There has been a lot talk about farm biosecurity since the signing of Government Industry Agreement (GIA) – but what actually is farm biosecurity and what are growers expected to do? Farm biosecurity includes a range of management practices and activities that are carried out on your property to prevent the entry and spread of…
Sixty plus people, from over 35 different business attended the free Health & Safety workshops organised by Potatoes New Zealand. These workshops provided a welcome opportunity to be proactive about Health & Safety and enhance understanding in a neutral environment. The workshops, run by Potatoes NZ and WorkSafe NZ, were held in Rakaia, Winchester, Pukekohe,…
You may have seen the recent kerfuffle about the price of butter. Our favourite fat, it seems, is at a record high price – $5.39 for a 500g block, up significantly from previous years. This was part of Statistics New Zealand’s Food Price Index, which tracks the price of food from month to month. The information they…
Seed potato growers are invited to a meeting to discuss proposed changes to the Seed Potato Certification rules. Date: Thursday, 14 September 2017 Time: 3:30-5:00pm followed by drinks, hot potato chips & pizza Venue: Hotel Ashburton – 11/35 Racecourse Road, Ashburton 7700 For more information please visit https://potatoesnz.co.nz/event/seed-potato-certification-authority-meeting/ RSVP to frpergnel.FCPN@cbgngbrfam.pb.am
The use of fine mesh covers could be the answer to controlling the tomato potato psyllid. Dr Charles Merfield, the head of the BHU Future Farming Centre, who has been researching the use of mesh in potato crops, believes the problem of the psyllid may be solved. The latest research by the farming centre compared…
Did you know that Kiwis spend $150 million a year on potato crisps? That’s a lot of crunching and rustling… and a lot of potatoes. Last month was quite potato-centric for me, including as it did my role as head judge in the inaugural Best Crisp Competition, and my attendance and speaking at the Potatoes…
Health and safety is a term that can strike fear into people across all industries, but it shouldn’t! Now is the time to seize the opportunity to proactively work with WorkSafe and Potatoes New Zealand to enhance your knowledge and understanding of Health and Safety. Bring your staff. The workshops are all about improving health and…
The Philippines is the fastest growing fry import market in the world, with demand up 74.0% to 121,652 tonnes in the year ending April 2017. In April 10,841 tonnes of fries were imported, an increase of 29.7% on the April 2016 figure. The average price of fry imports in April was Peso 41,671/tonne, up 15.3%…
Potatoes will star on plates at the grand final of the National Secondary Schools Culinary Challenge on the 29th August 2017. Students will use pumpkin in their entree and the main will feature two fresh New Zealand grown vegetables and potatoes as the starch. Steve Sheppard from Potatoes NZ said ‘Potatoes New Zealand are delighted to…
Sarah Wirth, President of HETTANZ discussed ‘Getting potatoes back in the classroom’ at the recent Potatoes NZ conference. The following is Sarah’s report… What I learnt from our HETTANZ members is that potatoes have never really left the classroom. Potatoes are a perfect fit with the two New Zealand curriculums areas of Home Economics and…