The end of August saw TomatoesNZ support the HortNZ conference in Wellington. What a great event this was. A good chance to connect with other members of the wider horticulture industry, some interesting presentations both from local speakers and from Australia and TomatoesNZ took the opportunity to hold our AGM. Thank you to the growers in the room and online who attended.

As part of this meeting, we said goodbye to long-standing board director Ben Smith from T&G who has always been extremely generous with his time and knowledge. Despite being head of growing for NZ’s largest tomato growing operation, Ben always saw the wider perspective on industry matters which made him a very valued member of the board.

Our AGM was also the chance though to welcome our newest board member. With Ben retiring, and Mike Saklani putting himself forward to stand again on rotation, we had one nomination for one position and Jeremy Whitten, Head of Operations at T&G joins the board uncontested. Jeremy brings a wealth of knowledge from other industries such as Fonterra and James Hardie, the building material producer. Jeremy has already shown he tackles issues with a knowledgeable, calm head, and we look forward to having him on the TNZ board.

We also enjoyed honouring 2 retired stalwarts of the tomato industry by awarding Mark Tregidga and Lex Dillon with ‘Life Membership’. Mark and his family were involved in building the first greenhouse on Favona Road in 1945. They were leaders of their day with the technology that they adopted. Mark went on to be a long-standing director at T&G. Lex on the other hand started his career in the field of accounting and only came to horticulture by way of a crate company which saw him land a job at NZ Hothouse. 25 years later, Lex tried to retire, but TomatoesNZ saw in Lex the ability to champion R&D in pest management by bridging the gap between commercial growers and science. Lex understands what is important to commercial growers and is trusted by them. He has now delivered many great workshops in the learnings from our A Lighter Touch trial and has been instrumental in developing an IPM guide that growers can pick up and use.

Mark Tregidga awarded with life membership

Well done to both of our award receipients!

The new board met in early September and hot topics remain biosecurity and energy. Having consulted growers on what position TomatoesNZ should take when Tomato Brown Rugose Fruit Virus is detected in NZ, the board is pressing ahead with consulting other GIA partners on this. The overwhelming feeling is that eradication should be limited to a small, extremely contained outbreak but that for all other cases, growers would be better supported by having a management plan in place. So this is what TNZ is now working towards if the other GIA partners agree. From a grower perspective, the hope is that management of this easily spread pathogen would see growing operations using resistant varieties that fight ToBRFV with high levels of hygiene in the greenhouses.

Reporting unusual symptoms and taking part in surveillance water testing are still important measures for managing the spread.

TomatoesNZ is very aware that growers in NZ face the unpleasant prospect of having both PepMV and ToBRFV in their operations. While this is the case in many other countries, these growers have access to one of the ‘vaccines’ to help manage PepMV symptoms. This is why TNZ has been working on the many aspects required to hopefully register the mild strain organism in NZ in the not too distant future. We will keep you updated on how this project is progressing.

Energy continues to be a ‘hot topic’ with volatile prices for gas and electricity and growers who are trying to renew contracts, facing huge cost increases that outstrip potential profits. There isn’t a one size fits all solution which is why TNZ and Vegetables NZ continue to advocate for all types of energy to be made available to growers and for financial assistance given to those who do want to make the change from fossil fuels. Our energy supplier event in Pukekohe 18^th September allowed many growers to have one on one conversations with suppliers including wood chip, solar and geothermal.

On this theme, we are holding a webinar with our colleagues at Grodan to hear about the results from the last 2 years of trials in the Netherlands whereby the team aimed to reduce their energy inputs by 40% in the first year and they surpassed this.

Come along to understand lessons the have learned and what they hope to achieve next winter.

RSVP here https://forms.office.com/r/pggBQB2JK1

When: Monday 13^th October, 7pm NZ time

Where: Online, link will be sent out to those that RSVP.