Newsroom

The KVH winter field days flyer is available for download here.

We look forward to seeing you at Mystery Creek next week. We’ll be in the Zespri stand at Site F49 (our usual spot) connecting with growers and taking part in midday presentations each day. Gates are open - and we’re on-site - daily from Wednesday to Friday, 8.00am to 5.00pm. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit the Fieldays website.

As winter falls, the figures are in for the 2025-26 summer season (December to February), revealing another busy summer for biosecurity officers patrolling New Zealand’s international airports. Passenger volumes exceeded last summer’s levels, reaching higher than pre-pandemic levels for some airports. Despite this increase, biosecurity processing ran smoothly with improvements such as the continued use of express risk assessment lanes in Auckland, additional officers, and expanded detector dog teams, ensuring a positive arrival experience for travellers while continuing to protect New Zealand’s borders. Summer number for 2025-26: Air passenger arrivals: 2.05mAirport with highest number of arrivals: Auckland with 1.47m Passengers with seized goods (declared): 15.6k Passengers with seized goods (undeclared): 3.4k Passengers fined: 2767 Passengers warned 296Busiest day nationwide: 21 December with 27,849 arrivals

Biosecurity has again been ranked the number one priority for agribusiness leaders, holding its top spot for the 16th consecutive year – and achieving its highest score since 2018. The 2026 Agribusiness Agenda goes further than previous years, positioning biosecurity as a “foundational pillar of sector resilience”. Recent responses to incursions such as avian influenza and the Yellow-legged hornet show what can be achieved through strong collaboration between industry and government. However, the report warns against overconfidence. Biosecurity risks are increasing and changing, driven by factors like climate change and global connectivity. At the same time, many export sectors rely on monocultures - increasing the potential impact of a single incursion. A key message this year is the need to move from relying on past responses to actively preparing for future threats, including targeting effort based on real risk (not a one-size-fits-all approach); using data and analytics to guide decisions; and ensuring systems evolve with changing threats. For the kiwifruit industry, the report themes are a real reminder that biosecurity is central to long-term resilience, requiring effort and commitment from all. KVH’s work, from preparedness and surveillance to practical grower guidance, directly supports the direction set out in this year’s Agenda. View the biosecurity page from the report here, or see the full report on the KPMG website here.

Each year in mid-May, the International Day of Plant Health, established by the United Nations, highlights the vital role plants play in our lives and why protecting them matters. Plants provide 80% of the food we eat and underpin global trade and ecosystems, yet up to 40% of crops are lost to pests and diseases each year. That’s where biosecurity comes in. Biosecurity systems help prevent harmful pests and diseases entering and spreading, protecting growers, trade, and the environment. For the New Zealand kiwifruit industry, this is exactly the focus of KVH’s work - from offshore risk monitoring and pathway analysis to post-border surveillance and grower readiness. Every trap deployed, report made, and on-orchard action taken contributes to safeguarding production and market access. International Day of Plant Health is a reminder that everyone plays a role, whether it’s checking goods, sourcing plants responsibly, or reporting anything unusual early. Here’s a short video from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations explaining their work.

Nominations for KVH Director close Friday 3 July: The KVH Board is calling for nominations for a grower director for a term of three years. Biosecurity Symposium Wednesday 5 August: Hear directly from experts and those involved in recent incursions in both Australia and New Zealand. KVH AGM Thursday 20 August: KVH’s annual meeting will take place at 9am, at Mercury Baypark.