Rural Delivery - Series Seven, Episode Six

Most of the people that early settled New Zealand and Auckland were from farming stock, or farming merchants, and the Auckland A&P came about by a group of like-minded people getting together.

– Auckland A&P association president, Bruce Orr on the beginnings of the A&P show

Everybody knows about didymo, hornwort actually scores quite a bit higher than didymo, so we would actually rank that as a more serious weed. It has been around for quite some time. But, it's an unwanted organism in the South Island — it's the highest rating you can get.

– Dr John Clayton from NIWA on hornwort as an invasive species

It's basically a plant that can grow in a wide range of habitats, it grows really really tall — dense — and it displaces all our native plants. It has quite a big impact on water quality in the lakes and ponds and reservoirs and drainage irrigation ditches where it grows.

– Dr John Clayton from NIWA on the impact of hornwort on the ecosystem

First and foremost we’re apple growers, or fruit growers, and we need to concentrate 100% on growing the best possible fruit that we can grow. And that means growing the right size, the right yield per tree and the right quality. So that's our first aim as fruit growers.

– Fruit grower, Heath Wilkins on managing an orchard

The Royal Gala — which is still a fundamentally fantastic apple now — it was never controlled, so seedlings, or the budwoods, could be taken overseas. Chile, South Africa, and the Northern Hemisphere could all grow Royal Gala. Even though it was found in New Zealand and a New Zealand apple, we never controlled it so the supply and demand ratio got out of kilter,

– Fruit grower, Heath Wilkins on the Royal Gala apple cultivar