Future Land Use Investment Decision Forum

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 options in Marlborough.

Hear from industry experts who will provide market-based insights across a range of land use options, including viticulture, pipfruit, stonefruit, berryfruit, sheep & beef, and annual crops.

Whether you're considering diversifying your operation or assessing future options for your land, this seminar will provide valuable information on market demand, industry trends and future opportunities.

The seminar will be particularly relevant for grape contract growers wanting to better understand future demand for grapes and how vineyard returns compare with alternative land use options.

Registrations are free but essential. Please register using this link to secure your place.

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.

Secure your spot. Please register using this link.

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

  • 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

Register now