Planning your next land use?

The Marlborough Research Centre, in partnership with PGG Wrightson Fruitfed Supplies, invites growers, farmers and landowners to an informative seminar exploring future land use opportunities in Marlborough.

Hear from industry experts who will provide market-based insights into a range of land use options, including:

Viticulture
Pipfruit
Stonefruit
Berryfruit
Sheep and beef
Seeds and annual crops

Whether you're considering diversifying your operation or assessing the long-term use of your land, this seminar will provide valuable information on market demand, industry trends and future opportunities.

If you are a grape contract grower wanting to better understand future demand for grapes and how vineyard returns compare with alternative land use options, this forum will be particularly relevant.

Registration is essential.

A taste of the Programme

Attendees can expect a genuinely wide-ranging line-up of businesses sharing what they're seeing in their own markets — not a series of formal presentations, but practical, on-the-ground perspectives from across the sectors Marlborough growers and landowners are weighing up.

On the viticulture side, JPEW Advisory and Analytics will unpack the changing shape of the New Zealand wine industry and what it means for Marlborough grape supply. Rabobank's agribusiness team will bring a banking perspective on what matters most when assessing investment options across land use.

Horticulture features strongly, with T&G Global speaking to the global opportunity behind its JOLI™ apple, AgFirst covering pipfruit and kiwifruit prospects, and Fruitfed Supplies' subtropicals specialist looking at kiwifruit, considerations and opportunities. Hortus Limited and Monarch Platforms will speak to the practical side of running a horticultural operation — people, machinery and a cooperative path to market. A summerfruit grower will add a first-hand view on opportunities in that sector.

Beyond fruit, the programme extends to vegetables, with Murphy's New Zealand Limited and Vegetables New Zealand Inc discussing commercial vegetable crop opportunities in Marlborough; to arable, with PGG Wrightson Seeds on seed and grain production; and to livestock, with PGG Wrightson's livestock team covering opportunities in that sector. Provincial Coldstores Ltd will speak to the role cold storage can play for those looking to diversify land use, and MG Group Exports will bring an export market perspective on opportunities for the region.

Together, the programme offers a broad and grounded snapshot of where different land use sectors currently stand — and where those working in them see things heading.

Topics at a glance

Viticulture & finance

The changing NZ wine landscape and its impact on Marlborough grape supply – John Wilson, JPEW Advisory and Analytics
What matters when weighing up land use investment options – Victor Gahamadze, Rabobank

Pipfruit, kiwifruit & subtropicals

JOLI™, a premium apple with a global opportunity – Cam Elton, T&G Global
Pipfruit and kiwifruit opportunities – Steve Spark, AgFirst
Kiwifruit, opportunities and considerations – Dr Elaine Gould, Fruitfed Supplies

Horticulture operations

People, machinery and a cooperative path to market – Tahu Huntly, Hortus Limited & Mitch Gardiner, Monarch Platforms

Summerfruit

Summerfruit opportunities – Blair McLean, Summer Fruit Grower

Vegetables

Commercial vegetable crop opportunities in Marlborough – John Murphy, Murphy's New Zealand Limited & Vegetables New Zealand Inc

Arable

Seed & grain production – Graeme Jones & Chris Sparks, PGG Wrightson Seeds

Livestock

Livestock opportunities – Chaz Woodhouse, PGG Wrightson

Infrastructure & market access

Cold storage for diversifying land use – Jason Barnes, Provincial Coldstores Ltd
Export market opportunities for Marlborough – MG Group Exports

Contact the host of Future Land Use Investment Decision Forum