Youth Council Update – September 2026
By Molly Green
August brought some colder weather and the looming El Nino starts to take hold of the country as we start to dip our toes into spring. The Youth Council members have continued to attend many industry events and fly the Youth Council flag!
The Agronomy Summit held in Pukekohe was a well attended and engaging day for all who attended. Amber, Molly, Steven and Jamie found it was a very informative event with a good variety of speakers on some hot topics.
A few key messages from some speakers really resonated with the youth council, Bharat Bhana gave us a stark reminder that customers are eating fewer fresh potatoes, “The potato did not leave the plate, it left the kitchen”.
International speaker John Sarup from the United Kingdom shared some facts and figures on late blight and aphid resistance in his home country that raised eyebrows in the room.
We had a reminder on the importance of IPM practices and some results from recent trials held in Canterbury from Paul Horne, Roger Blyth and Daniel Sutton. Steve Martin spoke about the use of cover crops in a rotation and gave advice on some good tools on where to start with your cover crop journey. He reminded us that your cover crops need to change over time as the soil biology changes, his lasting note was ‘Healthy plants are the root of your profit’ which rings true.
The members are also working on a universal presentation for the Youth Council, which will be used when speaking to industry, high schools, primary schools and universities that outlines who the Youth Council are and the important role it plays in our industry.
The council took advantage of being together as a group when in Wellington for the Vegetable Industry Showcase. Our revolving chair and secretary positions changed hands. Harry Maddox became the new chairperson and Molly Green the new secretary. We are very grateful for all the hard work Amber put in as chairperson; it’s time to let Harry take the challenge head on!
The members enjoyed attending The Vegetable Industry Showcase: Feeding the Future – Advancing New Zealand’s Vegetable Producers in parliament. Molly Green did an excellent job of MCing the event and did a shout out to the Youth Council to encourage the Ministers in attendance to interact with the council. These events are always an important part of ensuring there is connection between industry, industry bodies and government.
