Meet our speakers

Te Radar - Master of Ceremonies

With a string of awards, including the country’s highest accolades for television and comedy, Te Radar is one of New Zealand’s most recognised entertainers and presenters. He has an extensive career in documentary making, writing, stage and screen directing, as well as being a celebrated comedian and satirist. Some of the remarkable adventures Te Radar has embarked on include diving with sharks, plunging into the frozen Ross Sea, interviewing Yassar Arafat under the watchful eye of gun-toting Palestinian soldiers, and being stung by a scorpion (in a rather awkward place). His passion for and knowledge of the untold stories of New Zealand history inspired his critically acclaimed 2017 TVNZ series Te Radar 's Chequered Past.

A natural raconteur, Te Radar is a sought-after keynote speaker, awards host, MC and moderator. His diverse talents mean he can host events across a wide range of sectors; agricultural, engineering, science, arts, media, medical, environmental and academic–his versatility is astonishing. The ideal host for panel discussions, onstage interviews and all-round MC duties, Te Radar’s performance is always erudite, witty and well-informed, no matter the forum or format.

Te Radar appears by arrangement with Johnson & Laird Management.

Matt Whiting

Dr Matthew Whiting is a Professor/Scientist and Extension Specialist in the Department of Horticulture at Washington State University (WSU). He received his PhD degree from WSU in 2001, his MS and BSc degrees from the University of Guelph in Canada in 1998 and 1996, respectively.

Dr Whiting has lead the stone fruit physiology program for 20 years, addressing the key horticultural and physiological issues facing the industry. Dr Whiting’s research efforts are leading the integration of mechanization and automation in tree fruit through the development of planar orchard systems that are productive, precocious, profitable, and sustainable.

Since 2002, Dr Whiting has published over 100 journal articles, garnered $8M+ in grant funding, and given invited presentations around the globe, including Blenheim, New Zealand at the 2013 Summerfruit NZ conference.

William Pike

William Pike is an inspirational kiwi who is on one hell of a journey - from losing his leg in a volcanic eruption, to starting a nationwide youth development programme, to mountaineering in Antarctica, William has an unfair advantage when it comes to talking about the necessity of stepping outside of your comfort zone to overcome challenge, change and achieve extraordinary things.

It’s easy to see that William has an infectious enthusiasm for adventure, life and fun. His character and outlook on life are nicely summed up by the title of his popular autobiography, Every Day’s A Good Day.

As a young, passionate explorer, William has spent countless days and nights off the beaten track in New Zealand’s backcountry and in far off places such as Antarctica and deep in the South Pacific Ocean.

William motivates, shocks and inspires audiences by retelling his captivating tale of survival on Mount Ruapehu where doctors noted his survival as a miracle. Engaging, real and down to earth, William weaves relatable messages into his stories that challenge audiences to step outside of their comfort zone - to achieve their goals and experience the extraordinary.

As well as inspiring adults, William is the inspiration behind the William Pike Challenge Award, a youth development programme with a vision to grow a world of explorers. Since 2013 the programme has made a positive impact on thousands of youth and over 100 communities across the country.

Over the years, William has received awards for leadership including:

2019 University of Auckland Young Distinguished Alumni Award Winner
2017 Blake Leader Award recipient
2015 Young New Zealander of the year finalist
2014 KiwiBank Local Hero medal recipient

Harriet Bremner

Harriet Bremner has always lived in rural New Zealand and is passionate about the rural industry especially when it comes to health, safety and well-being. Harriet is determined to Change the Conversation around this within our rural communities.

The Rural Women New Zealand, 2021 Rural Champion and Zanda McDonald Award Finalist, has a background in teaching, speech and drama and farming. Her life suddenly turned upside down when she became a widow at 28 years old after losing her partner in a sudden farming accident in 2017.

Since then, Harriet has focused on following her dreams including writing award-winning rural children’s books under her brand ‘’Gurt and Pops’, releasing a podcast with Farmers Weekly called; ‘The Raw Truth’, writing in the AgInEd page in Farmers Weekly and the health and wellbeing section of the Dairy Exporter Magazine, speaking at events and working on the farm with her fiance in Southland.

Mike Casey

Mike is new to horticulture, having established Forest Lodge Orchard, a UFO cherry orchard in Central Otago in 2019. He comes from an IT background and sold his software company in Sydney in 2019. But the value Mike can't offer in growing advice is offset by his insights into electric technology, and how he has applied it to his orchard. He stresses he's not here to preach or tell you what you should be doing. He just wants to share all his numbers and figures, answer questions to prepare our industry for the future electrification of everything.

Livia Esterhazy

Livia joined A Lighter Touch Programme in October 2022 as Programme Director.

Livia was inspired to take on this innovative collaborative programme as she wanted to apply the knowledge she’d gained to create significant positive impact to industry and the environment. She is hugely passionate the health of people and planet through food and this was a perfect fit. Prior to A Lighter Touch, Livia was the CEO of WWF New Zealand.

Brent Clothier

Dr Brent Clothier is a Principal Scientist with Plant & Food Research. Brent is President of the Royal Society Te Apārangi.

Brent researches the movement of water, carbon and chemicals in orchards, water management, plus sustainable practices, and adaptation to climate change. Brent is Editor-in-Chief of the journal Agricultural Water Management.

Brent has worked on aid and development projects in the Pacific and Indian Oceans, as well as in the Middle East, China, and Africa.

Clive Kaiser

Clive is a horticultural scientist with an interest in fruit production, with a particular interest in pre- and post-harvest physiology, who has collaborated with leading experts on many fruit and nut crops.

Clive's work has been in academia as well as for government, private industry, and the not-for profit sector in Africa, Europe, Australasia, and North America. He have seen the world fruit industry from bud to shelf, including imports and exports. Clive developed and helped commercialize a US Patent for innovative research on biofilms to mitigate fruit cracking in cherries and blueberries and prevent sunburn in apples and other fruit, and he is the principal inventor of another two International Patents. Other projects have included USAID programs in Georgia, Tajikistan, Ethiopia, Moldova, Dominican Republic, and Lebanon.

Clive's current focus is to develop new cuticle supplements, to reduce water usage in agricultural production systems and refining IPM systems of potato zebrachip.

In 2019, Clive received the US National Association for County Agriculture Agents Distinguished Service Award, following on from the Search for Excellence in Crop Production Award (2016), and Search for Excellence in Sustainable Agriculture Award (2014).

Jerf van Beek

Jerf van Beek came to New Zealand from his home country the Netherlands in his early twenties where he studied Agricultural civil engineering. Upon arriving in NZ he did what just about every backpacker does and started seasonal Horticultural work. This quickly resulted in land ownership and the start of a long horticultural career. One of the highlights was to consult to Horticulture NZ, initially assisting in the development of the Hort/Vit seasonal labour strategy. But soon after was appointed as the National Coordinator of seasonal Labour. As a result of the strategy the RSE scheme was developed and as the National Coordinator of seasonal Labour, Jerf was instrumental in embedding the RSE scheme into the Horticulture and Viticulture industries. During that time export apple growing was transformed into local market cherry growing, packing and marketing. The position as National Coordinator ended in 2020 during the covid pandemic.

Another highlight was the development of the Twyford Water cooperative which holds a Global consent to irrigate 2100 hectares. Jerf as the chair of Twyford water was the driving force to convince 60 consent holders to join in the global consent with the Hawkes Bay Regional Council (HBRC).

In 2019 a group of primary sector producers convinced Jerf to stand for the HB regional council a position he now holds for a second term.

Unfortunately, during the devastating cyclone Gabrielle floods Jerf and Carla have been extremely hard hit, taking out a large proportion of their apples, extensively damaging the cherry cages, flooding their strawbale home and packhouse and leaving up to half a meter of silt behind. Their home is yellow stickered and will need considerable repairs.

As a councillor the damage by cyclone Gabrielle is adding enormous workload and pressure to assist landowners with practical solutions to recover from this devastating blow. Something that is not easy in the current national regulatory framework.

Dave Bellamy

Kia ora, koutou.

I am the Science Group Leader for Adaptive Entomology (AE) at NZ Plant & Food Research in Motueka. My background in entomology spans 20 years and includes biological control, dispersal, modelling, disinfestation treatment research, behavioural ecology, and IPM in numerous fruit and vegetable systems. In addition to entomology, I have taught physics for +15 years, which supports my interest and understanding of climate change and risks to production systems.