Contributions recognised at AGM

Five vegetable industry stalwarts were recognised at the 2024 Vegetables NZ Annual General Meeting (AGM), held in Pukekohe on 8 August.

Life Membership

Life Membership was awarded to Geoff Lewis  and Mark O’Connor.  

Geoff is an asparagus industry and Recognised Seasonal Employer (RSE) scheme pioneer, with a passion for people as well as for growing. He is also a proponent of sustainable family businesses, and has continued to adapt and expand Lewis Farms, which today grows strawberries under cover in addition to asparagus.

Geoff’s willingness to collaborate and share speaks volumes about him both as a professional and personally.

Mark is a man of few words that are carefully chosen. He is to the point and says it how he sees it. When he was on the Vegetables NZ Board, Mark’s favourite question was ‘what’s a grower going to say?’ 

Mark is the managing director and a shareholder in the Nelson-based family market gardening business Appleby Fresh Ltd.  He is on the board of directors for Waimea Irrigators Ltd,  and was very vocal in helping get the dam over the line.

Industry Service Awards

Two growers – Lex Dillon  and Graham Walker  – received Industry Service Awards. 

Lex has been actively involved in the horticulture industry for more than 40 years. He has held a variety of roles with the NZ Hothouse  group of companies, was a member of the TomatoesNZ Board for almost 20 years, and was made a Life Member of Horticulture New Zealand in 2021.

Recently, Lex has been involved in the A Lighter Touch and TomatoesNZ project that is investigating and trialling biological control systems in greenhouses.

Graham is a Senior Plant & Food Research scientist, who has considerable expertise in disease and pest management in New Zealand and overseas. 

Graham has played a leading role in developing integrated pest management programmes in outdoor vegetable crops, including lettuce and brassica. His experience overseas has been invaluable in New Zealand’s response to Fall Armyworm. It gave the industry a strong starting point with respect to the identification, lifecycle and biological control of this pest.

Industry Merit Award

One grower – Doug Nilsson  – received an Industry Merit Award.   

Doug is the ultimate kūmara industry team player. After Cyclone Gabrielle, when 99 percent of his crop was gone and you would expect him to focus on Dunsmore Gardens, his chief concern was ‘how do we all get through this?’ If you needed someone to talk to, Doug had cold ones in the fridge. If you couldn't get workers, Doug was ready to get a van full of his on the way. If your power-harrow had broken down, Doug had one you could borrow, and his mechanic would get on to yours as soon as he could.

It's fair to say that Doug is the driving force behind the recovery that is the kūmara industry today.