At the NZIAHS Annual General Meeting held earlier this month at the Plant Science Central Conference a new Council was elected:
President – Dr John Caradus
Vice President – Dr Marty Faville
Treasurer – Jo Drummond
Secretary – Jenny Taylor
Councillors:
Prof Rainer Hofmann
Dr Kris Kramer-Walter
Dr Simona Nardozza
Dr Jem Burdon – Immediate Past President
Stepping down are Ben van Hooijdonk, Jeanne Jacobs and Julian Heyes – thank you for your years of services to the Institute.
Message from your new President
The New Zealand Institute of Agricultural and Horticultural Science (NZIAHS) is an important institution with close to 450 members from all areas of the primary sector. The Institute exists to promote the professional interests of members and the views of professional agriculturalists and horticulturists, the development of science and technology in agriculture and horticulture, and the use of agricultural and horticultural technology.
In our changing science and research environment the Institute has an important role to play in representing the best interests of and promoting the value created by scientists and technologists for the primary sector – the sector which, after all, underpins our economy. It is for that reason I was prepared to stand for President of an organisation that I value and of which I have been a member for about 45 years, and a past President from 1996-1998.
As members it is important that each of us promote the benefits of the NZIAHS community and the value it creates. We need to do this specifically targeting the younger cohort of scientists and researchers.
At the very least the Institute provides a networking opportunity through annual forums, international symposia, workshops and local section activities. For those who have been in the science research community for most of their careers, the ability to build networks and develop formal and/or informal collaborations with like minds is important in creating value and impact.
We have just completed the very successful three-day Plant Science Central meeting in Palmerston North and now look forward the NZIAHS Canterbury Forum on 22 October 2025. I hope to see you there.
In the meantime, if there is any activity you believe the NZIAHS should be championing or involved with, don’t hesitate to contact either me or Jenny Taylor, our tireless and long-serving secretariat –secretariat@agscience.org.nz
Before signing off this newsletter, I take great pleasure in congratulating the latest winners of NZIAHS honours and awards. These awards are listed below.
Dr John Caradus, HFNZIAHS
President
NZIAHS Awards and Honours
Jubilee Medal
Dr John Caradus
The Jubilee Medal, the NZIAHS’s premier award, honours outstanding contributions to primary resource science. Recipients are recognised as leaders in their areas of scientific research, education, technology transfer, and the promotion of agriculture and horticulture.
This is a lifetime achievement award.
Dr John Caradus has made a highly successful lifetime contribution to pastoral agriculture through sustained innovation. Linking science and commerce at the DSIR, AgResearch and Grasslanz Technology Ltd, his development of novel plant and endophyte germplasm has significantly helped to improve productivity and profitability, the mitigation of pests and support for exports.
A recent analysis found Grasslanz has generated 139 cultivars and 35 endophytes with 30 New Zealand and 26 international licensees. This commercial success has been achieved alongside John’s 375 scientific publications, more than 100 of them peer-reviewed, and his work has been recognised by numerous organisations – he is a Fellow of the Agronomy Society of NZ, The Royal Society of NZ and NZIAHS. He has received the RSNZ Thomson Medal (2020), the NZIAHS-administered AGMARDT Technology Transfer award as a member of the Grasslanz Endophyte Discovery Team (2023) and the Prime Minister’s Science Prize (2024).
With a BSc (1972) and MSc (1975) from Auckland University, John was appointed as a forage plant breeder at the DSIR in 1975 and completed his PhD on “The phosphorus nutrition of populations of white clover (Trifolium repens L.)” at the University of Reading in Britain.
The formation of the CRIs in 1992 led him into a management role with AgResearch, followed by his appointment as CEO of Dexcel (now Dairy NZ) and work on a one-year project co-ordinating Research and Dairy 21 at Fonterra.
John is the Chief Technical Officer for Grasslanz Technology Ltd, having been CEO or 19 years. Grasslanz is a company that delivers technologies and products from plant and microbial-based research to commercial companies. He recently become the Chief Technical Officer for Grasslanz.
John has been a member of NZIAHS since 1985, serving on the Manawatū section committee (1990-1995) and becoming chair for the section (1991-1993). He joined the national council in 1993 and became president in 1998, a role he has reprised this year.
Honorary Fellowship
Emeritus Professor Julian Heyes
This award recognises Professor Julian Heyes’ outstanding contributions to horticultural science and his long and significant service to the NZIAHS at a national level.
John has a scopus index of 23; he has more than 65 journal articles, seven book or book chapter authorships and more than 53 refereed conference publications.
He is acknowledged as an international expert in post-harvest science, reflected in his election to the International Society of Horticultural Science Executive Committee as Chair of the Commission on Fruit and Vegetables for Health. He has served on Editorial Boards for Acta Horticulturae and European Journal of Horticultural Science and been invited to be an Adjunct Professor at the University of Mataram in Indonesia and a Governance Board member for the Food Industry Enabling Technologies research programme. In 2022 he served on the committee selecting the recipients of the Prime Minister’s Science prize.
Julian was the inaugural Head of School for a unit combining Massey’s expertise in food science and technology with the university’s engineering school. In his discipline of Postharvest Technology he led a group of staff, post-doctorate and graduate students devoted to delivering high-value fresh products that meet consumer demands, through the application of strategic science knowledge.
He served the NZIAHS and its predecessor, the New Zealand Society for Horticultural Science, as Council member, Secretary /Treasurer, Treasurer, Vice President and President and similarly has served the New Zealand Society of Plant Biology (previously the NZ Society of Plant Physiologists).
2025 Grasslanz Knowledge & Technology Transfer Award
This has been awared to the Lincoln University Gene-Marker Laboratory. The team comprises of Professor Jon Hickford, Dr Huitong Zhou and Dr Freeman Fang, has made significant contributions to the sheep and cattle industries by transferring its research findings into 13 commercial gene-marker tests and providing testing services to sheep and cattle breeders worldwide since 1999. It has conducted more than 220,000 gene tests for more than 1000 breeding clients across 14 countries.
A key achievement has been the development and application of the footrot gene-marker test, which plays a valuable role in mitigating the substantial economic impact of footrot in New Zealand and globally. The test has reduced reliance on chemicals and antibiotics while improving animal welfare.
The team’s scrapie gene test helps reduce the frequency of susceptible genotypes in sheep populations and its fertility-related gene tests enable the early identification of prolific ewes to improve reproductive traits.
The team’s services have improved production and reproduction and contributed to the effective management and eradication of single-gene recessive diseases in various sheep breeds, thereby improving animal welfare and the economic sustainability of livestock enterprises worldwide.
It has fostered effective and regular two-way communication with livestock breeders and industry stakeholders, regularly meeting with farming groups and organisations to explain its work and facilitate the effective adoption of genetic tools.
The team maintains strong collaborative relationships with numerous organisations, including the Dorper Sheep Society of Australia Inc., Romney NZ, Poll Dorset NZ, the Australian Texel sheep breeders and the NZ Texel Breeders.
Honorary Life Membership
Jenny Taylor
Jenny became the National Secretariat of the New Zealand Institute of Agricultural Science in May 1997 and Secretary of The New Zealand Society for Horticultural Science a year later. She oversaw the merger of those two organisations to establish the New Zealand Institute of Agricultural & Horticultural Science Inc. which had its first annual general meeting in 2005.
In her 28 years as National Secretariat of NZIAHS, she has supported 12 Institute Presidents – Dr John Caradus was the first – impressing them with her warm and generous personality.
She has organised every NZIAHS conference and the annual successful Canterbury Forum since its inception.
The position of National Secretariat is a paid one, but Jenny has gone far beyond her job description to keep the Institute running smoothly for 28 years. It is with pleasure the Institute has awarded her an Honorary Life Membership.
Note your diary |
2025 Canterbury Forum“When Nature Fights Back”Wednesday 22nd October 2025Stewart 1, Lincoln University, Lincoln |
