Summerfruit NZ held its post-season technical events and networking dinners in Hawke’s Bay and Central Otago in May. Thanks to the sponsors for their support, which helped make for an excellent evening with great stories from ex-All Black and current supermarket owner, Eric Rush.
Although there is no way to re-live the dinners, you can re-experience the technical events hosted by with Dr Mark O'Connell. Mark provided interesting insights into past and current research at the Tatura Smart Farm in Victoria, Australia. Keep an eye out for links to the recording of the presentations for those who missed out, had to skip out, or want to re-live the experience. The slides are also available upon request from research@summerfruitnz.co.nz
Mark covered several topics that have direct relevance to summerfruit production here in New Zealand. Most of what was covered is available online with short videos, detailed research reports, and everything in between.
If you want to dig deeper, go to the Precision Summerfruit Orchards page on the Horticulture Industry Networks website.
There you will find updates on precision management of summerfruit, agritech in orchards, productivity, orchard management, and post-harvest fruit quality.
If you have specific questions that aren’t covered in the material online, please reach out (email: sean.gresham@summerfruitnz.co.nz) and we can track down some answers.
Trip to Victoria in August
The other opportunity for learning more about summerfruit production in Australia is to come along on the grower tour Summerfruit NZ is hosting to Victoria from 17 August to 22 August 2026. For the tour, we will spend two days visiting orchards around the Goulburn Valley (heartland of summerfruit production), attend the Fruit Growers Victoria Conference, then visit some fresh markets in Melbourne. Click here to find out more and register your interest in going.
NZ-based research
Summerfruit NZ is also supporting several research projects here in New Zealand. We will be sharing findings from this research through short webinars, held weekly throughout winter. Keep an eye out for the times and dates for each topic. Research reports are also available upon request. We will also be posting recordings and short edited video summaries of the webinars.