the join China/New Zealand seminar – a extremely rare honour. The NZ Inc concept would be a great template to use across broader tradeshows particularly around Asia, if NZ is going to compete internationally the most successful way to do that is to take a NZ Inc approach. As a result of the show NZTE are now taking a very close look at how they can support trade initiatives particularly in Asia. NZ Pavilion at Asia Fruit 2015 Peter Silcock made a presentation on the NZ Pavilion at Asia Fruit Logistica in Hong Kong: Asia Fruit Logistica is Asia’s leading trade show for the international fresh fruit and vegetable business. In 2014 there were 478 exhibitors from 38 countries and 8100 top decision-makers from 64 countries attended. HortNZ has coordinated the New Zealand Pavilion for the past 6 years. HortNZ’s key objectives is to ensure there is a strong New Zealand presence at this important show, and to encourage and enable New Zealand exporters to engage with customers across Asia. This year the New Zealand Pavilion featured 13 companies, seven of those first time exhibitors. HortNZ will organise the NZ pavilion in 2015 on 2-4 September 2015 Improvements planned include: o review stand design - including more distinctive NZ design, New Zealand branding and better use of air space above; o ensuring overall stand space configures with standard show floor 6 metre wide layout; o increased support from NZTE; o providing resources to support new participants; and o investigation of group hotel bookings There was discussion about opportunities around Asia Fruit 2015. It was agreed that HortNZ's CEO would arrange a conference with Alan Pollard and Jen Scoular before proceeding with further planning. g) Notes & Action List Members noted the notes from the previous meeting. In response to a question about the HortNZ Director Selection Group the Chair confirmed that Lesley Wilson and John Bourke had been elected to the Group. The Group’s first meeting will be 15 held on Monday 8 December where they will review the CVs and bios of the existing Board members and identify any skill gaps. From there the Group will develop a selection process and recommend suitable candidates to the HortNZ Board. 14. HORTICULTURE INDUSTRY FORUM DATES FOR 2015 Members noted the dates for the 2015 Horticulture Industry Forum meetings: Tuesday 31 March – Wellington Thursday 13 August – Christchurch (The Young Grower of the Year competition will be run on 12 & 13 August and the Awards Dinner will be held on the evening of 13 August) Thursday 3 December - Wellington 15. CLOSING REMARKS Simon Hegarty, CEO of HEA reminded members that HEA together with HortNZ were releasing the Trade Barriers report at 4.00pm at the Wellington Club. Trade Minister Grosser will be speaking from 4.15pm and Stephen Ogden from Market Access Solutionz will provide a summary and highlights. Hardcopies of the report will be available at the launch. The Chair thanked members for their participation and commented there had been some good discussion on some tricky subject and that there had been some good speakers. He wished members well for Christmas and the New Year and hoped that those harvesting over this period had a prosperous harvest. The meeting concluded at 3.50 pm. Actions List Action Who Action Taken 4 December 2014 1. HortNZ Magazines Refine the HortNZ Magazine Policy HortNZ Underway. 2. Management of and Communication around Food Safety Events Put a strawman together in consultation with Product Groups for discussion at the next meeting and work with Product Groups to start discussions with MPI about the shape of this engagement. HortNZ Not completed. HortNZ has been in discussion with United Fresh (that represents growers, wholesalers and retailers) about improving food safety systems on the domestic market and getting better interactions with MPI. We believe this would be a good vehicle for engagement with MPI as it will present a united industry front 3. NZ Pavilion at Asia Fruit 2015 Arrange a conference with Alan Pollard and Jen Scoular before proceeding with further planning HortNZ Completed – a working group has been set up including Alan Pollard (Pipfruit NZ), Jen Scoular (AIC), Yvonne McDiarmid (PFR), Monique Surges (NZGBA) & Peter Silcock (HortNZ) 16 AGENDA ITEM 10 AFFILIATES & HORTNZ REPORTS – MARCH 2015 Asparagus Seasonal review Export - Export markets this season included: Japan. Taiwan, Hong Kong. Singapore. Australia had a large production year which sent 700 tonnes in one week into Japan. Japan will remain a key market. South Island – had a poor, cold season. A couple of containers were sent to Australia. There was a lot of poor asparagus on the market. Volumes down. South Island growers are aiming to increase exports. SWNI – Season did not start till early October. There was an early flush that swamped the market. Hawke’s Bay - The season progressed well. There was a steady flow of crop. The late opening of Watties after Labour weekend caused problems. Unsure if Watties is opening next season. Waikato – Had an early start to the season. September was variable with cold temperatures, frosts and hail storms. This impacted on supply. October and November were big volume months. Pricing was good till mid/late October however a flush in crop resulted in the market dropping and did not recovery till late November. New planting are taking place. Dichlorovous Insecta-gas is not registered for use and is not going to be registered for use for asparagus. The asparagus industry is so small it cannot afford to keep registration. The Council does not support pursuing further reassessments for Dichlorovous. Other The Council is considering establishing grade standards for crowns. AGM - To be held in Palmerston North early August. The Council is looking to implement a survey on the age of crop to provide information to make plans. Tony Rickman Chairman, NZ Asparagus Council Avocados We have just completed our largest volume season ever, with 4.5m, 5.5kg trays exported. Previous high was 3.7m trays in 2011-12. The export season finished a little earlier and more quickly than expected, as quality diminished, mostly due to early colouring on the fruit due to weather. The season was very good, with excellent planning, co-ordination and communication between parties. The Australian market demonstrated excellent demand, and reasonable value. As a comparison, 30% more avocados were sold in our export window than in 2013-14 and 14% more than in our highest previous year, 2011-12. NZ exporters liaised with Australian supplier, enabling volumes from both countries to be forecast. The New Zealand market has retained value through this big season, with strong sales and increased demand. Our relationships with retailers is improving, as we provide more collateral and information to retailers. Avocados are a top selling category for most retailers. Avocados sell in 17 the NZ market 12 months a year, so final results and volumes are not yet available. (Year end 30 April) Our R & D programme, now well-resourced through MBIE and PGP programmes is demonstrating initial outcomes for growers. We have established an orchard performance “baseline”, being the four year average to 2012-13, and going forward can now track orchard performance by individual orchard or segment of the industry. Significant time has been spent by NZ Avocado on biosecurity, with the Grey Lynn response, seeking support from growers by postal vote to ascertain support for NZ Avocado to enter GIA, and representation on the IFFC. Brad Siebert started as Biosecurity and PGP Manager in Sept 2014. We hosted our first ever “Industry Day” in Tauranga in early March, which Julian Raine attended. The day went very well, giving guests an overview of the industry, the opportunities and challenges, an exporter view, and a trip to a high performing orchard. Jen Scoular CEO Avocado Industry Council Blackcurrants Following last year’s mild winter, late spring and hot summer there were concerns about the size of the 2014/15 harvest. Initial estimates were for a total ~1000 tonnes smaller than 2013/14, but as the harvest proceeded the total gradually increased to an unconfirmed total of about 9,000 tonnes, which is 1,000 tonnes larger than the previous year. Industry is forecasting reduced harvests for the next few years with replanting of older blocks underway for many growers. While the demand in many markets that NZ sells to is steady or strong, there are some market concerns with global concentrate prices at the lowest levels ever. This has been attributed to a surplus of European fruit that hasn’t been able to go to the Russian market due to the RussiaUkraine conflict. A review of export codes is currently underway with assistance from HEA. This process aims to rationalise the number of codes being used by exporter as well as create a few new codes which are more specific to blackcurrants. This will enable better recording of blackcurrant products for a more accurate Work on the BCNZ Strategic Plan continued to progress following industry feedback in the latter half of 2014. Now the BCNZ Executive committee agreed to sign off on the new BCNZ Inc strategic plan earlier this month. With this now complete, Tony Zwart has been engaged to undertake a review of the blackcurrant Export Management Strategy which we plan to present to the industry in August. BCNZ is about to enter into discussions with MPI regarding a GIA. Anna Tier Product Group Manager, Blackcurrant New Zealand Inc 18 Feijoa The 2015 season is underway, with new season feijoas starting to hit the shops. An ongoing concern for industry is the slow spread of guava moth, and we are working to make growers aware of the pest and the signs of its presence. I am already aware of one grower from an area outside of the guava moth area, who believes they have seen infested fruit that has been brought into the area and offered for sale. Controlling guava moth (and other pest) spread is something that will become of increasing concern. The Association has this year revised and republished 1its grade standards. After long debate we now have a document which has separate local and export standards, and separates how these standards can be achieved into a “best practise” and separate chapter. Hopefully this will also end debate over the use of net picking – which incidentally was aided by the AGM visit last November to one of the better net picking setups. Our radio campaign is now underway, running from mid-March through April, on a wide variety of stations. Hopefully the jingle has been heard, and is cutting through the clutter. The NZ Feijoa Growers Association is 30 yrs old this year. First feijoas were imported in 1908 with improved cultivars imported from California in the 1950s. In those days varietal development occurred, occurred under Government programmes. The DSIR undertook a trial from 1954 at its Oratia Research Orchard. Varieties in this trial were Coolidge, Choiceana, Triumph, Mammoth and NZ Superba – some of which are still significant plantings today, despite the plethora of varieties that are now available. Our President, Tim Harper has notified his resignation so the Association is now looking for his replacement. We have a young and vibrant executive, but the downside is that individuals do not feel that they yet have sufficient experience to take on the President role. This is one which will need to be sorted quickly! Ian Turk Manager, NZ Feijoa Growers Association KiwiBerry 2015 SEASON TO DATE We are currently just over half way through the NZ Kiwiberry season for 2015. The harvest started roughly 10 days later than last year and the gap between the early and later varieties is similar. The quality and taste has been good, but there are still issues with mixed maturity in bunches on vines. Anticipated volumes will be lower than originally predicted. All growers have achieved a registered Food Safety Programme Certification as part of the New Zealand Kiwiberry Growers Inc. requirements for Clearance to Pick. We have also undertaken a major review of the quality/grading standards for 2015, to continue to improve the quality of the fruit exported. NZ Kiwiberry Growers Inc. have undertaken an Independent Quality Audit by SGS of packed fruit at the freight forwarder in Auckland. This year we have implemented both a more robust residue testing programme and a maturity standard test that have been integrated into the Clearance To Pick Audit, which is working well. 19 We have been affected by the new 27.2km zoning for export fruit going to China. Currently consignments either include a tray plastic liner or the pallet is wrapped with insect netting and a tamper proof seal. Global markets remain strong preferring the quality and taste of NZ Kiwiberry. The industry is working hard to maintain its markets and provide high quality fruit for export, ensuring good returns for growers. Geoff Oliver NZ KiwiBerry Growers Inc. Kiwifruit NZKGI Picking has just commenced with predictions of an export volume in excess of 100m trays which is a return to pre-Psa levels. Good size and average taste is predicted. The Interim Results from the Kiwifruit Industry Strategy Project (KISP) are in. These will be finalised once NZ Post has delivered the last few postal votes to Electionz in Christchurch for counting. Subject to the final vote count the high level interim result is: 80 percent of production voted in the KISP referendum and nearly two-thirds by number of growers. 98% of growers supporting the industry’s Single Point of Entry structure 92% of growers supporting the implementation of a cap on Zespri share-holding 91% of growers supporting a change to how Zespri is funded to maximise returns to New Zealand growers 94% of growers supporting changes to their industry representation to ensure they determine grower equity decisions about grower payments This turnout, combined with over 90 percent grower support for all proposals, means growers have delivered an overwhelming mandate for the future ownership, control and structure of the New Zealand kiwifruit industry through the KISP process. Mike Chapman Chief Executive, NZKGI Onions Production/Harvest Basically a good yielding crop, harvested under good conditions. Harvest 75-80% complete nationwide. Export volume estimated 170k mt +/- 10%. Last season’s actual 180k mt Markets/Sales Shipments to week 11, 27% below last season. Japan, UK, Malaysia slower. Europe about same. Good red volumes moving. Reasonable shipping availability Major issues with Eur and JPY currencies. 20 Administration China onion market profile and export business case completed New web site launched New logo introduced GIA application submitted to MPI. Ongoing objectives Raising the profile of ONZ particularly with MPI and other agencies by improving the value proposition for export onions. Improve MPI ranking and support for access to the Chinese market. Prepare an application for a PGP. Ensure the proposed IHS for fresh Chinese onions to be exported into New Zealand is adequately robust and protective of NZ growers resultant biosecurity exposures. Michael Ahern Independent Chairman, Onion New Zealand Inc Persimmons The PIC is gearing up for the 2015 season which will get underway in April. Our initial forecast is for export volumes of 1,400 tonnes which is a slight drop over last year. 2014 was a record season so our forecast is consistent with an upward trend. During the last half of 2014, the industry worked hard to position ourselves to be in a position to export to China in 2015. The market access protocols are not yet formally signed – we are now expecting that this will be done at bilateral talks this month. In the meantime MPI have prepared a draft OAP, and we have had growers working to achieve the on-orchard requirements – around pest management. As it happened none of the growers met the audit standards. This was largely due to technicalities around the paperwork, although this has also been a learning curve that an OAP means exactly what is written. Although some of these growers could have been brought up to standard, MPI have decided that the industry will need another year before it is confident to bring Chinese officials out for their year 1 audit of the programme. This will enable the industry to spend this time looking at the stringent cold treatment requirements and our ability to meet these practical requirements. Thailand is another important market for the persimmon industry, which is changing its import requirements. Further delays signing these off mean that we will be well into our season at least, before the changes become effective. The latest fruitfly finds will impact on our industry. With significant plantings in the North, and the 3.5km export exclusion zone, transport will need to avoid the Auckland harbour bridge, and take care approaching the Auckland port. We are certainly hoping that the export exclusion zone will not be extended, and that this will be another incursion in which the industry has got off far more lightly than it may have done. PIC held its AGM in Hamilton on 25 February, with visits to a local orchard under cover, and to Hills Laboratories. Hills Laboratories conduct our residue testing, which all growers must complete before their fruit can be exported. 21 We heard a report from Plant and Food on the use of Vapourmate on persimmons. This work confirmed that Vapourmate does have a softening effect on persimmons so is not suitable for use on fruit that will go to long term storage (ie sea freight). Treatment combined with Smartfresh showed some promise, and perhaps a direction for further work Ian Turk Manager, Persimmon Industry Council Pipfruit The Pipfruit industry is only up to week 11 of our export season, so it is very early days. So far we have exported 30,000 tonnes of our estimated total for this season of 303,000 tonnes. Most of the exports so far are Royal Gala, and most bound for Asia. Our crop estimate for 2015 is around 550,000 tonnes of total production. We expected a record year for export volumes on the back of this very big crop. However, hail events in all of our growing regions mean that it is more likely to be an average export crop. We are getting more positive pricing information from our key markets, which suggest that some of those markets may not be quite as challenging as we first thought. Fruit quality this year is again outstanding, with fruit size at or slightly below last year. Roger Gilbertson has joined Pipfruit NZ in the second part of Mike Butcher’s former role. Roger is responsible for market access, biosecurity and food safety and will spend a little less than half of his time working with us from his home base in Tauranga. The Pipfruit NZ team is involved in a number of initiatives, including: A project to help the Himachal Pradesh, India, apple industry to deal with its many challenges Attracting, retaining and developing talent in the industry (working in partnership with kiwifruit, avocados and Horticulture NZ). Labour issues, including the labour shortage in the Hawkes Bay Working with MPI and kiwifruit on food safety issues that arise from the Food Act, and in particular putting in place an assurance programme to support our industry that accommodates both a primarily export focus with domestic producers as well. Apple Futures 2 project, a 7 year $9m project funded equally by MBIE and industry, focussed on Asia market access. GIA governance with MPI and KVH for the current fruit fly incursion in Grey Lynn Fruit fly operational agreement Developing the apple story (currently in its third iteration) Industry lead aid initiative for Vanuatu A new concept for Asia Fruit Logistica 2015 (with Hort NZ, NZ Avocados and Plant & Food Research) Planning for the Pipfruit annual conference in Wellington 5 to 7 August 2015 Alan Pollard CEO, Pipfruit NZ 22 Potatoes NZ Market There as a well-publicised ‘shortage’ in the market at the end of 2014 as the main crop harvest last year was affected by poor weather in the main growing regions over winter (May & June). Wet conditions and poor daylight hours lead to slightly lower yield and difficulties with harvest in those conditions. By mid-January, the entire early season crop was harvested and the main crop was planted, with harvest of the main crop due from March onwards depending on growing location. With the dry weather, in particular in South Canterbury, many growers who had extensive irrigation networks haven’t been able to put the requisite water onto their crops. The result is that yields across seed, table & processing crops are expected to be down in the coming months, with the impact of reduced seed yields likely to be felt into the next season. Overall, the supply into the fresh potato market is a bit tighter than would normally be the case at this time of year & this is reflected in retail prices. Activity The equipment demonstration/Soil Management Field day in Pukekohe 4-5 March was an outstanding success. We had over 300 visitors over 2 days & displays from most if not all of the major agricultural equipment distributors in NZ displaying their wares. Transition levy & finance management to 3PL for FY16 Finishing off last of 2014 area planted survey calls Planning Agenda & administration for PNZ AGM & Conf 2015 – speakers confirmed New PNZ Inc. industry website development – ‘go live’ projected mid-April Upcoming Meetings Education & Marketing Meeting, week of 6th April, Auckland Forum on Wheels – Pukekohe, 15 April Young Veg Grower of the Year Final – Pukekohe, 16 April PNZ Inc. Board meeting – April 21, Palmerston North Export Market Development Group Meeting – May, TBC Leadership Development Group Meeting – May, TBC Foodshow – Christchurch, 2-3 May ANA Conference 5-7 May, Auckland Hettanz Conference, 15-16 May, Auckland PNZ AGM & Conference to be held in conjunction with the FAR Conference on 24 July, 2105 at the Ashburton Events Centre World Potato Congress, Yanquing, China- 27-30 July, 2015 – a grower tour is being organised Champak Mehta Chief Executive, Potatoes NZ 23 Pukekohe Vegetable Growers Association Bharat Jivan Joanne Whiteman Strawberries Overall successful season albeit with lower volumes due dry/cool/overcast weather but also some increase in price. Exports expanded usefully. Seeking access to Vietnam on basis of IRA work completed for Thailand in recent years. Monitored impacts of Fruit Fly incursion and assessed implications for Strawberry Industry. Engaged directly with MPI re Auckland growers concerns in particular. Engaging with EPA via MAS re ongoing use of Methomyl. 24 Exploring traceability/food safety project under GS1 New Zealand with United Fresh. Work on strategic plan approved. Engaged with MPI re understanding of differences between inspection processes NZ Vs Australia. Mick Ahern Executive Manager – Strawberry Growers NZ Summerfruit The three months since the last Forum has been dominated by the harvest season. The 2014-15 season has been a stand out for the volume of fruit sold – good and bad. While they say nothing of quality or returns, the numbers were certainly worth noting this year. Peach, nectarine and plum sales are continuing with reasonable volumes yet to report. However cherry and apricot (other than late varieties) sales are finished. Cherries Cherries made the biggest splash with unheard volumes being sold both export and onshore. At last year’s conference we asked what would happen if we exported 3000 tonne. At the time the figure seemed almost mythical – that volume has been on the trees in the past but rain has kept export volumes in the 1600 tonne range. So no one really knew what they were up against until the rain didn’t come and the numbers kept stacking up. And it wasn’t just record export volumes. - - A total of 5,200 tonnes of cherries were sold across both export & NZ Market. The largest volume previously sold was 3,047 tonne At 3,244 tonne, export cherry volume was just shy of double of last year’s 1,644 tonne. Not surprisingly every single market showed a significant increase on the previous year with Taiwan more than doubling its take. Several other countries such as Vietnam and Malaysia also saw significant increases. While increases on the NZ Market were not as significant (1,754 t up from 1,404t in 2013-14) a change in sales pattern was noticeable. On average 50% of the cherry volumes are sold on the NZ Market prior to Christmas. This year just 27% were sold prior to Xmas with 67% being sold in weeks 2-6, going against many previously held views that cherries wouldn’t sell on the NZ Market after Christmas. Prices were holding and reasonable quality cherries were still available in the Wellington market in early March, though I’m not sure the growers would have been aware that their fruit was still being sold. These increases to cherry volumes have been well predicted and it is a relief to finally see them coming to fruition. Though returns will inevitably reflect these large volumes. And cracks in harvest systems were starting to show under the pressure and it’s fair to say that there will be a bit of a shake up as a result. Our main competitors also experienced similar weather patterns and reported significantly larger crops. By early February Chile experienced a 45% increase in their crop with staggering 101,000 tonnes exported with 83% of that volume going to China. Tasmania initially also predicted a 40% increase however late rain cut this back. Tasmania did however benefit hugely from an FTA with Korea which saw tariffs reduce from 24% to 0 this season, leading to volumes exported to Korea increasing from 10t to 250t. The tariff on NZ cherries will also reduce to 0 in the coming months and we have hopes of this leading to a revitalisation of the Korean market. 25 Apricots While cherry volumes were startling, apricots sales were at the other end of the spectrum. The cold variable spring conditions around apricot pollination really took their toll. The season started late and struggled to get any volume until at least week 4 of the new year. - - Apricot exports have always fluctuated however this season is the lowest on record since the 1998/99 season. Export volumes will be just on 58% of the average of the last three years. The reduction of volume was spread across all countries. Compared to last year the Australian market was down by 50% and USA down 66%. Reflecting the low volumes only 64 Offshore Pre-shipment Inspections (OPI) were conducted compared to 75 last year. This did however include 5 failures, with thrips and mites being the usual culprits. The lower number of inspections combined with some judicious management of the inspectors time saw the inspectors overtime all but eliminated this year. Ongoing changes to the OPI programme by DAFF have added significant costs to the programme. Research into ethyl formate as a post-harvest disinfestation treatment has confirmed its suitability for use on apricots. We expect to see early uptake by some packhouses next season. While final figures are not yet available, we anticipate that overall volume on the NZ Market is likely to be at least 20-30% down on previous years. While South Island export apricot growers are concerned at exporting just 58% of the previous average, North Island growers supplying the NZ Market were also affected by the weather and produced less than 50% of previous average.\ Nectarines, peaches and plums Only small volumes of nectarines, peaches and plums are exported, with the bulk of those exports going to the Pacific. Export volumes are always quite variable however this year’s results were on par with previous years. On the NZ Market all three crops were late and slow to start producing any volume. NZ market sales won’t be complete until the end of March so some reasonable volumes have yet to be reported. However at this stage it appears that sales are running at 15% below the average. We anticipate that peaches and plums could also be down by 10%. Conference Our conference will be held in the Hawkes Bay this year on the 3rd and 4th of June. The date being aligned to the National Horticulture Fieldays on the 5th of June. The main theme for the conference is that Summerfruit NZ will turn 21 this year. While there won’t be any yard glasses we will find suit able ways to celebrate this milestone. There might even be a cake. Marie Dawkins Chief Executive – Summerfruit NZ 26 Tamarillos The Season Due to the slow start to spring last year, harvest this year will be delayed by about four weeks. With most areas reporting good growing conditions, growers are cautiously optimistic of reasonable returns this year. Tree Health The industry wrongly assumed that we had the Liberbacter/TPP complex under control, because it has returned with a vengeance this year with many orchards experiencing up 30% tree losses. The intensive spray program regime implemented by most growers for the last 4-5 years had been reasonably effective and robust to control TPP. It’s possible that the efficacy of the chemicals applied may have diminished, but it’s also likely that as the trees emerged stressed out of a long wet winter, they had a reduced resistance to Liberibacter. Silicon As reported last year, an interesting and unusual phenomenon has been observed in two orchards in Northland – one who had leaves with very low symptoms of Liberibacter and a low spray regime had silicon levels twice those of a neighbouring orchard who had a very large number of symptomatic leaves yet with an intense spray regime. NZTGA were successful in obtaining an AGMARDT Grant and approached PFR to determine: If indeed silicon was responsible for this phenomenon and what level of silicon in the plant is required to achieve this. If silicon acts as a barrier to TPP or as a repellent/deterrent. The most cost-effective form of application – foliar or drench. Trial protocols are currently being confirmed and the first set of trial replicates should begin shortly. If any other product group has had experience with silicon levels in regard to tree/plant health, please contact us. The Market Production for 2014 increased slightly from the previous year to 540T worth $2.7M. Expected production for this year will be down by 20-30% due to tree losses caused by Liberibacter. Grower Numbers From a recent phone survey, active grower numbers total 38 – 12 BOP, 2 Taranaki, 4 Auckland and 20 Northland. This is approx. 60% less than those growing tamarillo six years ago. Tamarillo Co-operative There has been considerable interest in the Cooperative with a large number of growers wanting to join this year. Sales of tamarillo pulp/puree have been slower than expected – ice-cream and yoghurt manufacturers are naturally wary of including tamarillo in their range of products because previously pulp has not been available long term, however with the formation of the Cooperative, pulp availability can now be assured. To ensure top quality wasn’t compromised, some initial problems were experienced in the processing of vinegar and relish, however these are now solved and the first production run of 4000 units will be on retail shelves early April. This is an exciting venture for the Cooperative and a completely new initiative for the industry. Robin Nitschke Craig Watson 27 Tomatoes Generally reasonable production levels with low domestic returns (November stat figures indicated lowest retail tomato prices in 12 years.) Control of whitefly proving to be a significant challenge – more so in North than South Island. Intermittent exports to Australia resulting in 20% decrease in last calendar year. Likely influenced by the volume of glasshouse production in Australia and exchange rate. Exports to Japan doubled in last calendar year. Meaning Japan was the top export destination for 2014. “Fresher by Sea” project to determine methods of increasing shelf-life with a view to investigating sea freight to Asian markets. Co-funding Auckland Waste Water Discharge project. The purpose is to benchmark and quantify nutrient discharge and based on this negotiate an allocation of nutrient discharge required for Covered Crops. Also, to develop a consenting framework for growers and use data gathered to inform the Auckland Council in the development of the Auckland Unitary Plan. Investigating whether HortNZ can sign on GIA Deed on behalf of TomatoesNZ and what the implications of this are with regard representation and voting status at both Deed governance level and OA level. TNZ Strategic Plan complete. Five key platforms are - Orderly domestic market - Market led export - Collaboration to create scale - Sharing best practice and information transfer - Enhancing sustainability Melanie Dingle Business Manager – TomatoesNZ HEA 1. HEA Act Review – update A first draft of the amendments to the Act has been drafted by the Parliamentary Counsel Office (PCO) & is in the process of being scrutinised by MPI. We anticipate a Bill will be introduced to Parliament in the April – June period and will be then referred to the Primary Production Select Committee. This timing is subject to the Governments legislative priorities and unfortunately, in the wider scheme of legislative priorities, the HEA amendments are considered a low priority. Last year MPI DG Martyn Dunne referred to August 2015 for completion/implementation and this is still a possibility, but more likely to be final quarter 2015. HEA encourages Product Groups (comprising growers and exporters) to consider how multiple licensing tiers would work best for your particular industry group – i.e. the criteria differentiating premium markets from lower tier markets. 2. HEA performance review: Every 5-years the HEA is subject to a performance review. The review covering the 5-years ending 30 Sept 2014 was undertaken by an independent reviewer Mr Neil Walter (appointed by the Minister Nathan Guy) in the January-March period. Neil’s report will be available in late April 2015. 3. HEA priorities for 2015 28 The HEA activities are linked to making a positive contribution to the NZ export growth objectives. In the past 4-months we have: 1. Released the updated Trade Barriers Report – 4 Dec 2014 2. Conducted a statutory performance review (34 people were interviewed spanning industry participants, industry organisations, Government agencies) 3. Provided a horticulture perspective to a range of trade related issues (Indonesia access, prospective non-tariff barrier primary sector research project (involving dairy, meat, horticulture, seafood). 4. Assisted Product Groups with advice to resolve market access issues or for market development initiatives in Asia. Reviewed EMS documents, attended PG executive meetings. 4. Upcoming HEA board membership changes The term for exporter representative (Ingrid Hofma) on the HEA Board is about to expire and the Horticulture Exporters Council (HEC) has nominated Mick Ahern to be Ingrid’s replacement. We are awaiting Ministerial confirmation of this appointment. In December 2015, Hort NZ nominee Hugh Moore’s 2nd 3-year term will expire, so Hort NZ will be asked to nominate a replacement for Hugh (board members terms are capped at a maximum of 2 terms). At the same time the other Hort NZ nominee Lindsay Wells’ 1st 3-year term will expire, so Hort NZ will be asked if it wishes to re-nominate Lindsay for a 2nd term (or provide another nomination). 5. FTA updates Trans Pacific The prospects for completion remain dim as Japan and the USA thrash out Partnership differences over a range of ‘sensitive products’. Japan’s low level of ambition (i.e. retention of a range of protectionist measures) has significantly limited progress. It is considered highly unlikely any deal can be completed in 2015, and 2016 is a US Presidential election year. NZ Korea The Korea NZ FTA deal was announced on 15 Nov 2014. The HEA provided FTA – specific details to a range of groups on the outcome for their sector. update The legal verification and the translation of the agreement have been completed. The signing ceremony (by PM’s of both countries) took place in Seoul on 23 March 15. Implementation will be subject to ratification by the respective Parliaments so the entry into force is anticipated to be in Q3 2015. NZ/India No update since the Indian election was held in May 2014. No negotiation rounds since the 9th round in July 2013. Bi-lateral efforts (sector initiatives) continue. NZ/Russia Remains on hold – due to political situation in the Ukraine. Russian bans on imports from EU member countries has proven disruptive. RCEP Most recent round in June 2014 – progressing, slowly 6. Indonesia – access update: NZ joins USA in WTO panel dispute A range of products (predominantly apples, onions, potatoes (fresh & frozen) citrus and various fruit juice products) are impacted by Indonesia’s import access regulations ( kiwifruit, cherries and persimmons are three items exported from NZ to Indonesia in the past 5 years that are not). In mid 2013 NZ joined the USA as a co-complainant to a WTO dispute panel on the Indonesian importing regulations. Indonesia then amended the regulations, however NZ has continued with its complaint and lodged a joint complaint to the WTO (with the USA) on 18th March 2015. NZ has pursued a panel dispute on the basis the risks of such import regulations being adopted by other countries in the region is real, if these regulations are not challenged. New Zealand’s country recognition status on food safety was finally renewed in January 2015 after a visit by Indonesian officials took place in late April 2014. The four officials inspected onion and potato operations. The country recognition status (covers 27 products) is important in enabling NZ to continue accessing the sea port of Jakarta (alongside Australia, Canada. USA & 29 Netherlands (for onions) – all of whom have had their food safety systems ‘recognised’). NZ products not covered by the country recognition can still access Jakarta directly, but only if airfreighted. Simon Hegarty CEO – HEA 30 HORTNZ ACTIVITY REPORT Biosecurity (Peter Silcock) QFF New Lynn Response On 16 February 2015 a single male fruit fly was detected in an MPI surveillance trap in the Grey Lynn area of Auckland. Subsequently, on 20 February, a small isolated population of the fly was found in a home garden nearby in the same suburb. Fruit and vegetable movement control zones have been established, traps, baits and ground treatments are being applied. The number of fruit flies trapped remains at 14 (as at 23 March). Larvae and pupae have been found on five properties in very close proximity to one another and are receiving ground treatment for fruit fly in Zone A. MPI have been providing regular liaison updates and conference calls. Trading partner responses have been muted with most accepting the MPI proposed 3.5 km radius Export Restriction Zone. USA have required 7.2 km and China 27.2 km. HortNZ has issued two media releases and funded 1/3 of the industry full page advert in the Herald on the day before the NZ Australian World Cup Match. HortNZ has fielded a huge number of media calls. GIA Deed Governance Group The Governance Group has now taken shape and the need for the transitional structure is passing. Peter Silcock has been invited to continue to attend meetings as an advisor. The Deed Governance Group had a meeting with the Minister on 11 March. The Minister took the opportunity to ask questions about HortNZ’s stance on QFF and 100% baggage x-rays GIA Forum Peter Silcock attended and chaired a session at the GIA Forum on 12 March. Fruit Fly Operational Agreement Further progress has been made on the development of the Fruit Fly Operational Agreement at the meeting on 11 March. Government is still to consider the cost share proposal. HortNZ is representing small fruit and berryfruit groups on the Interim Fruit fly Council. Industry groups are able to set a fiscal cap under the agreement and horticulture groups are now considering taking the approach that their “fiscal cap” is two level 1 responses (detections) and one level 2 response within a 5 years. Note that over the past 3 years we have had three level 1 responses (Avondale and Whangarei x 2) and one level 2 response (Grey Lynn). Import Health Standards HortNZ has lodged a submission on the draft import Health Standard for Bananas from China this follow our submissions on the Cut Flower & Ornamental Plant HIS late last year. HortNZ is concerned that new policies or changes in policy positions are being introduced as part of IHS consultation. HortNZ believes that any new policy or policy changes should be consulted on separately and before inclusion in a draft IHS. One such change is the proposal to remove the mandatory 600 sample of fresh produce at the border. Kim Hill Biosecurity Debate Horticulture New Zealand chief executive Peter Silcock will participate in a panel discussion on biosecurity at Lincoln University next week, titled “The Great Pest Invasion”. Journalist Kim Hill will mediate between Peter and other panellists from the Ministry for Primary Industries, Plant & Food Research, Kiwifruit Vine Health and Fonterra. 31 Nursery Industry Biosecurity Scheme HortNZ has participated in discussions regarding the proposed scheme. Biosecurity Manager We are now in the final negotiations with our preferred candidate and hope that he will start in April. I am also looking at the possibility of having him attend the HIF meeting next week. Grower Support and Compliance (Matt Dolan/John Seymour/Peter Silcock/Leigh Catley) Adverse Events The National Adverse Events Committee met on 3 March and the main topics of conversation were the likelihood of the drought conditions breaking (which they did with the cyclone) and the impact of the Queensland Fruit Fly and the process behind the response. Land Transport Rule: Vehicle Dimensions and Mass Amendment [2015] NZ Transport Agency is seeking comments on the draft Land Transport Rule: Vehicle Dimensions and Mass Amendment [2015]. The aim of the proposed amendment Rule is to provide for road controlling authorities (such as city or district councils, and Auckland Transport) to issue permits to high-capacity urban and oversized rural vehicles allowing them to exceed current axle weight limits, but only where road pavements are sufficiently robust. Consultation material can be viewed at the NZTA’s offices, or call freephone 0800 699 000 for further information about the proposed Rule changes, or for a hard copy of the consultation material. HortNZ will be submitting on this. Questions and Answers and an submission form are available online at www.nzta.govt.nz submissions close at 5pm on 2 April 2015. Engagement with WorkSafe NZ HortNZ has discussed various issues with WorkSafe NZ over the past few months including: Quad bike helmets under kiwifruit vines Best practice guide for side by sides (draft due out for consultation soon) Horticulture elevated work platforms Grower survey to determine grower practice around storage and use of chemicals Health & Safety Committee HortNZ’s H&S Committee met by phone on 9 March to discuss the presentation to the HIF meeting on 31 March. The Committee will meet on 1 April and will be picking up some of the above issues. Submission on HSNO Classification System & Safety Data Sheets HortNZ made a submission to the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) in relation to their proposal: Reform of Hazardous Substances Management under the HSNO Act - Proposals for EPA Notices for Classification, Labeling, Safety Data Sheets and Packaging. The main focus of the EPA’s proposal is to adopt the United Nations Globally Harmonised System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals. The key points of our submission are: 1) HortNZ supports the introduction of the new system, as it brings NZ in line with other countries, but noting that the new system is similar to the existing one. 2) The proposed timeframe to implement the new classification (2 years) is insufficient to enable agrichemical information to be updated and users to be trained to use the new system 3) Existing labelling requirements are already problematic for companies registering agrichemicals. Adding to this complexity may further deter registrations. 4) We need a better system for on farm information keeping rather than asking farmers/growers to hold Safety Data Sheets. A web based system should be established. 32 GLOBALG.A.P Tour 2015 Horticulture New Zealand has accepted an offer from GLOBALG.A.P to host a conference in New Zealand this year. The New Zealand event will be held in conjunction with the HortNZ conference, in Rotorua, 29 July, and involve a conference session, and may be followed the next day with workshops. NZGAP Environment Management System (EMS) NZGAP has initiated a project to establish an environmental management system for NZGAP. This will be an optional add-on module covering nutrient management, soil conservation and irrigation. These topics have been prioritised to meet the ECan requirements for Farm Environment Plans. Following this may be the inclusion of other environmental topics, such as waste management, biodiversity and carbon. ECAN - Farm Environment Plans NZGAP has presented a proposal to ECAN to have the NZGAP system recognised as a Farm Environment Plan under the new rules of the Canterbury Water Management Strategy. If accepted, growers that hold NZGAP certificates would be able to present this to ECan and avoid the need to apply for consents to farm, which will be required from 2016. This proposal was prepared and presented with assistance from the HortNZ Natural Resources Group (Chris Keenan & Angela Halliday). While the majority of ECans requirements are met by the current NZGAP checklist, there are a small number of points in the NZGAP standard that will need to be modified. These have been documented and a plan to address these over the coming months has been agreed with ECan. A significant point, which is not included in NZGAP, is the use of Overseer. ECan recognise that this system is not able to be used by growers in its current form, therefore a separate (3-5 year) plan will be developed with ECan to address this, or find alternatives. A formal application will be made for the recognition of NZGAP as a Farm Environment Plan will be made in the coming weeks. Once accepted by ECan, NZGAP will present a similar proposal to Horizons. United Fresh Food Safety and Traceability Committee United Fresh has established a Food Safety & Traceability Committee and appointed Hans Maurer as chairman. HortNZ’s Matt Dolan is part of the group. The purpose of the group is to align producers, wholesalers and retailers across the domestic supply chain in regards to food safety responses. HortNZ has agreed to work as part of this group and has suggested that key export industry groups such as kiwifruit and pipfruit also be invited as it is important that domestic systems align with our existing export programmes. The group will meet within the next month, with a number of projects already under way, one of which includes the development of a food safety risk management module, which may be linked to NZGAP. MPI Food Safety Assurances Project MPI are reviewing industry assurance programmes, including NZGAP and others, in relation to how they meet importing country and customer food safety requirements and the extent to which New Zealand GAP is used to fulfil regulatory requirements such as MRL’s and microbiological safety. This work is being led by Dr Henry Pak. The need for this review has been initiated in response to a number of assurances being sought during country visits by trading partners (eg, Indonesia, Japan) on compliance of NZ produce to importing countries requirements. 33 GRASP (GLOBALG.A.P. Risk Assessment on Social Practice) A number of onion exporters have been asked for GRASP certification by their European customers. GRASP is an add-on to the GLOBALG.A.P standard and covers social practice and worker welfare. The GRASP module is relatively new for GLOBALG.A.P (released 2010) and it is estimated that there are only around 30 certificate holders worldwide at the moment. New Zealand growers are currently unable to gain GRASP certification as there is no GRASP guidelines which apply in New Zealand, nor are the New Zealand certification bodies accredited to undertake GRASP audits. Other export groups have been asked about GRASP certification in the past, but have successfully batted the requests back. Onion exporters / marketers, have also managed to delay the request, but are looking at how to progress the work to establish a system over the coming year or so. NZGAP intends developing an optional add on module covering the GRASP standard. This is scheduled to be available to growers by the end of 2015. Food Act Update MPI has released the (draft) regulations which will support the new Food Act. The proposed regulations are relatively generic and do not contain any significant new requirements affecting GAP certified producers, that have not been covered in the industry liaison sessions. MPI has asked for feedback on the proposed regulations by 31 March. A number of product groups and businesses have provided feedback on the draft regulations and HortNZ will be presenting a submission shortly. A key point of interest is the mechanism by which industry programmes may be recognised by MPI. This process has not yet been defined, however there appear a number of businesses in other sectors seeking recognition of their programmes, e.g. baking & catering. It appears that Horticulture is relatively unique in that the industry programmes operate across large parts of the sector. Mandatory Traceability Proposed The Government is now considering applying a requirement for mandatory traceability, as recommended in the Dairy Traceability Working Group’s report, across all food sectors. The proposals relate to mandatory record keeping, information sharing and ensuring food products can be traced as quickly as practicable within 24 hours in an emergency. HortNZ has cautiously welcomed the proposals. We know traceability is important and growers and horticulture exporters already have some very good systems in place, it’s really the details of how our industry system swill connect with those of regulators that we will need to understand. HortNZ will be looking carefully at the proposed regulatory changes which will be fully consulted on in July 2015. HEA Review HortNZ CEO Peter Silcock met with Neil Walter who is undertaking the HEA 5 year review. My key message to Neil was that government needed to implement the recommendations from his pervious review. Asiafruit Logistica HortNZ is working with Pipfruit NZ, NZ Avocado and Plant and Food to co-ordinate the NZ Stand at Asiafruit Logistica. Following an application prepared and lodged by Alan Pollard 34 NZTE has committed $75,000 towards the stand and another $25,000 to a networking function. We are in the process of finalising the commitments from exporters. In total about 15 have completed an expression of interest form. We have a tentatively booked the space and expect a good site allocation. People (Sue Pickering/Jerf van Beek) HortNZ Scholarships HortNZ’s application and selection process is on track. HortNZ Leadership Programme Promotion and programme development is underway. Young Grower of the Year The 2015 Young Grower of the Year competition structure and dates are. With the competitions growing and more/new people getting involved we are having to address some complex issues such as National Platinum Sponsorship exposure at regional competitions and contestant criteria. With several individual discussions and a Regional Advisory Group meeting via teleconference on 18 March we have been able to address the evolving policy and process issues to date. Horticulture Capability Group (HCG) HortNZ, Pipfruit NZ, NZ Kiwifruit Growers Inc and Avocado NZ Chief Executives and HCG members met by teleconference on 9 March and signed off four papers that were put together as a result of the previous January meeting: Stakeholders for Horticulture Capability Strategy Horticulture Career Promotion Calendar of Events Draft Horticulture Industry Exposure Proposal Critical skill Needs – Production and Post-harvest Horticulture Roles Presentation of these to the Horticulture Industry Forum along with the HCG Terms of Reference and the one-page strategy were agreed. One of the activities within this Group has been to sit on the Primary Industry Capability Alliance (by invitation) to gauge whether the horticulture industry should become a member. Sue has been attending these meetings and will put forward a Cost/ Benefit paper to the HCG group in May. Primary Industry Training Organisation The Director Selection process has begun. Applications close 25 March. Sue Pickering is on the Director Selection Panel. Selections to be completed by end of April. There is concern and discontent regarding competition occurring between the Primary ITO and polytechnics. Gary Jones, as Chair of the Pipfruit Industry Partnership Group has indicated to the HCG that he wishes to meet with Mark Jefferies regarding this. Mike Chapman, as Chair of the Kiwifruit and Avocado Group and Sue, as Chair of Vegetable + other Fruit IPG are also likely to be involved. National Labour supply Central Otago which had a labour shortage declared came through their biggest cherry crop in history remarkably well. Lower production in the other summer fruit categories may have been a factor. Because backpackers are starting to leave the area just as the grape harvest is to start that sector seeking some assistance. Pipfruit harvest is in full swing in Nelson, Hawkes Bay etc. Some shortages of labour are occurring (especially non RSE employers) at present but with still 5 weeks to go factors like climate and overlap with the kiwifruit harvest could change this rapidly. There are vacancies around the districts but unfortunately it is now quite clear that W&I is no longer able to fill 35 these vacancies with suitable workers. Regional chairs have been proactive in trying to work with the regional W&I staff and especially the regional commissioners and labour market managers to access workers. This has been very frustrating. Cyclone Pam This is devastating for the people of Vanuatu and especially difficult for our workers who feel helpless not being able to help with the clean-up. Industry, MBIE and MFAT have been working very hard to make sure that if there was going to be a large number wanting to return to Vanuatu that replacements would be available. Ministers Woodhouse and McCully gave strong indications that priority for replacements should be given to Vanuatu. NZ government understands that RSE is a major contributor to the Vanuatu economy which will be much needed for the medium to long term rebuild of that country. Industry, in those areas where Ni-vans workers are present, is gearing up to get involved in medium to long-term relief work. The many activities undertaken and planned are too many to mention. The NLGG chair and HortNZ National Co-Ordinator, Jerf van Beek held an urgent meeting with MBIE and MFAT to discuss the national approach. MFAT at present have asked for some calm so that assessments can be made first. They are confident that relief will be in place from agencies around the world. The advice is to look at long term rebuild projects and the needs required. Training staff while in NZ around building resilient cyclone proof structures could be valuable. Our industry needs to understand this is a long-term effort not just for two weeks. Government initiative to engage with unemployed New Zealanders The New Zealand initiative is being piloted at present in mainly the Hawkes Bay and Bay of Plenty regions. BOP is on target to fill their allotted numbers but Hawkes Bay is falling short which is mainly due to MSD/W&I not being well prepared. 2015 RSE Conference HortNZ and the Samoan government are now well advanced in the planning of this event. A charter flight on 7 July is now agreed to which is getting close to being filled. Accommodation is also no longer a concern with many options still available. The program is shaping up very well especially with more than several NZ ministers indicating that they would like to be present. Of which the PM could be one. Natural Resources and Environment (Chris Keenan) Regional Roundup Northland: Some economic activity underway with requests coming in from MPI for key contacts (labour force) and strategic water study being commissioned. Far North District Council: Mediations (Feb 18, 19) were tricky. We have a number of issues with the potential for rural residential dwellings sited near boundaries. The FNDC plan could not be regarded as anything near best practice and it is a nightmare to negotiate without causing hardship for growers in some way or the other. FNDC has traditionally treated rural production as the area anything can happen. Whangarei District Council: A public meeting has been convened for 23 March followed by meetings with NRC and Whangarei DC on 24 March over proposed plan changes that seek to carve up large areas of the volcanic soils for rural residential subdivision. We have submitted comments on a “draft proposed plan” indicating opposition. We will seek the views of local growers on the matter. Auckland: We have been through many hearings at the RPS level now. “Interim guidance” is now being released. Here is the long and the short of it. 36 The benefits of rural production are recognised but not necessarily provided for. Subdivision: Elite Land (Class 1 land, about 1%) is protected. But prime land (Class 2, 3 about 30%) is not. There is more flexibility to enable subdivision of this land. There is strong guidance about avoiding reverse sensitivity. The guidance notes “avoid the potential for reverse sensitivity effects that could hinder the continued operation or growth of existing rural activities, or the establishment of new rural activities”. Guidance is yet to be released on our request that water should be provided to enable the high production potential of Class 1,2,3 land and glasshouse production. We are now preparing for the hearings / mediations / expert provision around water provisions in the next level of the plan including rules (discharges, water quality, takes, dams and diversions are all treated separately), hazardous substances / agrichemicals, contaminated land and other related matters. Watercare: No further updates Waikato: Meetings on Healthy Rivers Collaborative Stakeholder Group continue. (Garth Wilcox and Chris Keenan representing arable / hort sectors). This 18 - 24 month process will see the processes established for achieving the water quality goals of the community in the Waikato and Waipa River systems. The projected cleanup cost for the rivers is $2.2Bn. The process for setting limits is being complicated by conversions in the upper Waikato where resource consents have been applied for by Wairakei Pastoral for large proportions of the existing load. They have done so by deliberate breach of the permitted activity standards. The consents if granted mean they will not be subject to the same claw back provisions as others. This will increase the burden on others to achieve the targets for the Waikato River. Bay of Plenty: At the last meeting of the rural water advisory panel we hosted a tour of kiwifruit / avocado pre and post-harvest production. We are well into discussions about water plan changes for quality and quantity, including plans to manage unauthorised takes. Plan changes will now focus on providing more general interim guidance followed by more detailed catchment level processes. A water quality strategy largely slated by the Advisory Panel as being off track and non-inclusive has been declined by Councillors and returned for further work – also relabelled as a “framework”. Ross Bawden attended his first meeting Whakatane: Whakatane District Council hearings were held (Lynette and Angela) at the beginning of the month with NZKGI and seemed to go well. Gisborne: Plan notification will now be mid-year. We are negotiating and have agreement in principle to cofund science underpinning limits development. We have also sought partnership with iwi and forestry / Federated Farmers. Our Managed Aquifer Recharge proposal pilot consents will now be funded and applied for by Council. Hawkes Bay: The primary sector and Council are working well together and still under unified representation from Russel McVeigh. There is much work to do still. The Board is still reviewing the latest round of mediations (attended by Helen Atkins for us) and a decision will eventually emerge. Hastings District Plan: We have been undertaking hearings on the Hastings District Plan, and will continue until mid-2015. Horizons: Nutrient management (discharge) consents are now back on the development / implementation programme along with further work on farm plans. We attended the Balance 37 Farm Environment awards. Horowhenua DC: No update Rangatikei DC: Are currently focussing on a plan change and we have provided comments regarding growth opportunities on the basis of feedback received from local interests. Wanganui DC No update Tasman: All water users are at grave risk from undersupply if the dam does not go ahead. Consents will be reviewed and paper allocation not utilised will be phased out this year making restrictions bite. There are also 2 reports now being reviewed – 1 on water requirements, another on nutrient leaching – both drafts from HortNZ. We are reviewing these with growers. We are also involved in a plan change for the Motueka catchment reviewing water allocations upwards, and we are supporting that. Canterbury: Discussion on appeals to the High Court on the Regional LWP are continuing between the Council and appellants. Horticulture NZ is an interested party to some of the appeals but are not leading one in our own right. Selwyn Waihora subzone limit setting: Hearings have been held. There are now discussions occurring over the cost of providing evidence. We have contributed to the development of the science and will seek our liability to be limited to this. But if ECAN approves the model for the catchment as the primary model we may be liable for some improvement cost. Hinds subzone variation including limit setting: Hearings will occur mid-year. Beef and Lamb NZ have sought a similar nutrient allocation approach to us, so we will work with them. Others are seeking a mandatory 30% haircut on nutrient leaching. This will effect horticulture to a greater extent than others so we will be opposing this. Otago: Horticulture NZ and ORC were successful in hearings on groundwater allocations in the central districts but there is an appeal by Contact Energy seeking strict resource consent conditions to maintain the flow in the Clutha that is residual for energy generation. We are attached to the appeal. CODC: Early consultation on noise provisions in the plan have been commenced. Rural residents are mounting a campaign to review noise standards down in relation to orchard production. We predicted this would happen with the liberation of rural residential rules in the district. We and growers will be attending the early engagement with the Council next Thursday. Southland: HortNZ is helping in their economic joint venture work to benchmark vegetable production and tulip production (we are not paying for it but are coordinating it. National Roundup: National Objectives Framework (NOF): In some abeyance with the new Minister getting to grips with everything. Likely to proceed again shortly. Land and Water Partnership: A new format for Governance meetings has been confirmed with much greater separation between policy and governance. Roles are being redefined. The communications element has been dropped. LWP Governance have agreed to sign off the principles but the nutrient allocation work will proceed no further due to significant disagreement. Other work will be progressed and the Governance Group are appointing a new Chair (Chris Allen Feds) and looking for a new secretariat (to be confirmed). Land and Water Forum: The Land and Water Forum now has a mandate from Government to proceed again. Our first meetings are to be held on 31 March – 1 April regarding science and the national objectives framework. This will raise a number of issues that we are very concerned about, so at least we will be beginning a national level conversation about the 38 matters like modelling, accounting frameworks, definitions etc. Sustainable Farming Fund: Two applications were submitted to this fund which closed on 10 October 2014. One was focussing on quantifying the effectiveness of sediment and erosion control and the other was a review of plant nutrient requirements in vegetables. The results of these two applications will be known in April 2015. These were supported by the VR&I board. RMA reform: We are preparing for RMA reform – The Bill is not in the House yet and the Northland by election will be influential. Communications (Leigh Catley) Queensland Fruit Fly At the time of writing it is just over one month since the detection of the first Queensland fruit fly in Grey Lynn. This detection has resulted in: Comms team participation in regular teleconference calls for stakeholders Additional email newsletter updates for growers Preparing copy and placement of newspaper advertising Supporting the CEO through various television appearances and other interviews Assisting the Ministry for Primary Industries with data requests Answering questions from growers about taking produce in and around the containment zones Speaking to media, community groups, other communications advisors and a couple of random members of the public about the detection and its impact. Monitored fruit fly media Media Releases Feb 27 – ‘Growers Ask Cricket Fans to Leave Fruit at Home’ Feb 18 – ‘Bring Back 100% X-Ray Now Says HortNZ’ Media Relations (other than fruit fly) Eating ‘Ugly’ Vegetables – Natalie spoke to Fairfax/Southland Times Country of origin labelling – Leigh/Fairfax WaterCare – Leigh spoke to the Waikato Times Conference Planning for the HortNZ Conference along with partner groups Tomatoes NZ, Vegetables NZ and Process Vegetables NZ. The conference is being held in Rotorua on 28 & 29 July Other The HortNZ website upgrade is nearing completion. Proofed and checked the latest edition of ‘Fresh Facts’ for Plant & Food Research. Spoke to the Drury Rotary Club about the importance of biosecurity, with Keith Vallabh. Leigh attended a Public Relations Institute breakfast presentation by political reporters Katie Bradford and Andrea Vance. Other Preparation of the Annual Business Plan for 2015/16 is almost complete Short listed and interviewed for Biosecurity Manager we hope to announce an 39 appointment at the HIF meeting Director Selection Group shortlisting and interviewing of appointed Director Candidates The group will make a recommendation to the Board meeting on 30 April The Call for nominations for elected grower directors will go out on 13 April. Two seats will be available. 40
