Sadly Woolaway founder, Les Nicholas passed away during April at his home in Waipukurau. He will be sorely missed.

Dezeen today releases a short documentary, called Elevation,  setting out how drones could revolutionise the way people travel, transform how buildings are designed and built, and radically alter the form cities take.

Elevation also discusses the impact of drones on the construction industry, how flying machines will construct buildings - presenting recent experiments where drones are used to lay bricks to create structures or weave cables to manufacture a bridge.

"I believe there will be a huge impact on the built environment once we actually start using these machines in construction," says Ammar Mirjan, a researcher at Gramazio Kohler Research at ETH Zurich who worked on a project exploring aerial construction.

In a world-first, University of Canterbury Hydrological and Ecological Engineering researchers have filed a patent application for their invention the Storminator™, which could be exactly the weapon that our waterways need.

New Zealand horticulture had another record breaking year in 2017. The industry was valued at $8.8 billion, up $100 million from 2016, and the total value of exports was close to $5.12 billion, up $14 million from the year before.

According to the latest Fresh Facts, an industry annual published by Plant & Food Research, horticultural produce accounted for 10.3% of New Zealand’s merchandise export income in the year to June 2017. The growth was driven by increases in the export values of fresh and processed fruit (excluding wine), from $2.78 billion to $2.82 billion, and fresh and processed vegetables, from $0.61 billion to 0.62 billion. Kiwifruit continued to be the nation’s top horticultural export at $1.66 billion, accounting for 33% of the total export value. It was followed by wine at $1.54 billion, 30% of the total export value.

New Zealand horticultural produce was exported to 128 countries, with five markets—Australia, Continental Europe, the USA, Japan and China—taking up more than two-thirds of the total exports. Exports to Asia reached $1.95 billion, twice as much as any other continent/region.

“The success of New Zealand horticulture is built on its well-earned reputation of delivering high quality and premium products to the overseas markets,” says David Hughes, CEO, Plant & Food Research. “The horticultural industry must keep up the quality and innovate to offer new products that meet international market needs in order to secure our position. Adopting new technologies and best practices to minimise environmental and social impact of the production process will further strengthen our clean, green image in the global marketplace.”

“The continual growth of the New Zealand horticultural industry attests to the quality of our produce and the hard work of our growers,” says Mike Chapman, Chief Executive of Horticulture New Zealand. “We are confident that the industry will meet the $10 billion by 2020 target as long as we are committed to listening to local and overseas consumers and offering products they want and desire.”

To view the latest issue of Fresh Facts, as well as all previous issues, visit www.FreshFacts.co.nz or download the Fresh Facts app on Apple App Store or Google Play.

Key facts* Produce from the New Zealand horticultural sector exceeded $8.8 billion in the year to 30 June 2017.* The total value of horticultural exports was $5.12 billion in 2017, an increase of 91% ($2.7 billion) from 2007.* New Zealand’s biggest horticultural export was kiwifruit, worth $1.66 billion. Other key exports were wine ($1.54 billion), apples ($691 million), and avocado ($147.5 million).* Avocado export demonstrated significant growth from $82 million in 2016 to $147 million in 2017, likely in part to the biennial nature of avocado production. In 2015 avocado export was valued at $115 million.* Exports to five markets: Australia, Continental Europe, the USA, Japan and China accounted for almost $3.5 billion and 67.7% of the total exports.* The diversity of horticultural exports is apparent in the 22 categories exported to Asia, each between $5 million and over $1 billion, and 13 categories to Australia, each between $7 million and over $440 million (fob) value.* More than $200 million worth of honey was exported to Asia and Australia.

 because it has such great potential for its agriculture industry and monetising big tech investment offshore, a San Diego-based Kiwi from Wellington says.

New Zealand’s Tairawhiti Rail will try to reopen the Gisborne to Napier railway line, which it sees as financially viable. The new, not-for-profit organisation Tairawhiti Rail (TRL), formed by a group of local directors, was revealed this week in a submission to Gisborne District Council’s 2018/28 long-term plan.

New Zealand fintech businesses are working toward an inclusive society despite some experts saying the gap between the have and have nots is getting wider, FintechNZ general manager James Brown says.

Last September four Wintec business students embarked on a learning experience of a lifetime in China.

Four-year-old Auckland business Olivia is reportedly the first small to medium enterprise in Australasia to adopt blockchain in food traceability.

In early 2019, University of Canterbury researchers will be part of an international effort to explore one of the coldest, harshest and most remote locations in the world: the Weddell Sea off Antarctica.