NZ Engine

Source: Radio New Zealand

Some potato growers are reporting yields could be down 20 percent this winter due to bad weather, but it’s still a bit early in the season to know the full impact.

Some growers are harvesting early varieties now, with the main harvest getting underway in a few weeks.

Potatoes New Zealand chair Paul Olsen said his crop in Manuwatu is looking good, but further north in Pukekohe, growers have had a lot of rain.

“What I’m told sort of further north that the yields are back by maybe 20 percent in some areas, and then the earlier crops in Canterbury, I’m told, are sort of on par,” Olsen said.

“It’s hard to know the full impact of the weather until we get into the thick of harvest in about a month or so.”

Olsen said if the national crop does end up being smaller, prices could remain higher as demand for potatoes has been solid.

“The general rule of thumb is that the prices do ease as the main crop comes on, so it’s sort of hard to gauge and I’d hate to jump to conclusions so early on in the season given, we’re only in February. But yeah, it’ll definitely be one to watch. “

Pukekohe company Hira Bhana and Co grows 140 hectares of potatoes year-round.

Owner Bharat Bhana said the potatoes have been struggling with the changeable weather.

“When it’s to wet, the roots don’t go down deep enough to go and search for water, then when it goes dry the roots aren’t prepared and then they dry out,” Bhana said.

“So, you need to keep the water on, yesterday it was 27 degrees during the day and only got down to 20 at night, it’s not cooling down enough – the muggy weather isn’t ideal for getting a decent crop of potatoes.”

Bhana said they aim is to get 45 to 50 tonnes a hectare, but they’re getting about 40.

He said if there are fewer spuds around, prices will probably go up.

“But, in saying that, potatoes at the moment, at $1.50 a kilo, or even at $3 a kilo, is cheap compared to anything else. Consumers normally complain about $3 a kilo for spuds, but go and get $3 worth of chicken or $3 worth of steak and see what that gets you.”

He hasn’t made money on potatoes for 18 months, so getting higher prices will be good for cash flow.

“Just the other day, Balance sent us a nice newsletter again saying that fertilizer price is going up again.

“As our dollar fluctuates and the New Zealand dollar loses value, everything we bring into the country like fertiliser, chemicals, machinery, it all goes up so our costs have risen a lot.

“It’s getting to the stage now where growers have decided, well, it’s not worth growing anymore, so they got out of it.”

Bhana said with rising costs more vegetable growers are leaving the industry – especially in Pukekohe, where some can sell land to developers for hefty profits.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

An investment company predicts New Zealanders will have to work into their 70s if the country wants to afford superannuation.

A debate has been held at the New Zealand Economic Forum at Waikato University.

Milford Investments CEO Blair Turnbull said 40 percent of retirees rely entirely on income from super because they have no savings.

He believes it’s inevitable the age for super will rise and be means tested.

He said Treasury is very clear, saying that unless the retirement age rises to 72 or 73, New Zealand can’t afford to pay superannuation.

“By 2030, we’ll have over one million people over the age of 65 and we want New Zealanders to retire with dignity and in a lifestyle they deserve.

“That is just going to compound. Why? Looking back, in the 1970s you had seven workers for every person over the age of 65. Today that’s about four workers for every person over the age of 65 and by 2060 it’ll be two workers for every person over the age of 65.

“The truth is we cannot afford the superannuation system, because we don’t have the workers and we don’t have the productivity – and just to bring the productivity point to life – in terms of the 37 OECD countries, we are 27th in the rankings in terms of productivity.

“And here’s the killer stat that follows that, in terms of our savings, we’re 33rd, so if we have lower productivity and lower wages, that, unfortunately, really hurts our ability to save because we literally don’t have the money to save for the future, even though we know we need to save.

“Fifty percent of people today are just surviving pay cheque to pay cheque and the news isn’t any better for retired people because 40 percent of them arrive at 65 and they have little to no private savings and they’re fully reliant on income from New Zealand super, which we simply can’t afford.”

Former cabinet minister David Parker told the conference that we have to match Australia on their better superannuation savings rate.

“I’m in favour of following Australia into compulsory KiwiSaver and there should be a tax incentive.”

Former MP and CEO of the Aged Care Association Tracey Martin said a much broader conversation is needed than whether the age of superannuation should be raised.

Sharon Zollner, the chief executive of ANZ, told the conference the health care costs for older people are also a consideration. She said the health needs of people over 85 cost five times more than those aged 65.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

Any small business owner will tell you taking a risk on an idea and starting a company is hard work, but New Zealanders in the United Kingdom are proving their businesses can thrive overseas.

London hairdresser Ash Hornell is one of them.

She moved to the UK 10 years ago, and started out working in a local salon.

But Hornell quickly built her own list of clients.

“I got to the point where I was like ok, I’ve got no more capacity to bring any more clients in, so what next?” she said.

She had always wanted to start her own hairdressing business, but thought that would happen in New Zealand.

However, with a bit of guidance from friends, Hornell found a space to rent in London, and even some Kiwi builders to help turn it into a hair salon.

More than a year and a half later, her Hackney salon ‘Peach Stories’ has continued to grow.

Hornell explains that there have been a few lessons along the way, including when she first opened to clients.

“I was working alone and I had double booked myself all day, because at the start you’re like, ‘Oh my god, now I’ve got to pay all this rent, so let’s just work 10 hour days’, and anyway I ended up overbooking myself, I ran late for every client by like an hour, the salon was a mess, I was here until 11 o’clock, but I feel like you have to have that day,” she said.

Hornell now employed six staff members, including several New Zealanders.

Eighty percent of the salon’s clients were Kiwis and Australians, and word of mouth had helped grow the business.

“I always get told by my Kiwi and Australian clients, they were so happy to find a Kiwi salon, because they also feel like we do the hair slightly different as well,” Hornell said.

New Zealander Regan McMillan believed the Kiwi reputation was a big part of his company’s success too.

He started his moving business, Kiwi Movers, 18 years ago.

What began as a bit of extra work on the weekend with one moving van, had grown into an operation with 20 staff.

“From just everyday people just wanting to move a few items, to billionaires, to movie stars – some of the guys have had, you know, sitting in the truck with a movie star for a few hours,” McMillan said.

Many of the staff were trained lawyers, engineers, teachers, or sportspeople who had left New Zealand for their OE (overseas experience).

“One of the refreshing things you get is the feedback, just about the attitude of the guys and how friendly and proactive they are,” McMillan said.

“New Zealand is a trusted brand in itself, and people feel comfortable with Kiwis, they go, ‘Right, ok, I know what I’m getting’.”

McMillan said starting a business overseas came with the extra challenge of figuring out how to do things in another country, but he believed the right attitude was a big help.

McMillan encouraged anyone who was in the position he was 18 years ago, to take the chance.

“Just go ahead and do it, give it a go, you’ve got nothing to lose. Being a Kiwi, you’ve probably got the right attitude, and people will be more open to giving you a shot as well”.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

The country’s largest medicinal cannabis grower is about to harvest its biggest crop, and is working with iwi on plans to increase its production in Kaikōura.

Puro New Zealand has been growing medicinal cannabis since 2018 and has two facilities in Marlborough, one in the Waihopai Valley and another at Kekerengu on the Kaikōura Coast.

Co-founder and chief development officer Tom Forrest said staff were about a month away from harvesting around 65,000 plants from across 15 hectares, which would produce around 100 tonnes of material that would be dried or formulated into oils for medicinal use.

He said while cannabis could be grown almost anywhere, Marlborough was chosen because its environment was ideally suited to growing a high grade product.

“[Cannabis] has a genetic plasticity that allows it to grow from the mountains of the Himalayas to deserts to tropical islands but not all of those places grow [plants] in a way that is suitable for high quality medicine.”

He said the Kekerengu farm was special because it had an optimal soil profile, the right aspect, gradient and the elevation from sea level along with protection from the mountains.

“There’s a really, really perfect melting pot of agronomic traits that work to grow cannabis here.”

On Thursday, Puro opened the gates of its Kekerengu farm to academics, growers, buyers and prescribers.

“In an industry where factory farming is a bit of the norm, we want to show why our plants and our crops and our medicines are grown differently and we’ve invited other farmers from around New Zealand and the world so we can share knowledge and we can collaborate and build really lovely partnerships.”

Local iwi Te Rūnanga o Kaikōura established a strategic partnership with Puro. Two years ago, the business, which is owned and operated by the local tribe Ngāti Kūri of Ngāi Tahu, invested in the company and together had established cadetships to build talent in the industry.

Managing director Rāwiri Manawatu said it was working to establish a contract growing model similar to the wine industry.

“We could have our own piece of land, we could be growing the product ourselves and then sell it on to Puro or for processing.

“The idea is building that capability and capacity, training and supporting [the cadets] to learn everything they need to know about the farm and how it works so that we can start building this growth model.”

Columbia University professor and organic chemist Colin Nuckolls, who visited the Kekerengu farm on Thursday, had spent the better part of the last decade studying the chemical differences between indoor and sun-grown cannabis.

He originally thought cannabis was mainly just THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) and CBD (cannabidiol) but found “a whole plethora of really interesting compounds” were present, often into the thousands, particularly in cannabis that was grown in soil and under the sunlight.

He said cannabis in the United States was tested for a certain number of cannabinoids and terpenes, so on paper, the certificate of analysis for different cultivars looked the same.

“Based on that you can’t tell any difference between them but the effect that a patient or a consumer has when they try one versus the other can be night and day, so what that’s telling you is that there’s many, many components in there that are having a big effect.

“It’s probably a fool’s error to think that you can actually reproduce what nature gave you in soil and sunlight in an indoor environment, the vegetative equivalent of a death camp.”

Auckland based GP Dr Graham Gulbransen started the first medical cannabis service in New Zealand nine years ago and said until recently, the products he prescribed had to be imported from Canada, Australia or Europe.

“Since 2022, we’ve had the option of organically grown CBD from this site here at Kekerengu and patients will often choose New Zealand grown or organically grown for the fact that it’s sustainable, using sunlight as the energy source rather than lights indoors.

He mainly prescribed medicinal cannabis to those with persistent pain, neurological conditions, those suffering from emotional distress, or with side effects from cancer treatment but at a cost of between $5 to $10 a day, the cost remained a barrier for many.

“We’d love to see subsidies where clearly we’re reducing the cost of standard medicines when patients are not responding to standard treatment.”

He said the Medicinal Cannabis Agency required a very high level of research in the form of clinical trials that showed the pharmaceutical benefits, which was tough when there were so many different strains of cannabis.

“It’s very difficult to do research where one variety may work better for a particular group of patients and other varieties are going to suit other people and some respond to low doses, others to high doses.”

He said research was happening around the world, but it was very expensive and work was ongoing to encourage the government to consider subsidising medical cannabis.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand