Founded by Max Farndale 1947 - 2018
26 Oct: Avocado grower and Avocado Growers Association Representative Tony Ponder has been elected as the new NZAGA & AIC Chair. "It’s an exciting time to be in the New Zealand avocado industry, with an incredible increase in industry value and the positive collaboration throughout the industry”, says Ponder.
Tony has replaced Ashby Whitehead who stepped down as Chair at the Annual General Meeting in August. Ashby served as Chair since 2013 and as a Representative on the NZAGA Executive and AIC Ltd Board since 2006.
“I acknowledge the leadership provided by the previous Chair, Ashby Whitehead, which has resulted in tremendous progress and positioned the industry well for future growth.”
Tony has been one of the eight grower-elected directors on the NZAGA & AIC Board since 2005.
Tony and his wife Nicky have an 11 hectare avocado orchard investment in the Coromandel district, and more recently have purchased a 26-hectare property in Tauranga with existing avocado, berry and kiwifruit. Tony also has commercial kiwifruit interests acting as an independent director for a large family based avocado & kiwifruit orchard and packing company in the Bay of Plenty.
Tony’s day to day responsibilities include Director & Chief Executive Officer of avocado, berry and kiwifruit exporter Southern Produce Limited. In this role, Tony is involved in the strategic oversight of the groups export and domestic business including the Avoco/Avanza joint venture with Primor Produce and Team Avocado. Tony is a director of several related collaborations and joint venture entities associated with avocado trading and investment.
“The New Zealand avocado industry is experiencing a period of impressive growth – a huge part of that being due to the work being undertaken to achieve Primary Growth Partnership Go Global goal of quadrupling sales and trebling productivity by 2023”, says Ponder.
NZAGA Grower Representative Linda Flegg has been elected as the Vice Chair of the NZAGA. Linda was elected to the Board in 2016 and is the At Large region grower representative. Linda is an avocado grower on the Kauri Point Peninsular in Bay of Plenty and has been in and around avocados her whole life. Linda, along with her family, run their avocado and kiwifruit orchard businesses in Katikati.
| An NZAA release || October 20, 2017 |||
25 Oct: Tech advances in artificial intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IoT) might help New Zealand move toward a solution for helping feed the world which will require food production to double to meet a growing population demands, says a Kiwi tech expert. New Zealand IoT Alliance executive director Kriv Naicker says the new government needs to support the tech industry, in particular the NZ IoT Alliance and its sister organisation the New Zealand AI Forum to help address a growing food shortage. “Farmers’ uptake of technology is becoming the norm in the rural sector. Smart farming and precision agriculture is helping farmers get better results on the land with enhanced tech forecasting and IoT sensor data collection and analytics, optimising resources and supplies,” Naicker says. “We know the world is heading toward a major food supply crisis. By 2050, the planet’s human population will reach beyond nine billion, requiring food production to double to meet demands. “Agriculture has long been considered the backbone of New Zealand and with timely help from the tech sector, the country faces an exciting challenge and opportunity to create sustainable economic growth and establish ourselves on the world stage. “The future of food and the alternative ways to feed a growing global population will be discussed at a plant-based conference in Christchurch in early December. Key key tech leaders will attend the Feed the World 2030: Power of Plants Hackathon event on December 2 and 3. This will provide an opportunity for agritech food innovators, scientists, industry experts and tech entrepreneurs to begin shaping New Zealand’s agricultural platforms for the future. “We have seen movie produces James Cameron and Sir Peter Jackson enter the food supply arena by creating a Future Foods project, looking at plant-based protein.” “How much will these guys leverage IoT and AI to drive cutting-edge innovation in this sector? Both Sir Peter and Cameron have identified the huge potential in this area and will need to leverage significant IoT and AI to achieve farmer to plate innovation.“Digital agriculture, in the form of precision farming, big data, sensor technology and drones, delivers a new potential for productivity gains across rural New Zealand.
“Tech promises to cut costs and enable faster repayment of both irrigation scheme and farm infrastructure capital, while allowing farmers to demonstrate their compliance with environmental and other regulatory requirements,” Naicker says. NZTech’s Digital Nation report last year showed that the tech sector was worth more than $16 billion to the economy.
| A MakeLemonade release || October 24, 2017 |||
25 Oct: Engineering's professional body IPENZ will now be known as Engineering New Zealand. The organisation that represents engineers in New Zealand have also launched a new Membership Pathway, which creates a professional home for engineers from all disciplines at all stages of their careers.
While Engineering New Zealand currently has a record 20,000 members it wants to attract even more engineers so it can better speak out for the profession. They want to encourage senior managers, academics, engineering geologists, technicians and technologists to join, as well as engineering professionals from the rapidly growing fields like mechatronics and software.
With the new name comes a new logo, a stylised butterfly that portrays a powerful example of innovation, change and brilliance. "It also represents transformation, a spokesperson said,which is the heart of what engineers do to make a positive difference to people’s lives. A butterfly is the perfect symbol for an organisation representing the profession at the heart of every major transformation in human history. As well as designing buildings and infrastructure, today’s engineers are creating screens from nanoparticles, launching rockets and mimicking nature to kill predators.”
Souce: An Engineering New Zealand release || October 18, 2017 |||
Leave vote is stupidity akin to electing Trump, says mogul … blood thinners protect against dementia … and spotting borderline personalities in the office . . .by Warren Murray
Top story: ‘Hard to understand why they wanted to ruin it’
Hello – it’s Warren Murray bringing you today’s briefing.
More difficult than a moonshot, nearly as stupid as electing Trump. They could only be talking about one thing: Brexit. A German risk analyst has delivered the former assessment, saying exiting the EU is “incomparably more complex” than the Apollo programme – partly because Nasa at least understood what it was getting into. The latter, more blunt summation comes from Michael Bloomberg, the billionaire former New York mayor.
“I did say that I thought [Brexit] was the single stupidest thing any country has ever done but then we Trumped it … it is really hard to understand why a country that was doing so well wanted to ruin it.” The City of London has meanwhile warned that businesses are liable to start pulling out of the UK by the end of the year because the government keeps contradicting itself about whether a transitional deal with the EU will be agreed sooner, later or not at all.
Catch up on today's briefing from The Guardian here || October 25, 2017 |||
The Angle-Rite® clamping system from Meridian Stainless helps reduce shrinkage distortion that commonly occurs during tube and pipe welding. The system is designed to allow complete setup, cutting, and welding while the clamp is attached, so the angle and rotation of tube and pipe are maintained throughout the entire process.
The system comprises a primary clamp that prebends the intersected tube before welding. The secondary clamp holds the intersecting tube or pipe in a precise angle to be miter cut using the reciprocating saw attachment or notched using the abrasive or hole saw notcher. Following cutting, the secondary clamp holding its tube or pipe is rejoined with the primary clamp and its attached tube or pipe. The angle and rotational alignment of the tubes or pipes are retained throughout the entire process.
With the system clamping the primary and intersecting tube or pipe in place, the welder can weld the joint without requiring a third hand. The primary clamp’s bending force compensates for weld stress distortion during the welding process.
| Source: theFabricator || October 25, 2017 |||
Palace of the Alhambra, Spain
By: Charles Nathaniel Worsley (1862-1923)
From the collection of Sir Heaton Rhodes
Oil on canvas - 118cm x 162cm
Valued $12,000 - $18,000
Offers invited over $9,000
Contact: Henry Newrick – (+64 ) 27 471 2242
Mount Egmont with Lake
By: John Philemon Backhouse (1845-1908)
Oil on Sea Shell - 13cm x 14cm
Valued $2,000-$3,000
Offers invited over $1,500
Contact: Henry Newrick – (+64 ) 27 471 2242
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