The Country 23/03/26: Kate Scott talks to Jamie Mackay

The chief executive of Horticulture NZ talks Maadi Cup, hort exports into the Middle East, fuel/fert/chemical imports out of that region and a tough time for some vegetable growers supplying Watties.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Her name is Kate Scott's the chief executive of Horticulture
in New Zealand. But for the purposes of our introductory
chat today on the country, you are a mum and
your son George is rowing in the Marty Cup and
twice all. This is the biggest secondary school sports gathering
of the year. Your son is rowing for St Andrew's College.
They'll be one of the favorites, are they for the

(00:21):
Mardy Cup? Mum?

Speaker 2 (00:22):
Look he's only an under sixteen rowers and not rowing
in the Mardy Cup race specifically himself. But look they
meddled at the South Island Secondary School, so I think
they're feeling reasonably confident going into the rigetta. But you
never know on the day, that's for sure.

Speaker 1 (00:35):
Were you a rower?

Speaker 2 (00:37):
I was a rower, yes, And.

Speaker 1 (00:40):
Is that the end of your conversation on your own
rowing career, Kate or.

Speaker 2 (00:45):
I wasn't necessarily a great role, but I pitched up
every time, so that was a good start.

Speaker 1 (00:50):
I guess, well, what Gordon Titchens used to say when
he was getting the seventh squad to warm up in
the gym, if they went on the bike, they were
soft as if they were on the treadmill, they were medium.
If they went to the rowing machine, those are the
ones he wanted and his team. Right, Well, let's talk
about or rowing against the tide or swimming against the tide,
and that's the world economy at the moment. How much stuff,

(01:12):
how much horticultural produce, because that's one part of the equation.
Do we send to the Middle East.

Speaker 2 (01:18):
Look, we send a relatively small amount of process through
to the Middle East across a range of different crops
at the moment, but it is a market that, through
the recent free trade agreement up into the UA, has
a lot of future potential for us. So that's something
to think about moving forward. But at the moment there

(01:40):
has been certainly some disruption, but not as much as
there could be for some other products that's seen of
more of their crops and so forth through into the
Middle East.

Speaker 1 (01:50):
Okay, so the big issue for us will be the
stuff coming the other way, the fuel, the fertilizer, the eggcam.

Speaker 2 (01:57):
That's correct, But that's certainly where our growers are most concerned,
is just making sure that they can continue to access
those essential essential things for growing fruit and vegetables, not
just getting them here. But obviously there's that flow through
effect of the cost those increased costs that are coming
on everything for trying to actually receive goods here in

(02:19):
New Zealand. So that is starting to have a significant
impact across our sector, especially as we see, you know,
some of our crops, you know, keywy fruit apples are
in full harvest for their season. We've got our vegetable
growers who are about to kick into planting comet of
their winter crops at the moment, and so all these
costs are starting to have a real compounding effect for

(02:39):
the horticulture sector.

Speaker 1 (02:40):
Okay, the good news part of the story is thus
far touch wood and I don't want to jinx this,
but the season has been pretty kind for the harvest,
hasn't it The apple harvest and the keyw fruit harvest
which is just getting into full bore.

Speaker 2 (02:54):
Yes, it is. Look, growers for the most part have
had a pretty good start to the season, particularly apples
and key fruit, some of fruit. I spent friday down
in Central Otago talking to a number of different growers
and the things have been a little bit of a
mixed bag, depending on whether you were somemer fruit, cherries,
et cetera. Some have had a reasonable season, some have

(03:16):
had a not so reasonable season, So mixed bag, but
things that are looking not too bad for Keay fruit
and apples at the moment.

Speaker 1 (03:23):
Yeah, better than a pea grower in Canterbury with what
is closing down factories around the country. Tough times.

Speaker 2 (03:30):
Look, it just signals ongoing tough times for our vegetable
growers when you know, some of their key contracts disappear
from them, So that that is certainly concerning time for
those growers and what do they then look to plant
instead of that? And so you know, we are thinking

(03:50):
about them and trying to work to understand what are
some of those broader settings and issues in the back
end that we might be able to continue to you know,
to take for on their behalf to ensure that this
doesn't continue to happen.

Speaker 1 (04:03):
Are you worried that you're going to lose some of
that really good horticulture land, particularly and say Canterbury to
dairy farming.

Speaker 2 (04:10):
Look, I think you probably would have been a little
bit of sleep at the whee if you hadn't seen
that happening already. You know, we do see, we do
see land conversion happening, and that is you know, obviously
a concern in terms of, you know, if there's a
change of land us, but I can also at the
same time understand you no why landowners and girls might

(04:31):
make that decision when you know, if the numbers don't
steck up, you've got to do something that is a
viable business decision at the end of the day.

Speaker 1 (04:38):
Kate Scott, Chief Executive of Horticulture New Zealand, thanks for
taking time out of a busy day supporting your son
George rowing for St Andrews and the Mardy Cup Regatta.
It's going to be a great sport in gathering and
let's hope the weather plays all for the rest of
the harvesting season for the horticulture industry.

Speaker 2 (04:55):
Thanks Jammy