Newsroom

Pick up one of KVH’s new luggage tags and take biosecurity on the road with you. Durable, eye-catching, and proudly representing our industry, they’re an effortless way to help spread the message wherever your travels take you. Perfect for suitcases, backpacks, road kits, and even laptop bags, grab yours at upcoming KVH events – while stocks last!

Heading into the end of harvest, growers are reminded that unpicked kiwifruit should be removed from vines by 1 July to help limit wild kiwifruit plants establishing in nearby areas, especially around native bush, or forestry. Fruit left on vines to ripen over the winter months provides a food source for birds (such as the wax-eye/tauhou) that then spread seed into the wild which readily germinates in New Zealand’s environment. Unpicked fruit needs to be dropped to the ground and mulched to prevent this from happening.

The KVH Board is calling for nominations for a grower director for a term of three years. Grower members will be asked to vote for their preferred nominees, and the successful candidates will be announced following this year’s annual meeting. Nominations close Friday 3 July and the AGM takes place at 9am, Thursday 20 August, at Mercury Baypark.

We had a busy week at the annual Mystery Creek Fieldays. Thank you for coming by and talking with us, it was great to see such interest in biosecurity – particularly the hornets in resin we had on show. The lunchtime presentations were particularly well attended, and during our talk we discussed ongoing biosecurity protection though our levy proposal – you can read more about that in full detail here. If you’d like more of the pest ID resources we had at the event, please get in touch and we’ll send you copies.

KVH is proposing a small increase to the biosecurity levy to ensure we can continue protecting your orchard and the wider kiwifruit industry from exotic pests and diseases. Levy rates have remained stable for several seasons, while the cost of maintaining strong biosecurity readiness and response has increased, clearly demonstrated with five biosecurity responses in the last two years. The proposed change is about maintaining the level of protection growers rely on today. The proposed biosecurity levy increase is 0.2c, bringing the levy for the 2027-28 financial year to 1c per tray (the Pathway Management Plan levy will remain unchanged at 0.6c per tray). Even with the increase, the impact at an individual grower level is expected to remain small, while collectively it ensures we can respond quickly and effectively to threats. A fruit fly detection in Te Puke could cost up to $700 million in lost market access - making robust biosecurity critical. You’ll find opportunities to ask questions and provide feedback ahead of the AGM on our dedicated web page, with full details of the proposal, including what your levy delivers, why the change is needed, and why continued biosecurity protection is important. KVH will also be out in the regions over the coming weeks to talk through the proposal and answer questions - we encourage you to come along to the presentations, hosted by Chief Executive Leanne Stewart and look forward to seeing you to discuss the proposal. Look out for an email from KVH too, with reminder details of the meeting nearest to you. The feedback you provide will directly shape what is put forward for voting at the AGM and we look forward to discussing it with you.

KVH has been at post-harvest winter events engaging with growers and distributing a winter flyer with advice for biosecurity risk management over the coming months. The flyer can be downloaded here and main topics covered include: unusual symptom reports this season,plant movement protocols and traceability requirements,use of wound protectants and sanitisers, yellow-legged hornet and brown marmorated stink bug updates.