Dr Stuart Davis presented with HortNZ Life Membership

Yesterday, in a special presentation, HortNZ chair Bernadine Guilleux and Mike Arnold from LeaderBrand awarded Dr Stuart Davis the Horticulture New Zealand Life Member award. 

This honour is traditionally presented at the annual industry awards in August, but was awarded early this year in recognition of Stuart’s health situation and to ensure his contributions could be publicly acknowledged and celebrated.

The HortNZ Life Member award recognises individuals with long and dedicated service as office holders within HortNZ and/or affiliated grower groups. Stuart embodies the spirit of this award.

For more than 35 years, Stuart has played a pivotal leadership role in New Zealand’s vegetable sector.

As LeaderBrand’s sustainability manager, he has been a driving force behind the introduction of science and innovation into practical vegetable production systems.

Beginning in the 1980s, Stuart pioneered the commercial use of mathematical crop prediction models for sweetcorn and other vegetable crops in collaboration with Crop & Food Research and NIWA.  This groundbreaking work helped lay the foundation for today’s close partnership between science and the vegetable industry.

In addition to over 10 years as a Director of Vegetables NZ, Stuart also chaired the Vegetable Research & Innovation Board, helping co-ordinate research investment across multiple product groups. 

His commitment to understanding the relationship between horticulture and the environment saw him play a key role in shaping A Lighter Touch, a $27 million, seven-year programme jointly funded by the Ministry for Primary Industries and industry to shift pest management toward more sustainable practices. 

In 2024, Stuart was also named the recipient of the prestigious Bledisloe Cup, awarded by HortNZ for an outstanding contribution to the horticulture industry.