High hopes for horticulture
Taranaki is already famous for its dairy products and dominated by dairy herds, but a new report has claimed nearly one-third of the region’s land could be used to grow fruit, vegetables and nuts.
The 207,000 hectares identified as being suitable for horticulture is greater than the 168,580ha currently used to feed Taranaki’s 466,701-strong dairy herd.
Regional economic development body Venture Taranaki said the assessment provided an overview of the region’s growing capability.
The Taranaki Land and Climate Assessment, by Plant and Food Research, studied land, environment and climate databases to quantify the untapped potential for crops including apples, kiwifruit, avocados, blueberries, hops, hemp and CBD cannabis, hazelnuts and walnuts, potatoes, and wine grapes.
It is the first part of a two-year project called Branching Out, which is part of Tapuae Roa, the regional economic strategy and action plan to investigate new commercial opportunities for the region’s food and fibre sector.
“It’s not just what we can grow, but the value chain,” Anne Probert, Venture Taranaki general manager regional strategy and sectors said.
“We need to grow things we can take to market. This is one part of the process. Over the next two years we will explore a range of options.”
The project aimed to complement dairying, not compete with it, Probert said.
“It’s not about moving away from what we are good at.
“A kiwifruit orchard could sit next to a dairy farm. We are not getting rid of dairying but some land is better suited to horticulture than dairying.”
Dairy NZ figures show the value of milk production in Taranaki exceeds $1 billion a year. The industry employs 5500 people, of whom 3700 are on farms and 1800 are in processing and wholesaling.
The report states that variation in climate around Taranaki could also provide opportunity to extend the growing season and availability of some produce, and be producing when other suppliers are not.
Venture Taranaki was already working with several other regions about a role as a secondary supply point, project manager Kevin O’Reilly said.
“Zespri were very excited at the possibility of Taranaki growing kiwifruit to feed into the national supply chain, diversifying the risk in case of a natural disaster.”
The report also lists hops, hemp and CBD cannabis as other potential crops, but O’Reilly said hemp and cannabis would require a high value market to be found to justify the setting up costs.
‘‘My personal favourite is the hops,’’ O’Reilly said.
‘‘We’re really strong in craft beers here. They would love to have Taranaki-grown hops, hyper-local, low carbon miles, and better still it becomes a high value product shipped out as beer. This way we extract maximum value.’’
The report found the region’s high rainfall would make growing grapes for wine challenging.
And Taranaki Federated Farmers president Mark Hooper said Taranaki’s strong winds would hamper many horticultural crops.
‘‘Dairying is our core strength. It’s a combination of the soils and the climate. We grow grass really well.’’
During the 1980s, a lot of kiwifruit was planted in Taranaki but didn’t last due to fickle markets and the effects of Cyclone Bola.
But with more scale and better marketing nowadays, growing kiwifruit and avocados both looked positive for landowners who had the necessary capital, he said.
‘‘We are still quite subject to the cycles of commodities so there is interest in that.’’
Sheep and beef farmers Kate and Hamish Dunlop have already diversified into horticulture.
The South Taranaki farmers put in 18 months of research before they started growing the South American superfood quinoa alongside their sheep and cattle operation.
They were keen to get into a plantbased food product and initially considered hemp, before choosing quinoa, Kate said.
‘‘We talked to growers all around the world to find out what the issues were.’’
They trialled several varieties to find which one grew best in South Taranaki, and also researched post-harvest processing and selling.
‘‘It got to the point where you just have to be a bit brave and jump in.’’
‘‘Hamish and I have grown so much through this experience. It’s been a huge learning curve and not without its challenges.’’