OPINION:

The ‘winterless North’ has looked different this year, with persistent wet weather, heavy downpours and humidity changing the face of the Northland summers the region has become famous for.

Aside from hampering summer holiday
plans, the region’s crop growers have been hit hard by persistent heavy rain creating soil conditions too damp to successfully plant in order to meet commercial harvesting windows. Like many growers across the region, the Northland Peanut Trials have been severely impacted by the unprecedented wet weather.

Year One of the Northland Peanut Trials, a project lead by Northland Inc with funding provided by the Ministry for Primary Industries, Picot Productions, Northland Inc and expertise from Plant & Food Research and Manaaki Whenua – Landcare Research, produced promising results for the potential peanut industry development within the region.

With our warm climate and soil conditions, it was hoped that the trials would identify potential diversification opportunities and revenue streams for Northland’s agriculture and farming communities. Of the eight peanut cultivars grown across five sites in the Far North and Kaipara district during the first year of the trial, 18 kilograms of harvested peanuts were sent to Pic’s Peanut Butter in Nelson for processing.

Understandably, interest across both the region and country was high as New Zealand’s first homegrown peanut butter was produced.

Plant and Food Research ran a small sensory evaluation of peanut butter made from the four preferred cultivars growing in the Year One trial. Evaluation participants were asked to write notes on the appearance, aroma, taste/flavour and texture.

Overall, the four samples were well-liked, with some participants particularly enjoying the roasted peanut flavour which presented strongly in two of the processed cultivars. Testing also showed that in some cases, the nutritional values of the Northland-grown cultivars were higher than international standards, indicating the quality potential of fresh, locally-grown produce.

Coming off the back of such promising Year One results, the plan for Year Two of the trial was to expand across additional sites in Kaipara and the Far North to further test the case for the viability of a peanut industry in Northland.

The predicted optimal planting window to allow sufficient growing degree days for the trial cultivars to develop was early November, with the harvesting window in March/April to meet commercial requirements.

Working with our partners, we watched the weather patterns and measured soil conditions to plan for ideal planting windows, and waited for the wet weather to pass. By mid-December, we were still waiting, dealing with water-logged sites, future rain forecasts and contractors under pressure to deliver any planting possible before Christmas.

The combination of these factors ultimately meant we had to make the difficult decision to reduce the scope of the Year Two trial.

Of the eight planned sites, three of the four Far North sites were planted, with two being successful. One crop planted on heavier soil failed to germinate, and none of the four planned sites across the Kaipara were able to be planted due to continually saturated soil conditions.

Despite the reduced harvest now anticipated for 2023, there are still valuable learnings to be had. Agronomy and cultivar yield data will be captured, and the Year Two trial will contribute towards overall learnings around the establishment of a peanut industry in Northland. The types of weather events we have experienced this season provide further insight into the growing conditions needed to sustain a peanut industry in the North.

Ultimately, the establishment of a peanut industry in Northland provides opportunities for our economy from the ground up, offering options to our farming and agriculture communities. As a restorative legume that fixes nitrogen into soil, peanut crops offer local farmers a beneficial rotation option with other crops, while reducing the need to use synthetic fertilisers.

Industry diversification provides a range of benefits to Northland’s regional economy, including job creation on and off-farm to fulfil planting, harvesting and drying functions, creating immediate benefits to our communities and the chance to diversify and grow individual skill sets.

The unseasonal wet weather experienced in the latter half of 2022 adds an additional influencing factor which needs to be navigated when considering the potential of establishing a new industry. However, despite the setbacks, we remain confident in developing learnings to support industry progression.

With other interested parties, we’re now exploring what future opportunities for ongoing trial work and market analysis looks like to help build the case for a peanut industry in Northland.

Greg Hall is project manager at Northland Inc