The March Kiwiflier is popping up in mailboxes and you’ll see an A2-sized insert of our ‘Most Unwanted’ poster included.

The top eight organisms that are considered the highest risk to our industry - based on the likelihood of them entering and establishing in New Zealand, and the potential production and market access impacts should this occur - become our ‘Most Unwanted’.

We’ve just updated the list, and many of the pests and pathogens that feature will look familiar – Brown Marmorated Stink Bug (BMSB) and Spotted Lanternfly (SLF) for example. However, we do have a new addition, the Yellow Spotted Stink Bug (YSSB).

The YSSB has entered the top eight because it is considered a pest of kiwifruit in China, border detections of YSSB have increased, and it has recently been detected invading countries outside its current native range.

Like other stink bugs, it’s a hitchhiker that could get here any number of ways – on machinery and cargo, cars, containers, or even in luggage.

Significant efforts are put into readiness planning for these threats, essentially involving working with others in our industry, Biosecurity New Zealand, and affected sectors to agree how we would respond to an incursion.

The new poster is also on our website now. Please get in touch if you’d like us to post you extra copies – we have plenty available.