Chris wins grower title - again

Young Opotiki grower Chris Anstis is the winner of this year's Bay of Plenty Young Grower of the Year for the second time.

Chris was presented with the trophy by Ministry for Primary Industries Nathan Guy at the awards dinner attended by around 200 people at ASB Baypark last night.


Chris Anstis, 2013 Bay of Plenty Young Grower of the Year with Minister for Primary Industries Nathan Guy. Behind them are second and third place winners from left Chris Clement and Miguel Peterlem.

The 30-year-old grower first won the title in 2009 and yesterday competed against five other young growers in a series of events in Tauranga on Wednesday.

In second place was Chris Clement, Kiwifruit Vine Health technical assistant and third Miguel Peterle, Whitehall Fruitpackers orchard manager from the Waikato.

As well as the title and trophy, Chris won $1500 in cash and will now represent the Bay of Plenty at the NZ Young Fruit Grower contest at the HortNZ Conference in July.

All six contestants also received a number of prizes from sponsors and for wins in individual sections of the competition. Chris Clement won $1000 and Miguel, $500.

Chris says it is a thrill to win the title again, especially amongst tough competition provided by his opponents was tough.


Chris Anstis, 2013 Bay of Plenty Young Grower of the Year with Andrew Fenton, president of Hort NZ (left) and Minister for Primary Industries Nathan Guy.

He was raised on a kiwifruit orchard in Opotiki and since finishing university in 2004, has done laboratory work and GlobalGAP assessments at DMS, orchard management and harvest scheduling at OPAC, and managed fresh produce supply for Total Produce in London.

He returned to New Zealand 18 months ago and is contracting between OPAC as technical manager, and helping his parents on their kiwifruit orchard.

The other contestants were Jarrod Teddy of East Pack's Opotiki cool-storage operations, Greg Brown from Seeka's post-harvest division and Adam Bond, orchard manager of Canon Road Ltd.

In his address, Nathan Guy, himself a dairy farmer, told the audience primary industries, including horticulture, are the backbone of the New Zealand economy.

'We earn $30billion in exports annually and account for 72 per cent of New Zealand's total exports. We feed 40million people in the world from a population of just 4.5million.”

It is the Government's aim to double the earnings from primary industries from $30billion to $60billion by 2025 and that is possible through new free trade agreements, including in South America, supporting innovation and technology, large scale irrigation and water storage projects and encouraging the further development of Maori land.

The Ministry for Primary Industries' aim is to grow and protect New Zealand and it is New Zealand's biggest regulator, employing 2184 people he says.

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