IFAJ PRE-CONGRESS TOUR
8-14 October 2015
MEDIA BACKGROUND
Good general background on NZ primary industries

Situation and Outlook for Primary Industries 2015, Ministry of Primary Industries, July 2015.
Link to pdf of the report in DropBox here.
FRIDAY 9 OCTOBER
Pipfruit New Zealand Ltd : apples and pears
You’ll get an appreciation of the scope of the New Zealand apple and pear industry from Pipfruit NZ,
the organisation that promotes and represents the New Zealand pipfruit industry - growers, packers,
and marketers of apples and pears – in domestic and export markets.
Pipfruit NZ Inc. is 100 percent owned by New Zealand pipfruit growers.
In March this year, Pipfruit was predicting to growers that the 2015 apple harvest could yield as
much as 550,000 tonnes, up from 488,000 in 2014, while maintaining similar export levels (just over
300,000 tonnes). All in all, Royal Gala apples should make up 28 percent of the crop, Braeburn will
be 20 percent and Jazz will be nine percent of the total. The figures are within a couple of percent of
the 2014 crop, except that there was an additional nine percent supplied by Beauty/Queen and Rose
varieties.
The cooler spring weather in the last quarter of 2014 meant that the season started one to two
weeks later than last year, but that has not impacted the quality of the fruit available. The size of the
fruit was “just a bit less than last year, but quality is again outstanding,” said Alan Pollard, Pipfruit NZ
chief executive.
Hail in some growing regions meant that off a record production base, exports were expected to
remain average. The bulk of Pipfruit New Zealand exports (33 percent) were sent to Asia in 2014,
Europe received 28 percent of exports, North America 16 percent and the UK and Ireland (separate
to continental Europe) received 14 percent.
New plantings were getting underway to accommodate increased volumes, reported Pollard and
nationally the planted area increased by 200 hectares or two percent. There were significant
increases in NZ Queen, Envy, and emerging varieties such as Honey-Crisp and Rockit. Royal Gala, Fuji
and Pink Lady also showed modest increases. This brought with it additional capital investment and
technological advances, particularly post-harvest.
Consolidation continues to be a feature of the industry, with Turners & Growers acquiring Hawke’s
Bay’s Apollo, and Freshmax acquiring Hawke’s Bay’s Crasborn. The Apollo takeover, originally
announced in April, is in order for Turners & Growers to expand its export business. The
Freshmax/Crasborn merger was finalised in December.
Pipfruit NZ gained government funding for the ‘Apple Futures II’ partnership. The aim is better
market access for apples to the high-value Asian markets by developing new knowledge of pest and
pathogen infestation and nil-detectable residue solutions. The organisation also runs a national
‘PreVar’ apple and pear breeding programme.
At the start of the 2016 growing season, you’ll see work on new apple varieties, including a talk with
Gary Jones, Pipfruit NZ’s business development manager and personnel from Plant & Food Research.
More information:
 www.pipfruitnz.co.nz
 www.pipfruitnzstories.co.nz
Progressive Meats Ltd: New Zealand red meat processor
Progressive Meats Hastings specialises in processing livestock under contract (‘tollprocesses’) to other meat exporting companies.
Progressive Meats Limited (PML) is the brain-child of agricultural entrepreneur Craig
Hickson and his wife Penny. Officially formed in 1981, after two years of planning, operation
commenced with a staff of six processing frozen lamb for export. In February 1982, the
company commissioned a venison slaughter and processing facility, and five years later the
plant extended to have a full lamb slaughter and yarding facility.
Underpinning Craig’s business acumen is a background in science, including a Food
Technology Degree majoring in Engineering, but he describes his forte as process design. An
example of his vision to lead the way in processing innovation was building the state-of-theart boning room in 2004, specifically to try to maximise carcass yields. Under the Marel
boning system one boner bones out an entire lamb carcase, each cut is then weighed and
the saleable meat yield is calculated against a saleable meat yield value index. This
information can then be passed on to the farmer. Progressive Meat’s suppliers can opt to be
paid for their actual saleable meat yield, which is calculated as a percentage of the weekly
schedule.
Today, the company has processing facilities for lamb, beef, venison and rams and employ over 300
staff. It mainly processes under toll contracts with key industry partners, including Ovation New
Zealand, Lean Meats, Davmet, Firstlight Foods, Seaview Traders and McCharty and has been dealing
with some of this group of exporters for the past 20 years.
More information
 www.progressivemeats.co.nz
 News stories
o Chuffed to be recognised by his peers, MeatExportNZ, 3 October 2012
Mission Estate Vineyard: oldest in the country
Hawke's Bay is the oldest wine region in New Zealand and the second largest, boasting awardwinning wines from over 70 wineries. It is New Zealand’s leading producer of full-bodied red wines.
Located at 39.4°S, in the North Island of New Zealand, the climate is maritime and similar to the
French Bordeaux region.
Red wines dominate in the area with over 80 percent of New Zealand's plantings of merlot, cabernet
sauvignon and syrah grapes. Its vintners also specialise in rich and complex chardonnays.
Mission Estate is one of New Zealand’s oldest vineyards. Its story begins with a group of French
missionaries who sailed to New Zealand in 1838 with little more than their faith and a few vines.
Mission Estate was established by these Missionaries in Hawke's Bay in 1851, where vines were
planted to produce both sacramental and table wine and New Zealand's first winery was born. The
first record of a commercial sale dates back to 1870 when a parcel of mostly dry reds was sold.
Mission has never lost sight of its French heritage, as over the years Brothers of the Order have
travelled to France to study and learn viticulture and winemaking skills. The Estate’s current
winemaker, Paul Mooney, has been at Mission for over 30 years and was originally trained by the
Fathers.
As you progress down the driveway, you will see there is still one row of Muscat grapes that have
been grafted over the years from the very original stock bought to Hawke's Bay by the Marist
Fathers.
More information:
 www.hawkesbaywine.co.nz
 www.missionestate.co.nz
SATURDAY 10 OCTOBER
Anawai Station (Sam Clark, manager)
The Hawke’s Bay station has been owned by Craig and Penny Hickson (also the owners of
Progressive Meats – see above) since 1996 and is an amalgamation of five farms purchased over
time. The property, in Kahuranaki near Havelock North, is effectively three farms in one. It is
managed by Sam Clark, with three full-time staff.
Out of approximately 1,400 hectares, 1,250 are effectively in production. The station concentrates
on breeding and finishing mixed livestock running 50 percent sheep, 30 percent cattle and 20
percent deer. You’ll be getting an appreciation of the deer and sheep operation during your visit.
Anawai has diverse soil types, topography and elevation. Elevation runs from 500 (m?) to 1500 feet
above sea level. Light snow falls once or twice a year at 1,500 feet, but only usually lasts a day or two
on the ground. It receives a rainfall from 800mm to 2,000mm year (from the low to high country).
Soils range from clay through to volcanic ash.
More information:
 Information from a 2013 Beef + Lamb NZ Monitor Farm Field Day
https://anawaimonitorfarm.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/annual-field-day-2013handout.pdf. Check up-to-date stats with Sam.
Bostock New Zealand Group
John Bostock is an orchardist, vegetable grower and successful promoter of Hastings as NZ’s first
GM-free food production area. He is one of New Zealand’s leading produce growers and heads the
Bostock New Zealand group of companies.
Bostock NZ is a diverse, innovative and vertically integrated group of companies based in the sunny
warm Hawke’s Bay region of New Zealand. its philosophy is to grow, pack and market high quality
squash, onions, grain, Rush Munro ice cream, and organic apples in an eco-friendly and sustainable
manner. The company says it is paving the way with the development of new environmentally
focused techniques for increased productivity both in the field and within its packhouses.
Bostock is a family orientated company and have a strong commitment to the wellbeing of our staff.
At the height of the season it employs in excess of 500 people who work in the orchards, farms,
fields, packhouse and offices.
Formerly trading under D M Palmer NZ Ltd (DMP), Bostock New Zealand has been exporting quality
produce worldwide since 1980. John has been growing quality fresh crops in the Hawke’ s Bay region
for over thirty years and is a passionate preserver of the environment. Bostock New Zealand ships
its products across Europe, North America, the Middle East and all of Asia. Alongside its own crops,
Bostock markets fresh produce on behalf of independent growers who share its same commitment
to quality.
More information – www.jbgroup.co.nz
SUNDAY 11 OCTOBER
Landcorp is New Zealand’s largest corporate farmer. It is a State-Owned Enterprise comprising 140
farms throughout the country, total assets of $1.7 billion and employing 692 permanent employees.
In total, it runs 579,871 sheep, 77,526 dairy cattle, 82,078 beef cattle and 105,054 deer.
Today, you will see two properties run by Landcorp: Rangataiki and Wairakei Estate, a dairy
conversion on the banks of the Waikato River.
Landcorp Rangataiki Station
Rangitaiki Station, 35 minutes east of Taupo and 10 minutes from Rangitaiki, is one of Landcorp’s
larger stations, running 70,000 stock units across three stock classes – sheep, cattle and deer – over
9,692 hectares. This is one of Landcorp’s largest deer operations. The flat to rolling pumice country is
managed by Sam Bunny, a long-time employee of Landcorp, with 20 staff.
Wairakei Estate
Wairakei Estate is located in the central North Island, amidst the geothermal activity in Taupo’s
volcanic zone. The climate is perfect for dairying all year round.
The Estate is the inspiration of three visionary New Zealand families committed to best
environmental practice and doing the ‘right thing by the land’.
In 2004 they collectively purchased 25,685 hectares in the central North Island and set about
creating one of the largest and most environmentally sustainable pastoral farms in the Southern
Hemisphere. Captioned as one of the boldest developments in New Zealand’s agricultural history, it
is a project on a large scale.
Early in the project, the estate owners identified Landcorp as an ideal partner to run the farming
operation. Landcorp’s corporate structure and values are an ideal fit with the vision for Wairakei
Estate. It’s proved to be a resilient and successful partnership.
Since 2004, fourteen dairy complexes and 61 homes have been built and developed. Wairakei Estate
is an intergenerational investment and is seen as a legacy for both present and future generations.
More information:
 www.landcorp.co.nz
 www.wairakeiestate.co.nz
MONDAY 12 OCTOBER 2015
Taupo Beef at Glen Emmreth: farming under a nitrogen cap
Environmental award-winners, Mike and Sharon Barton, farm on the shores of Lake Taupo. This 142
hectare specialist beef property, which won the 2014 Ballance Agri-Nutrients Farm Environment
Supreme Award, has a goal: ‘to ‘develop a truly profitable business model under a catchment-wide
nitrogen cap, while ensuring the long-term protection of Lake Taupo’.
The Bartons also scooped two other categories in the awards: Soil Management and the Massey
University Innovation Awards in the same awards.
More information:
 Photos and also Farm Environment Awards Field Day handouts (21-5-14) are available at this
DropBox link:
 Recent news stories
o ‘Building a brand for the environment’, Waikato Times, 29-7-15 VIDEO. Here.
o ‘Motu’s Suzi Kerr reviews the regulatory mechanism that helped Lake Taupō benefit
from a faster improvement in nitrogen leaching rates’, www.interest.co.nz, 20-7-15.
Huka Prawn Park: geothermically heated aquaculture
Huka Prawn Park was founded in 1987 by Aquatech Farms Ltd and is New Zealand’s only prawn park.
The aquaculture specialists propagate and rear prawns in a controlled or selected environment.
Huka Prawn Park’s aims to research and develop the ability to breed and grow tropical prawns in
captivity using waste geothermal heat from the adjacent geothermal power station. The Park cannot
use the geothermal water directly into the ponds due to its silica content so therefore, uses heat
exchangers to enable the geothermal fluid to heat fresh Waikato River water to 20 degrees which is
then circulates through to the ponds.
The Macrobrachium Rosenbergii (Giant Malaysian River Prawn) species of prawn was chosen being
best for commercial production. Females spawn up to five times per year; a 50-gram female can
produce up to 50,000 eggs. The Rosenbergii grow very fast and are ready to harvest at eight months
of age. The largest prawn produced at the farm was called ‘Horse’. He grew to 68cm; he was not
harvested but died of old age at two years old.
More information:
 www.hukaprawnpark.co.nz
Red Stag Timber: one of country’s largest mill operators
Gain a general overview of one of the country's largest mill operations - currently undergoing major
expansion.
More information:
 www.redstagtimber.com
 News stories
o Red Stag to build Rotorua super mill, Stuff, 3-10-14. Here.
 YouTube video (2013) here.
TUESDAY 13 OCTOBER 2015
The Agrodome: homage to world champion sheep shearers
In 1970, world champion sheep shearer Godfrey Bowen was asked to produce a show to represent
New Zealand at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan. The ‘Sheep Show’ was such a hit that Godfrey together with his friend and fellow farmer George Harford – decided to create a permanent home
for it. The Agrodome opened its doors to tourists and Kiwis alike in 1971.
Both were ultimately awarded MBEs from the Queen for outstanding service and achievement.
Over the years, the show has been delivered by some of New Zealand’s very best sheep shearers,
such as five times world champion, Ivan Bowen.
In 1983, Warren Harford and Paul Bowen, the sons of the original founders of the Agrodome, joined
the Agrodome team and started the second generation of this family business.
Over the years, the famous show has been invited to perform in many countries and at many
significant international events. The team also helped to establish a similar show in Tokyo, Japan.
Agrodome is not just a fun visitor attraction; it is also a real 350-acre (160-hectare) working sheep
and cattle farm with 1,200 sheep and 120 beef cattle.
You’ll enjoy the sheep show explaining New Zealand’s sheep breeds and giving a practical
demonstration of Kiwi sheep shearing in New Zealand.
More information:
 www.agrodome.co.nz
Zespri and Plant and Food Research: kiwifruit production
With sales revenues of $1.57 billion in 2014/15, Zespri is one of the world’s most successful
horticulture marketing companies and the Zespri Brand is recognised as the world leader in premium
quality kiwifruit. Based in Mount Maunganui, New Zealand, it is 100 percent owned by current or
past kiwifruit growers, and employs approximately 350 people in New Zealand, Asia, Europe and the
Americas.
On behalf of its 2,500 growers in New Zealand and 1,200 growers based elsewhere, Zespri manages
kiwifruit innovation and supply management, distribution management and marketing of
Zespri Green, Zespri SunGold, Zespri Organic, Zespri Gold and Zespri Sweet Green Kiwifruit.
During the visit to its Bay of Plenty operation, you’ll learn more from Zespri and PFR about Kiwifruit
research, before visiting a research orchard, then a commercial orchard and a packhouse.
More information
 Photos are available in a DropBox folder
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/70hdxnj0xvey6rz/AAD9e2e6bMQ_nbK63p_h1G9ka?dl=0
 Recent news stories include:
o Opening of Zespri global sales & marketing hub in Singapore last month – click here
o Announced strong forecast returns to growers this month – click here
o
o
o
NZ Business Herald story ‘As dairy falls fruit surges’ includes comments from Zespri
chairman Peter McBride on the 2014/15 season and strong growth ahead
Professor of agribusiness at Massey, Hamish Gow discusses adding value to
agricultural products in NZ and uses Zespri as the example of creating value through
product leadership
MP Judith Collins discusses the kiwifruit industry’s recovery from Psa – click here.
WEDNESDAY 14 OCTOBER 2015
Comvita: bees, honey and wellness
In 1974, Comvita founders Claude Stratford and Alan Bougen imagined people living healthy lives.
Bees were their inspiration and honey their medicine. The company has progressed from honey
products into the wellness market, selling items around the world.
You will be met in the main admin area before a tour of the warehouse and production areas and
and a quick trip through the visitor centre/Wellness room, followed by a half hour meeting with
Colin Baskin, general manager supply chain and Comvita chief executive Brett Hewlett over morning
tea. There will be an opportunity to purchase products in the Experience Comvita shop with a special
20 percent shareholders discount.
You may also get the chance to get up close and personal with bees!
NOTE: Need to wear flat, fully enclosed shoes.
More information:
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
www.comvita.com
Recent news stories:
o Comvita to move South Island packing north, Stuff, 17-9-15, here.
o Learning lessons from Comvita, Stuff, 31-5-15, here.
A day with Jono, Comvita Beekeeper, YouTube, here.
IFAJ 2015
You made it! Welcome.
First activities after check-in at hotel:


Registration
Farm Tours