Meryn Whitehead wins 2022 Young Grower

Meryn Whitehead, a 28-year-old supervisor at Vailima Orchards, has won the national title of 2022 Young Grower of the Year, at the event held in Nelson last week.

"It is a real privilege to be named the winner of this year’s competition, especially given the impressive talent on display," says Meryn.

Meryn was one of six contestants who vied for the national title in a series of practical and theoretical competition modules held over two days. 

Read the full article

Other award winners

Congratulations to all this year's award recipients:

• 2022 Young Grower of the Year runner up: Sarah Dobson
• 2022 Young Fruit Grower of the Year: Meryn Whitehead
• 2022 Young Vegetable Grower of the Year: Sarah Dobson
• Best Practical: Meryn Whitehead
• Best Business: Sarah Dobson
• Best Innovation: Sarah Dobson
• Best Speech: Maatu Akonga
• Outstanding Leadership: Laura Schultz and Jacob Coombridge. 

NZGAP Annual Meeting – slides and recording

NZGAP would like to thank those people who made the time to attend its Annual Meeting via a webinar on 7 September 2022.

NZGAP Chairperson, Tony Howey provided an overview of the re-launched strategy, as well as summary financials for 2021-2022 and the budget for 2022-2023. NZGAP Manager, Damien Farrelly then provided an update on NZGAP programmes and add-ons, while also providing an overview of priority projects including the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) recognition, NZGAP Version 7, and Freshwater Farm Plans.

You can download the webinar slides here, while a recording of the webinar can be accessed here

You can also watch key sections of the meeting by clicking on the links below:

• Strategy
• Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) recognition project
• NZGAP version 7 project
• Freshwater Farm Plans project

For more information, please visit: https://www.nzgap.co.nz/annual_meeting

Careers Pathway Scheme

The Ministry for Primary Industries' Careers Pathway Scheme (CPS) will upskill one hundred advisers in the horticulture space. These advisers will help up-skill growers in the integrated farm planning area. 

The CPS team is looking for independent entities to host and support advisers. If that sounds like you, please get in touch with the team, using the button below.  

Advisers wanting to participate in the scheme need to apply through their employer.