Today Prime Minister, Christopher Luxon, our 11-hectare undercover greenhouse and even lent a hand harvesting a crop of spinach.
Christopher Luxon walked around our Future Farm Facility and checked out our self-sustaining 40 million litre water dam and one million litre treated water tank before chatting to our team inside the greenhouse.
With a little guidance from our Greenhouse Manager, Billy Stackhouse, the Prime Minister took our new electric harvester for a spin.
Billy Stackhouse, our Future Farms Manager said that the Prime Minister was a natural.
“The team really appreciated him giving them a helping hand. If he needs a break from running the country, he’s welcome to visit any time and jump on a tractor. The team wouldn’t hesitate to give him a job!”
“We even sent him home with a bag or two of our spinach and wild rocket for dinner,” laughs Billy.
Our Future Farm Facility was built thanks to the support from the governments, Kānoa, Regional Economic Development and Investment Unit, when they loaned us, $15 million to help fund our ambitious construction.
Gordon McPhail, our General Manager Farm says that with the governments support for regional economies that projects like the greenhouse were possible.
“We would never have been able to build such an ambitious project like this without the government’s support. They challenged us to think about what innovation or technology we could invest in if we had the funds that would be good for the region economically and help generate growth and more jobs.
“Our Future Farms Facility enables us to accelerate crop growth all year around in a more sustainable manner. Being able to mitigate weather impacts means we can find more efficient ways to continue to supply New Zealanders with healthy and affordable fresh vegetables.
“We still have a lot to learn about indoor growing and maintaining crops in this new environment, however, we have no doubt that that agricultural practices are going to have to adapt to the county’s increasingly variable climate, technology, and environmental demands, and that this type of facility is the future of farming.
“All the team was incredibly proud to walk the Prime Minister through the facility and showcase the growing process. It was great for the team to receive recognition from the Prime Minister for their hard work and dedication,” says Gordon.