PGW's commitment to helping New Zealand farmers and growers succeed took a significant step forward during FY26 with the establishment of the dedicated Hastings Research Station, Hawke’s Bay. 

On 1 September 2025, PGW assumed the lease of the Geelen Family Trust Research Station, a 2.8-hectare facility previously operated by Bayer Crop Science.

The investment provides PGW with a purpose-built hub for horticultural and agricultural research and strengthens the company’s long-standing commitment to innovation, technical expertise, and customer-focused solutions. 

The site is uniquely positioned to support a broad range of research activities, with approximately 600 apple trees, 50 peach trees, 1,100 metres of grapevines, and 0.5 hectares dedicated to agricultural cropping. The facility enables multiple trials to be conducted simultaneously across horticultural, viticultural, and agricultural systems. 

For decades, PGW’s Technical Team has worked alongside farmers and growers to conduct research trials in commercial paddocks and orchards. While this collaborative model remains important, it relies on customers taking productive land out of use. Having a dedicated research station reduces that burden while creating a more controlled and scalable environment for innovation. PGW’s R&D Team undertook 98 scientific trials nationwide this year, investigating a variety of innovations from new crop protection products and biological solutions through to fertilisers and technologies designed specifically for New Zealand conditions.

The investment also allows PGW to accelerate research programmes that deliver practical benefits for customers, as Milton Munro, Technical Team Manager, explains. “This is an incredible investment in the future of growing in New Zealand. The site gives us the ability to expand and accelerate our research programme in ways that weren’t possible before. We can run more trials, gather more data, and bring new innovations to market faster, ultimately benefiting our grower and farmer customers.” 

The value of the facility extends beyond the trials themselves. Knowledge generated through research is shared directly with PGW’s Technical Field Representatives and Technical Horticultural Representatives, helping them provide evidencebased advice and recommendations to customers. This helps give growers and farmers more confidence in product performance and stronger technical support when making critical production decisions. 

The research station also provides opportunities for staff training, customer field days, and industry engagement. PGW intends to use the facility to showcase emerging technologies, demonstrate trial results, and provide a practical environment where staff, suppliers, and customers can see innovation in action. 

According to Milton, one of the station’s greatest strengths is that it was operational from day one. “This site is a bit of a rarity. Replicating a facility like this elsewhere would take years of investment and development before meaningful trial work could begin. Instead, we were able to start trials immediately and begin generating insights that will support our customers and our business. Having our own site allows us to conduct trials that wouldn’t have been possible on a grower’s property. By June 2026, we had completed 42 trials.” 

The Hastings facility also supports several of PGW’s Group Strategic Priorities, including Customer Focused Innovation, Differentiated Offering, and Sustainability. The site enables PGW’s Technical Team to work closely with global suppliers to evaluate new products and technologies, including biological and sustainability-focused solutions that can improve outcomes for farmers, growers, and the wider primary sector. 

Importantly, the investment reflects PGW’s confidence in the future of New Zealand’s primary sector. With dedicated infrastructure, experienced technical specialists, and a pipeline of new trials already underway, the research station positions PGW to continue delivering innovation that helps customers improve performance, productivity, and profitability. 

As the first trial results emerge, the Hastings Research Station is already proving to be more than just a research facility. It is a centre of excellence that will help shape the future of farming and growing in New Zealand, while reinforcing PGW’s role as a trusted partner to the rural sector.

Header image: Chris Lambert and Laura Morgan at the Hastings Research Station.