wa grower autumn 14

Food security and biosecurity

WA GrowerPotato GrowersAssociation Inc.

APC-VPCAPC-PPC

Agricultural Produce Commission

SINCE 1948Vol. 49 No 1. Autumn 2014

$25.00 (inc GST)

Karri Country Potatoes

Articles reflect the opinions of the authors and are not necessarily those of the publisher.

Vegetable Growers Association

President Maureen Dobra Gingin t: (08) 9575 2086 m: 0417 174 110

Vice President Ken Sue Busselton m: 0417 986 467

Treasurer Anthony Marinovich Myalup/Bunbury m: 0417 907 910

Committee H. Shapland t: (08) 9845 1064 Albany K. Edwards m: 0427 724 243 Manjimup M. Le m: 0417 962 427 Metro T. Le m: 0408 910 761 Metro D. Rigali m: 0407 447 524 Metro M. Grubisa m: 0413 050 182 Metro North S. Calameri m: 0418 957 236 Metro South P. Wauchope m: 0400 717 600 Gingin P. Shain m: 0419 041 045 Carnarvon D. Kuzmicich m: 0408 910 761 Carnarvon

Potato Growers Association

Executive Officer Jim Turley Metro m: 0410 697 842

President Dean Ryan Pemberton m: 0427 731 066

Vice President Andrew Tempra Manjimup m: 0417 097 729

Treasurer Mia Rose Myalup m: 0409 112 245

Committee C. Ayres m: 0428 451 014 Albany S. Calameri m: 0418 957 236 Metro V. Carter m: 0417 092 505 Busselton G. Bendotti m: 0427 569 903 Pemberton B. Russell m: 0429 318 216 Donnybrook D. Ryan m: 0427 731 066 Pemberton

• APC- Vegetable Producers Committee

• Potato Growers Association

• vegetablesWA

This issue of the WA Grower is brought to you by:

Cover photo: Dean and Glen Ryan

Contact details for Horticulture House vegetablesWA, Potato Growers Association, Western Potatoes Horticulture House 103 Outram Street West Perth 6005 t: (08) 9481 0834 f: (08) 9481 0024 e: [email protected]

Executive Officer John Shannon m: 0488 111 526 e: [email protected]

Finance/Administrator/Magazine Advertising Rebecca Blackman t: (08) 9481 0834 e: [email protected]

Communications Officer Hayley Wilson

t: (08) 9481 0834 e: [email protected]

Export Development Manager Gavin Foord m: 0435 018 189 e: [email protected]

Field Extentsion Officer Sarah Houston m: 0427 373 037 e: [email protected]

Vietnamese Field Extension Officer Truyen Vo m: 0457 457 559 e: [email protected]

Life Members A.J. Anderson*, D.J. Arbuckle, J. Arbuckle Snr*, J.H. Arbuckle* (M.B.E.J.P), S. Calameri, G. Kiriros*, R.G.Leach*, F. Natoli, S. Sawle*, R.M. Schultz, C.P. Stevens, W.R. Stevens* (M.B.E.J.P), HR. Ashby*,

Amy Harris*, A. Ingrilli. * deceased

Produced by vegetablesWA

Management Committees

WA cratesThe professional packaging service

for WA’s finest fresh fruit and vegetables

0 email: [email protected]

WAGROWER_0909.indd 18 15/9/09 3:52:00 PM

WA GrowerVol. 49 No 1. Autumn 2014

14 5642

1WA Grower AUTUMN 2014

YOUR INDUSTRY ASSOCIATIONS 3

From the Executive Officer 4

Fresh Potatoes update 6

President’s Report 10

President’s Report 10

YOUR PRODUCTION 11

Tomatoes watered by the sea 12

Biosecurity on vegetable farms 14

Baldivis Market Gardens change for the better 16

Carnarvon irrigation report card 18

Modified practices effective in controlling stable fly 20

Permits 94

TOOL TIME 21

YOUR INDUSTRY 25

Top 5 myths about genetic modification 26

Maintaining food safety practices in melon production 29

Grower profile — Glen Ryan 30

Research shows promising stable fly controls 32

Fracking — What are my rights? 34

Meetings and free training workshops 37

Professional profile — Deb Archdeacon 38

Onions Australia 40

New DAFWA website up and running 41

Explainer: why are carrots orange? 42

Exciting times ahead for Water Policy 44

Food security and biosecurity 46

Nuffield Scholar looks abroad 50

More insecticide options for stable fly control 54

YOUR BUSINESS 55

Applications open for concessional loans 56

Small Business Development Corporation 59

YOUR MARKET 61

China — bigger than Texas! 62

The 5th China Australia Workshop 65

Sheng Siong Australian Food Fair, Singapore 66

Research on vegetable consumption 68

Leafy green industry 70

Defend Yourself Against Average 73

YOUR ENVIRONMENT 75

Wastewater management 76

Pollination Association of Western Australia 79

YOUR SELF 81

LiveLighter 82

Recipes 86

VIETNAMESE TRANSLATIONS 88

YOUR INDUSTRY ASSOCIATIONS

REGISTER NOW

AND SAVE!

Join us at the

premier event in

Australian Horticulture.

Early Bird rate for Potato

Growers Association of

WA Inc Members only

$495.

AS A MEMBER

YOU CAN SAVE $200!*

To register for the Convention go to www.ausveg.com.au/convention or call AUSVEG on (03) 9882 0277.

*On the full delegate registration cost compared to the non-member, standard rates.

HURRY ENDS 25

APRIL.

Cairns Convention Centre, 19-21 June

YOUR INDUSTRY ASSOCIATIONSYOUR INDUSTRY ASSOCIATIONS




4 WA Grower AUTUMN 2014

The world is a changing place and it was ever thus. Within our West Australian vegetable industry this has particularly been the case as we’ve moved from the very modest gardens of Governor Stirling’s original settlement to today’s much broader horticulture enterprises.

For generations our industry has benefitted from successive waves of immigrants who were willing to bring new ideas and work hard in the way our industry demands. From the initial British settlement these groups has continually extended to early Chinese market gardeners, through to later waves of migrant vegetable growers including but not limited to the Croatians, Italians, Macedonians, Portuguese and the Vietnamese.

However, it appears that the modern vegetable industry will require much more than a new wave of immigrants to provide hard work alone as implementing new ideas will become even more important to success. I suspect that our modern era is different in that the rate of change to our operating environment has hastened considerably.

This is not to say that change for change’s sake only is a necessary goal. Many growers are conservative and reluctant to change because they are at least certain of the results of current practice. A practice or business change may yield better results, but growers may judge that the potential of these changes to yield poorer results is too much for their business to manage currently. But in the longer term this approach may create higher cumulative business risks to the grower.

Fortunately, our industry has also demonstrated there are many models and innovation paths to a successful business. For example, I have met with growers who came to Australia decades ago with nothing and have built a successful business without any borrowings and paid for all infrastructure and assets in cash. I have met with other successful growers who have developed their businesses through debt. There are also profitable growers who have developed their business through partnering with other investment or equity providers. And these are just differences based on equity source, separate to the many successful marketing arrangements and growing practices which vegetable growers have adapted to.

I encourage all growers to spend some time either thinking to themselves or discussing ideas with other people or professionals about where their business is at in the current environment and how it might adapt the years to come.

Likewise, no industry association can similarly go on addressing the needs of the past. If there are ways that vegetablesWA can further assist and your family on any issue I likewise encourage you to give me a call or contact our Field Extension Officers. Today is not Governor Stirling’s garden and there is some chance tomorrow will be as different again.

BY JOHN SHANNONEXECUTIVE OFFICER, VEGETABLESWA

From the Executive OfficerPOSITIONS ON APC PRODUCERS’ COMMITTEESThe Agricultural Produce Commission invites nominations from producers for positions on APC Producers’ Committees.

APC Producers’ Committees are established to provide services to the producers’ industry. Producer involvement in APC Producers’ Committees is vital to the effectiveness of Committees.

Some committee positions will become available on 31 May 2014. Terms of appointment will generally be for three years from 1 June 2014 to 31 May 2017.

Nominations are invited for the following APC Committees:

• Beekeepers

• Carnarvon Banana

• Egg

• Fruit West

• Pork

• Strawberry

• Table Grape

• Vegetables

A Nomination form and further information is available from the APC website www.apcwa.org.au (under the Join Us Tab) or contact Ingrid Smith on (08) 9368 3127.

APC-VPCAPC-PPC


Nominations close: 5:00pm, Friday, 25 April 2014.

http://www.apcwa.org.au

Come talk to us to see what we can do for eligible business customers

Our one-stop-shop business brings clean energy solutions to your door step.

Give us a call today on 9420 0300 to find out more or visit www.perthenergy.com.au.

Supply electricity and gas

Arrange energy audits and energy efficiency programs

Organise renewable energy system finance and installation

Offer Accredited Green Power We can buy back your intermittent

renewable energy using our Wholesale Electricity Market operation and back-up from our super-fast-response Kwinana Swift Power Station

your power to choose

~Energising Western Australia ~



Fresh Potatoesupdate

Answer: Our bodies need to have some carbohydrates each day to give us energy. The key is to eat mainly good carbohydrates. The best type is the complex carbohydrate which is absorbed more slowly. Potatoes are a source of complex carbohydrates and they have essential vitamins and minerals too. It surprises many people to learn that for the same serving size, potatoes have less carbohydrates than rice or pasta. So you can enjoy eating potatoes as part of a healthy diet without having to worry about too many carbs.

“I’ve heard potatoes are high in carbohydrates and that’s why I don’t eat them.”

“I’ve heard that potatoes contain lots of starch. Does that mean they are bad for me?”

Answer: The reality is that potatoes are good for you and here is why.The term “starch” is a generic term for carbohydrate which does not allow for the difference between “good and bad” carbs.Our bodies do best when we provide them with complex or good carbs. These are absorbed more slowly and come with other goodness.Potatoes are a source of complex or good carbohydrates as well as essential vitamins and minerals.With less “starch” than rice or pasta and with vitamin C, iron and magnesium, potatoes are an important part of a healthy diet.

“I avoid potatoes because I have heard they have high GI content and I’m told to eat low GI foods.”

Answer: There are many myths about foods and this is one. The Glycaemic Index (GI) is basically a measure of how quickly a carbohydrate is absorbed by the body.The lower the number the slower the absorption. Whilst there is nothing wrong with eating some foods which are high GI (for example watermelon), it is good to eat mainly foods which are in the low (below 55) or medium (55 to 70) range.Potatoes in the main are low GI, although some may be medium depending on how they are prepared.Even when dieting you still need energy. Eating potatoes as part of a healthy diet not only provides you with a good source of energy, but also essential vitamins and minerals. So you can enjoy eating potatoes on a low GI diet.

Fuel for Life

Dr Joe Kosterich M.B.B.S.Locally Grown Fresh Potatoes Health AmbassadorDoctor, speaker, author, media presenter and health industry consultant, Dr Joe Kosterich wants you to be healthy and get the most out of life.

Contact for Comment Mobile: 0466 157 736

FP_HealthCampaignFlyer_A5_FINAL_V2.indd 1 4/02/2014 9:33 am

There is a lot of confusion out there about just how healthy are potatoes?

Perceived unhealthiness is one of the two main barriers preventing consumers from eating more potatoes. The impact of this is prevents regular consumers from eating more and current non-purchasers from buying potatoes.

So, Fresh Potatoes enlisted Dr Joe Koservich as Health Ambassador for locally grown Fresh Potatoes to join the conversation. He knows potatoes are healthy and he intends on setting the record straight.

We asked Dr Joe three questions consumers ask when they think about potatoes (see below).

Lets talk about healthDr Joe is just one element of the Fresh Potatoes Health Campaign that runs from January through to March 2014. The full scope includes:

1. A heavy 2-week Shop-A-Light campaign targeting major supermarkets with the creative message ‘Potatoes Fuel For Life’.

2. Digital Coles and Woolworths campaigns within their online store. Banner adverts served to consumer in categories: potato chips, rice, pasta, fruit & veg to remind them about potatoes.

3. A 4-week radio campaign on the Red FM Network running 10 x 60 second ‘fact/myth busting’ style adverts where Dr Joe covered health topics: carbohydrates, starch, GI, fat, fibre, folate, B-vitamins, vitamin-C, potassium and cooking.

4. A PR stunt and delivered 100 x 1kg potatoes in a three hour window across eight commercial radio stations to prompt presenters to discuss potatoes without paying for advertising or sponsorship.

The stunt delivered a 12-minute one-on-one health segment with Dr Joe and 6PR’s Gary Ashead and ABC presenter Eoin Cameron spoke about his love of potatoes and promoted listeners to rethink potatoes.

To hear the Dr Joe radio interview with Gary Ashead and Red FM radio adverts, visit the news section of freshpotatoes.com.au

http://freshpotatoes.com.au


CARBS

2.5g

FAT

<1g

SAT FAT

<1g

ENERGY

190kj

SODIUM

13mg


Now Available

MINI KIPFLERS

Mini Kipfler are typically 20-40g in size. They are now grown in WA 12 months a year. Ask your favourite

Wholesaler or Potato Washpacker for some today.

“Baby Kipfler potatoes are so sweet with an

incomparable smooth waxiness. We simply

simmer them and then saute in Wagyu fat till

crispy to get all the beautiful flavours out.”

Dan MastersHead Chef - Rockpool

Bar & Grill Perth

www.freshpotatoes.com.au

Mini KipflerThe PMC and Fresh Potatoes have introduced a new product to the Food Service market. Mini Kipfler is now available for Chefs to buy as 20–40 grams. The program is supported with a 12 month planting schedule to ensure consistent supply.

Mini Kipfler this is just one of many initiatives the PMC are working on to meet market demand.

If you’d like more information on the program, please contact Larry Hegarty, PMC Senior Operations Officer.

On Thursday 6th February the Potato Marketing Corporation (PMC) launched Karri Country Potatoes, a new regional brand for the Manjimup Pemberton Region. The product is currently distributed through Pemberton Washpackers and APB's at The Perth Market Authority in a 2kg bags, all varieties.

The product is available in 20 major Green Grocers and Independent IGA’s across Perth with 40 more stores expected to roll out across the state in the coming weeks.

Marketing is supporting the launch with a heavyweight promotional activity including press, digital, social media plus a “Win A Holiday to Manjimup Pemberton” consumer competition.

This new regional brand enables customers to easily identify the origin of their produce and choose to purchase some of the best WA has to offer. Karri Country Potatoes is supported by the Southern Forests Food Council, meaning its products are co-branded with the council’s Genuinely Southern Forests brand — the first of many exciting regional products which meet the SFFC’s exacting standards for fresh, premium local produce.

This is a value driving initiative by the introduction of a new product line to extract maximum value from existing grading standard. This is the first of many regional brands the Potato Marketing Corporation hope to launch.

If you would like more information please feel free to the Potato Marketing Corporation.

KARRI COUNTRY POTATOESNOW AVAILABLE!



Monday 10th February the Potato Marketing Corporation hosted 80 Top Chefs, Growers, Media, and Industry at Don Hancey’s HQ Panorama Catering for the 2014 Chef's Sundowner!

Potatodors Pete Manifis, Sophie Budd, Chris Malone and Ian Leaning treated VIF (Very Important Foodies) The West’s Rob Broadfield, Linley Valley’s John Thompson and WA’s best hamburger flipper Justin Bell from Just Burgers to delicious potato-based cocktail food.

Plenty of industry personnel turned out including The Potato Growers Association’s Jim Turley, Southern Forrest Food Council’s Allen Burtenshaw and members from Galati Group and Beta Spuds. Media guests included The Sunday Times, Western Suburbs Weekly editors and Bob Garnant from The Countryman.

The PMC would like to thank everyone who helped bring the event together and send a big thank you to all growers who attended.

It was a terrific shot in the arm for the industry, tremendous vibe and good time all round.

1 Pete Manifis and assistant chef. 2 Pete Manifis, Sophie Budd and Don Hancey.3 Rob Broadfield, Vince Garreffa and Pete Manifis.4 John Thompson, Pete Manifis and Don Hancey.

CHEF’S SUNDOWNERThe event of the year!

L to R: Chris Malone, Ian Leaning, Richard Taylor, Pete Manifis, Sophie Budd, Don Hancey and Dan Sharp.

1 2

3 4

Vegetable_WA_FULLPAGE_outlines.indd 1 8/23/2013 4:11:40 PM

PRODUCTIONYOUR



The Orderly Marketing System for fresh potatoes is currently subject to a review within the Economic Regulation Authority’s inquiry into microeconomic reform in Western Australia. One submission painted our system in a negative light by providing inaccurate and misleading information about our industry.

The PGA is confident that this one view can be easily countered and has engaged a consultant to help write a report to extoll the virtues of the regulated system.

Pool 3 is now halfway through with many growers experiencing problems with both internal and external quality. These issues will impact on individual grower returns and act as a drag on the pool as a whole.

While initiatives such as educating consumers to accept potatoes that are challenged cosmetically should be vigorously explored now. Greater emphasis must be directed on finding agronomic solutions to our quality problems. With the increasing cost of planting a crop of potatoes and the ever increasing quality standards being forced upon us, it may be no longer viable to plant a crop into soil that has unknown or low levels of soil health parameters. Failure to adopt new techniques and a science based approach to these issues will result in lower returns to growers.

On a more positive note I attended the recent Chef's Sundower at Don Hancey’s Panorama Catering. It was great to see so many chefs and media people enthusiastically embracing the fresh potato industry. Our appreciation must go to the Potatodors who work hard to promote educate and support our industry.

BY DEAN RYANPRESIDENT, POTATO GROWERS ASSOCIATION

President’s Report

Potato GrowersAssociation Inc.

Summer is over and there has been no rain. From now on we are looking at the skies for that elusive rain.

I recently saw a documentary, on farmers, in far north Queensland regarding their drought which they have been experiencing for the past three to four years. It was really tragic. As vegetable growers, we supply, to our customers and consumers, perfect quality vegetables. I often wonder how much these farmers would benefit from our waste.

There are times in life when you experience a win — it is totally fantastic! In December, we had some solar panels installed upon our shed roof. Certainly purchasing them is expensive. Weighing up the pros and cons regarding how many panels we wanted and how many kilowatts we wanted it to produce and also whether the solar company that we chose was reputable. But foremost was how much money was it going to save us and how long will it take to pay it off. How fantastic was it when finally they were switched on we saw our power usage go down.

Recently, I read a story about networking and communication. The story was about a farmer who grew award-winning corn. Each year this farmer entered his corn in the state fair where it won a blue ribbon. One year a newspaper reporter interviewed him and learned something interesting about how he grew it. The reporter discovered that the farmer shared his seed corn with his neighbours.

“How can you afford to share your best seed corn with your neighbours when they are entering corn in competition with yours each year?” the reporter asked.

“Why sir,” said the farmer, “the wind picks up pollen from the ripening corn and swirls it from field to field. If my neighbours grow inferior corn, cross-pollination will steadily degrade the quality of my corn. If I am to grow good corn, I must help my neighbours grow good corn.” You see — his corn cannot improve unless his neighbour’s corn also improves.

The 2014 Ausveg National Convention, Trade Show and Awards for Excellence will be held in Cairns. Growers are encouraged to attend and see some of the latest innovations and research being done.

The Farmer on Your Plate event is happening again. It is being held in Forrest Place on the 29th March. Farming Champions will be celebrating the International Year of Family Farming. Albeit that we, as vegetable growers, as called market gardeners, WE ARE FARMERS! Farming Champions want to engage with the community about the alarming number of farmers leaving their lands. They also want to share the importance of family farms and to celebrate the importance of agriculture to Australians. If you have time — come along.

President’s Report

BY MAUREEN DOBRAPRESIDENT, VEGETABLESWA


PRODUCTIONYOUR

YOUR PRODUCTION


YOUR PRODUCTION

Isn’t it remarkable that we recognise the fact that the world faces huge problems in terms of water, energy and food security — and yet we tend to tackle these as separate problems, as if they have no interconnections.

So here’s a radical idea. What if the world’s food, water and energy problems were tackled together, in a way that lowered costs and made the whole greater than the sum of the parts?

A project is taking shape in Australia that promises to take just such an approach. It’s very small in scale at the moment, and is limited to just fresh vegetables — but it does demonstrate great potential because of the links it builds between water, energy and food.

Food grown without oil or fresh waterAt the top of the Spencer Gulf, near Port Augusta in South Australia, Sundrop Farms is turning sunlight and seawater into fresh water and food inside greenhouses.

Philipp Saumweber is a Harvard MBA, formerly of investment bank Goldman Sachs, who was struck by the basic idea that food needs to be produced in a very different way from how it largely is today.

Currently, most agriculture relies heavily on using oil and adding fresh water — two of the most vulnerable resources on the planet — as well as overuse of fertilisers, herbicides and pesticides that damage the wider environment.

Tomatoes watered by the sea: sprouting a new way of farming

Sundrop Farms, South Australia.

BY PROFESSOR JOHN A. MATHEWSMGSM MACQUARIE UNIVERSITY


YOUR PRODUCTION

His response to that problem is Sundrop Farms. The concept is to turn sunlight and seawater (“sundrops”) into clean food, water and energy. It harnesses the sun’s energy to produce heat that is then used to desalinate seawater and supply freshwater to a greenhouse; to power the greenhouse with a linked concentrated solar power plant; and to produce the heat needed to warm (and cool) the greenhouse.

It is by linking these different components that their individual cost disadvantages can be overcome: for example, by shared power and heat production, and by linking thermal desalination to the heated oil produced by the solar power system.

The food produced is clean, uniform and produced with minimal use of pesticides, since the sterilised airflow reduces pest invasion and the location of the system in arid regions away from other agricultural activities also reduces the risk of invasion.

Scaling up from a greenhouseSundrop Farms now has a 0.2 hectare greenhouse area, producing 150 tonnes of tomatoes, cucumbers and capsicums a year. While still small by horticultural standards — supplying only a small number of South Australian stockists — it’s a promising start, with a reference yield of 750 tonnes per hectare per year.

The project is currently being scaled-up 100-fold to encompass a 20-hectare greenhouse complex, with associated desalination and concentrated solar power systems to produce 15,000 tonnes of fresh produce each year.

A development application is being submitted to the Port Augusta town council, along with arrangements to finalise details of the funding of the A$100 million project. Australia’s profitable “green investment bank”, the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC), is providing debt financing for up to A$40 million of the investment.

I briefly discussed Sundrop Farms in an article for The Conversation late last year on the CEFC, which is targeted to be scrapped by the Abbott government.

Since then I have examined the Sundrop project in more detail. As several Conversation readers have rightly commented, the Sundrop model is not a solution for every kind of agriculture.

It is clearly not going to replace broad acre farming for wheat or potatoes, or animal husbandry. Instead, it is most likely to work for growing fresh vegetables, then flowers, and possibly in the longer-run for some kinds of fish farming.

What it does demonstrate, as others have also said, is that there are smarter, better integrated solutions to difficult problems, such as fresh water scarcity and agriculture in arid areas.

Big potential, with constraintsSimilar farms could be located anywhere there is an arid coastline: in Africa, the Middle East, Central and Latin America or parts of Asia. They could be located next to growing cities where there is access to seawater and sunshine — such as in China or Africa.

It seems to me that the concept looks most promising if it could be scaled up to the levels needed by China, which is rapidly urbanising and industrialising at the same time.

There are still some big challenges, including the costs of the produce and of transporting it to market. And to get the economies of scale needed to make it viable, you would need to have major retailers — like supermarkets — on-board as stockists.

Let’s be clear: there is no single answer for the world’s food needs. And there are still huge research challenges in reinventing food production in a crowded world.

But there are also vast entrepreneurial opportunities. So from an Australian perspective, it will be exciting to keep watching to see how the Sundrop Farms model works out.

MORE INFORMATION

Text and images: http://theconversation.com/tomatoes-watered-by-the-sea-sprouting-a-new-way-of-farming-23119

Sundrop Farms is turning sunlight and seawater into fresh water and food inside greenhouses.

http://theconversation.com/tomatoes-watered-by-the-sea-sprouting-a-new-way-of-farming-23119




YOUR PRODUCTION

Every grower has a responsibility to manage pests and diseases on their property to protect themselves as well as the wider industry, environment and community from the potentially devastating impacts of pests and diseases.

If you’ve been hearing the term “Farm biosecurity” a lot recently, you might be wondering what all the fuss is about? You might even be asking “what is farm biosecurity?”

Farm biosecurity is the management of risks to the economy, the environment, and the community, of pests and diseases entering, emerging, establishing or spreading throughout the industry.

In other words, farm biosecurity is correct property management to protect your business and the businesses of those around you, and it should be an essential consideration for all growers. Effective biosecurity on farms is becoming increasingly important with the increase in movement of plants, animals, product, people and equipment around WA, Australia and the world.

Management of pests and diseases is the responsibility of every grower on their property. If a pest or disease becomes established on your farm, it will impact on you business by increasing costs (labour, chemical use, monitoring etc), reducing productivity (yield and/or quality) and can even result in loss of markets. If it impacts on your production, it is likely that it will also impact your neighbours’ production and possibly the production of the whole region. Can you afford to ignore farm biosecurity on your property?

BY SARAH HOUSTONFIELD EXTENSION OFFICER,VEGETABLESWABiosecurity on

vegetable farmsYou play an essential role in protecting your farm and the entire vegetable industry

The Colorado potato beetle (Leptinotarsa decemlineata) is a serious pest of potatoes, tomatoes and eggplants. The beetle is widespread throughout Europe, Asia, Mexico and in western US.


YOUR PRODUCTION

Vegetable growers can implement a number of measures as part of their normal farming procedures to improve biosecurity on their own farm as well as that of the region, while also minimising production losses and unnecessary costs in the future.

Biosecurity risks can come from a number of sources. Make sure you understand the risks and have measures in place to prevent pest and disease outbreaks.

Farm inputsAnything moved onto your property can be a source of pests and diseases. Monitor animals, plant materials, water, feed and fertiliser that enter the property.

People, vehicles and equipmentIf it can move, it can carry diseases, pests and weeds. People, vehicles and equipment pose a high biosecurity risk and should be managed accordingly.

Production practicesReduce the risk of spreading pests and diseases by implementing simple biosecurity measures as part of your every-day farm management practices.

Ferals, pests and weedsFeral animals, plant pests and weeds are a widespread nuisance and can harm your business, so they need to be actively controlled.

Farm outputsYou have a responsibility to ensure things that leave your property are not a biosecurity risk to your community.

Training, planning and record keepingEnsure all staff members are well trained, you can trace where animals or plants come and go, and keep records of purchases, sales and movements.

What you do on your farm not only impacts on your own production and viability, but it can also effect other farmers in your area. This means that biosecurity is a regional concern and all growers should take steps to do the right thing to ensure the ongoing viability of vegetable production in their region.

A regional approach is required to ensure correct measures are implemented on all properties in the area and improve the overall effectiveness of good biosecurity practices. Biosecurity threats such as the outbreak of a serious pest or disease can be minimised if a collaborative approach is taken.

It is important that all growers understands their region’s vulnerability to pest and disease outbreaks, knows the source and nature of these threats, recognises their responsibilities, and commits to implementing biosecurity measures, surveillance and reporting.

Implementation of biosecurity on each individual farm underpins the success of regional biosecurity, which in turn determines the success of national biosecurity. If on-farm measures are supported by community based measures, a coordinated regional framework for biosecurity can be achieved and all producers are contributing to lowering the risks of pest and disease outbreaks.

MORE INFORMATION

For further information, visit the Farm Biosecurity website at www.farmbiosecurity.com.au. The website provides information for farmers including livestock and crop management as well as toolkits available to help implement robust biosecurity measures on your farm.

vegetablesWA Field Extension Officers Sarah Houston and Truyen Vo are also available to assist growers in regards to farm biosecurity in WA. Contact: Sarah Houston, email [email protected] or phone 0427 373 037 or Truyen Vo, email [email protected] or phone 0457 457 559.

Some basic steps can be taken to help improve on farm biosecurity in your business and reduce the risk of pest or disease outbreaks.

1 Be aware of biosecurity threatsMake sure you, your farm workers and contractors are familiar with the most important vegetable pest threats. Conduct a biosecurity induction session on your farm to explain hygiene practices for workers, equipment and vehicles.

2 Use quality, pest-free propagation material from known sourcesEnsure all propagation material (seed, transplants, tubers, corms, bulbs, rhizomes, etc.) and farm inputs are fully tested and pest free. Keep records (batch numbers, source) and retain a sample of your farm inputs.

3 Keep it cleanPracticing good sanitation and hygiene will help prevent the entry and movement of pests onto your property. Workers, visitors, vehicles and equipment can spread pests, so make sure they are decontaminated before they enter and leave your farm.

4 Check your cropMonitor your crops frequently. Knowing the usual crop appearance will help you recognise new or unusual pests or plant symptoms. Keep written and photographic records of all unusual observations. Constant vigilance is vital for early detection of any exotic plant pest.

5 Abide by the lawSupport and be aware of laws and regulations established to protect the vegetable industry and other horticultural industries in your region.

6 Report anything unusualIf you suspect a new pest — report it to the Exotic Plant Pest Hotline

1800 084 881

http://www.farmbiosecurity.com.au

mailto:sarah.houston%40vegetableswa.com.au?subject=

mailto:truyen.vo%40vegeatbleswa.com.au?subject=


YOUR PRODUCTION

Metham sodium is an important soil fumigant used on many Western Australian farms, but can also be dangerous to human health.

Several changes in the conditions for its registration have occurred over recent years and some growers may no longer be applying it as required and directed on the product label.

After several potentially dangerous incidents were brought to light last year, a workshop was held to inform growers of their responsibilities and obligations in using all chemicals on-farm.

Following the workshop, Baldivis Market Gardens took a good hard look at itself and realised some changes needed to be made.

Sam Calameri and Charlie Blogna became aware they were applying metham sodium incorrectly, and realised that not following the label was a huge risk to their business that might result in crop not being accepted by markets and possible danger to workers. An incident with the chemical would be sure to result in financial stress and possible legal action.

The label on chemical products registered by the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority is not only intended to minimise waste and cost through providing correct instruction of the rates and application of chemicals, but also to protect users and the environment. It is a legally-binding document that the purchaser and user agree to follow.

Where metham had been applied the oats did not emerge from the soil. This showed that the metham gas still moved up though the profile when applied at about 20cm deep using tynes with sprays nozzles behind them (Figure 2).

To test the spread of the sprays, a channel was dug across the field and the tynes moved through the soil until reaching the channel. The spray pattern was assessed using water to see if the spread was adequate from behind the tynes.

Through careful examination of the label, Sam and Charlie also noticed that the volume of water used to apply the chemical could be increased, meaning larger spray nozzles could be used behind the tynes which resulted in less risk of blockage.

They also identified decanting the metham as a safety hazard. Charlie designed the rig to minimise any risk of chemical spillage making it safer for the operator. An onboard water tank allows any flushing of the rig to be done in the field, not around the shed.

Baldivis Market Gardenschange for the better

Sam, identifying safety of his staff, produce, and business as the highest priority, also saw that he might be able to improve the effectiveness of the chemical by changing the recommended method of application.

Sam and Charlie could find no off-the-shelf solution to suit their farm. After discussion with the manufacturer and looking at reference papers, Charlie set about designing a special fumigation rig.

One criticism of applying metham as suggested on the label was the speed of application. Previously allowed methods were much quicker, although not as safe. Their new method would take slightly longer but was acceptable because it was considered more effective.

Other concerns were that when applying metham sodium under the ground, it was hard to tell if it was working, if the nozzles were blocked, and that the correct rate was being applied to the soil.

To test the effectiveness of the new rig Charlie built (Figure 1), he and Sam did two tests. Oats were sown prior to metham being applied in strips along the test area.

Several changes in the conditions for Metham sodium registration have occurred and some growers may no longer be applying it as directed on the product label.

BY ROHAN PRINCEDEVELOPMENT OFFICER, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE AND FOOD, WA


YOUR PRODUCTION

Figure 1 Custom-built metham sodium application rig used by Baldivis Market Gardens.

Figure 2 Large spray nozzles behind closely-spaced tynes evenly distributed the chemical into the soil.

Figure 3 Buried tynes create space for spray nozzles to apply the chemical, then a flat bar levels the soil before the heavy roller seals the soil to prevent loss of gases.

This minimises the risk of accidental exposure of other staff who are not wearing personal protection equipment.

Their good practice is not only using the chemical according to the label instructions, but identifying all potential effectiveness, safety and business issues and addressing them prior to full development of the machinery.

The operator commented that he felt a lot safer being able to apply metham using this rig and that it had expanded the hours he could work. The weather does not matter as everything is underground and roller seals the soil so no fumes are released (Figure 3).

An additional benefit is less water required to apply the chemical. With a roller that seals the damp ground, there is no need to maintain irrigation for long periods to prevent gas from travelling off-site.

Through good practice the farm has reduced its business risks, increased effectiveness of a chemical, reduced unnecessary water use, and increased the hours of operation and the safety to all staff on the farm.

These are all good outcomes for the business!

1

2

3

GoodpracticeThe updated Good Practice Guide and Carnarvon Good Agricultural Practice Guide are available on the vegetablesWA website.

In collaboration with vegetablesWA, the Department of Agriculture and Food recently updated the Good Practice Guide for vegetable production in Western Australia.

This is available on the vegetablesWA website and includes information relevant for vegetables grown on soils other than the sands of the coastal plain.

The Carnarvon Good Agricultural Practice Guide is also available to download on the website.

MORE INFORMATION

Please visit www.vegetableswa.com.au/goodpractice.asp

Department ofAgriculture and Food


http://www.vegetableswa.com.au/goodpractice.asp

http://www.vegetableswa.com.au/goodpractice.asp


YOUR PRODUCTION

Late 2013 was extremely challenging for Carnarvon irrigators with low

water availability and irregular supply affecting the region.

Carnarvonirrigation report card


YOUR PRODUCTION

Making the most of the available water is vital, and following 51 assessments on 25 properties funded through Royalties for Regions, we have found a few areas for on-farm improvement of irrigation systems.

Some properties were doing things well, but most showed areas where efficiency could be improved, helping boost overall returns.

For two tomato crops, just over 6.0 and 8.5 megalitres per hectare were applied over the season. This is low compared with other regions, and using drip irrigation and plastic mulch to conserve water is a good indication that growers are trying to use water efficiently.

Drip irrigation can be a very efficient method of applying water and fertiliser to crops. However, the best irrigation system is only as efficient as it is installed, maintained and operated. A system that applies water evenly within a shift allows for correct scheduling and is the first step to efficient irrigation.

Three key areas showed room for improvement — design, monitoring and production records.

System design and installation Design deficiencies lead to uneven water pressures resulting in varying volumes of water being delivered from drippers within shifts. Emission uniformity (EU), a measure of the difference in water application from drippers within blocks, ranged from 71 to 98% with the average at about 86%.

Emission uniformity is vital in order to schedule irrigation without risking over- and under-watering areas within crops. A good EU for drip irrigation will be greater than 90–95%.

EUs below 90% mean that some sections of the block will be overwatered, while others are drought-stressed, making it difficult to schedule and choose a representative area to monitor the effectiveness of irrigation.

Design issues observed during the assessment process included:

BY ROHAN PRINCE & TILWIN WESTRUPWATER EFFICIENCY PROJECT, DAFWA

• Undersized sub-mains causing large pressure drops between emitters at the start and end of the sub-main

• Drip lines that were too long and resulted in large flow variation from the inlet to the end of the lines

• Insufficient filtration and flushing of lines leading to blockages at the end of lines.

Need for monitoring was observed in the two crops observed in Carnarvon. While the total volume of water applied was not excessive, there were periods of over- and under-watering throughout the season.

By using soil moisture sensors to monitor the soil and the plant water use, growers may be able to reduce leaching events and maintain more constant water availability in the root zone. This will lead to lower plant stress and better production and quality.

Correctly installing, reading and using the data collected from soil moisture monitoring will improve water use efficiency and may improve yield and quality. Selecting the most appropriate gear will be determined by budget, requirements and cropping situation.

Often testing the gear on-site is necessary to determine how it works for your farm. Ask for a demonstration on your farm to make sure you are making the best choice.

Record keepingThe third area where improvement can be made is recording practices to be used as benchmarks for continually improving your business. While yield is important and the most frequently recorded figure, it is usually a yearly figure for the whole farm.

Keeping records of inputs (labour, chemicals, fertiliser and water, packing, grading) as well as outputs (yield and quality) on a block basis or planting, can lead to valuable information such as returns being calculated. Informed decisions can then be made about the areas on-farm and commodities that are that are profitable or not.

Benchmarking is also valuable for prioritising variable inputs (fertiliser, labour, water) as well as capital investment like improvements to irrigation. Without detailed figures it is difficult to make decisions and justify why or why not to make changes in a business.

Recommendations to overcome these issues include:

• Consult your supplier or a certified irrigation designer for a good design that takes into account hydraulic losses and install the system as designed.

• Correctly size sub-mains to cope with the volume of water for the shift. This may require increasing pipe diameter at the start of the sub-main before reducing to smaller diameter pipe to cope with the extra water passing through the first section.

• Shift sub-mains from the end to the middle of the block and running drip lines out either way, reducing their length by half and therefore reducing pressure loss.

• Ensure taps or flushing valves are installed at the ends of the drip lines to allow periodic flushing.

• Match the pump’s capacity and the flow of the tape with the length of the shift to ensure that the recommended volume and pressure can be delivered to each shift.

Monitoring Monitoring is an essential part of scheduling to confirm the irrigation being applied reaches the depth required, meeting plant demand and minimising drainage and therefore leaching of nutrients. Lack of soil moisture monitoring makes it difficult for growers to ensure water applied is meeting the plants’ demand without excessive drainage.

YOUR PRODUCTION


In early February 2014, a number of Vietnamese leek growers in Bullsbrook introduced modified field practices that were effective to control stable fly breeding.

It is important that the new practices are compatible to the current grower practices as well as comply with the BAM act (stable fly management plan 2013).

Under the 2013 management plan of the Biosecurity and Agricultural Management Act 2007 (Stable Fly) vegetable growers are required to use practices that minimise breeding of stable flies on their properties. This includes only using composted or otherwise treated poultry manure. It also requires using practices including; treating the residues in the field within three days of completing harvest by mulching, or similar practices to break the crop residue into small pieces which are allowed to dry, with minimal irrigation, before spraying and incorporation into the soil by hoeing.

However, the current farming conditions are making it difficult to implement these recommendations. The harvested and unharvested areas are often watered at the same time until the whole area is finished. Also, the mulching machine is not commonly available in small-scale farms while insecticide application is an extra cost to growers with no obvious direct benefit.

To overcome these obstacles, Vietnamese leek growers in the area have modified their conventional practices towards meeting the stable fly control requirement. The two modified practices are as simple as:

1. Spreading crops residues over garden beds to be dried under the heat of the sun until the next sequence harvest. Spraying insecticide along the tractor wheel track prior the first hoeing and repeat hoeing after every sequence harvest.

2. Spreading crop residue on the bed to be dried under the heat of the sun until the next sequence harvest and hoeing every few days until the harvesting of whole area is finished (this practice was reported worth controlling weeds too).

Modified practices effective in controlling stable fly

BY VO THE TRUYENVIETNAMESE FIELD EXTENSION OFFICER, VEGETABLESWA

The field inspections have proved that these growers’ modified practices are effective to control stable fly.

It was found that the number of larva has significantly been reduced. These practices may have accelerated the breakdown of the organic matter while continuously disturbed the stable fly breeding ground as well as the larva development environment.

Although the long term effectiveness of these control measure is still needed to be confirmed because research has shown that stable flies are highly suited to our hot climate and its larvae can easily survive on our sandy soils (where temperatures often exceed 50 degrees Centigrade), the preliminary results from field observations are promising.

The growers’ modified field practices are complying with the recommendations in the BAM act (stable fly management plan 2013) to minimise breeding of stable flies on grower properties and more importantly they are easy for other growers to adopt.


TIMETOOL


TOOL TIME

The policyAfter only having had the policy comprehensively reviewed by the previous Government less than 18 months ago, the current Federal Government has selected a panel to again review the Renewable Energy Target (RET).The RET scheme is designed to ensure that 20 per cent of Australia’s electricity comes from renewable sources by 2020. It was designed to support a fledgling renewables industry, and to “transform our electricity generation mix to cleaner and more diverse sources” according to the Department of Environment website. Since early 2011, the RET has been split into Small Scale Technology Certificates (STCs) which may appear on-charged on your account as an SRES charge, and Large Scale Generation Certificates (LGCs) which may appear as LRET.

STCs and LGCs are a tradable commodity, similar to shares. They are a sort of ‘carbon credit’, which are created upon the installation of a renewable energy system, which, when assigned to the retailer selling the system, deducts the value of the certificates (the retailer buys them from the purchaser), reducing the amount having to be paid for the system upfront. The retailer then ‘bundles’ the STCs into

saleable lots, and companies such as energy retailers and generators, who have commitments to meet under the RET, purchase them.

The reviewAlthough this system has provided a base from the industry to grow and flourish over the last few years, in recent times as the equipment has become more affordable and common, there has also been criticism as the RET has been blamed for being a contributing factor to increasing energy bills, (because the retailers pass on this cost to consumers), and for being an overly generous form of middle class welfare. In a recent interview with Alan Jones, the Prime Minister claimed that the target was having a “not insignificant” impact on power prices and when Mr Jones responded by saying it was “not affordable”, the Prime Minister agreed that “If it goes too far it becomes very, very costly”.

For both residential and commercial solar PV systems up to and including 100kW, STCs form the basis of the upfront discount that retailers are able to offer, to reduce the initial capital cost of the purchase. If the RET were to be discontinued this would have a

Renewable Energy Target in government’s sights


TOOL TIME

The eventNorth Event

Wednesday 30th April at 3pmLoose Leaf Lettuce

198 Ashby Road GINGIN

South EventWednesday 7th May at 3pm

Ivankovich FarmsOld Coast Road MYALUP

dramatic effect on the price of large scale commercial solar systems, (which are becoming common for growers), as a 100kW system in Perth receives over $74,000 of price reduction benefit (ex GST) from the trading of the STCs it creates, providing more than ¼ of the purchase price.

The problemThe solar industry has had a variety of subsidies over the last six or seven years, which have either been reviewed or changed with little or no notice. As an example, the industry was informed at 8am one day that the $8000 rebate for 1kW systems (the current scheme at that time) was ending that day, and that all applications for the rebate had to be sent to Canberra by 5pm or consumers would miss out. Similarly, with the ending of Feed in Tariff incentives for residential customers selling exported electricity back to the grid, the scheme was ended with no prior warning. The reason for this is simple — if you give people too much notice before a change of this type, it will create a massive rush before the scheme is closed off, which blows a budget which is being pulled because it has already reached a designated funding ceiling.

There are four possible options that we can see as potential outcomes of this review:

1. The review recommends no change

2. The 2020 term of the RET is changed

3. The amount of STCs are reduced

4. The whole scheme is scrapped.

The solutionSolargain has been engaged by many growers in recent months including Loose Leaf Lettuce, Wesgrowers, Ivankovich Farms, Oduem Farms and related industry firms such as Express Fresh and United Crate, to provide solar systems, and given the size and nature of the investment, we understand that this is a decision that should not be rushed. However, the potential for such significant amounts of funding to be lost without notice has caused us to act and act now.

Therefore, Solargain would like to present an opportunity to growers to take advantage of the RET and the resultant STCs whilst they are still available, in a way that provides for a no obligation assessment of the opportunity.

To find out more, we are holding an info session BBQ (North and South) in conjunction with vegetablesWA.

Also in attendance will be other speakers including Enernoc to discuss energy management opportunities, and a representative from an energy retailer who will discuss obligations and changes to electricity supply contracts in an environment where you are attempting to reduce consumption.

MORE INFORMATION

For any questions relating to this event, please contact Paul Hart of Solargain on 0458 001 765

Harness the sun on your farm!

INDUSTRYYOUR


TOOL TIME

A new branch of precision agriculture is beginning to take shape with the development of precision irrigation systems, or more specifically, Variable Rate Irrigation (VRI).

Being a key management consideration in vegetable production, Irrigation can be managed by adjusting the timing, the rate and the method of application. Optimising all three of these irrigation factors within a crop is the key to water use efficiency and optimising crop growth and yields.

Over the years, the industry has been actively researching best irrigation practice for different soil types, different crop types, and different environments.

In WA for example, there has been much focus on the optimal time to irrigate a crop on a sandy soil, as well as which irrigation methods or system (overhead sprinklers, drip/trickle, pivot systems etc) best suit particular crops production systems.

Precision irrigation looks at taking one step further in optimising irrigation efficiency. Specifically, VRI concentrates on the rate at which water is applied to a crop and how the rate can be tailored so that individual sections of a crop receive the appropriate amount for the soil type and crop factors at a precise location.

Ultimately, the aim of VRI is of course to achieve a more precise matching of water application to the requirements of the crop.

BY SARAH HOUSTONFIELD EXTENSION OFFICER,VEGETABLESWA

The future of precision farming and water use efficiency for irrigated crops

Different soil types within a cropping area will have different water infiltration, capacity and supply characteristics, and plant growth will be influenced by these factors.

If an cropping area contains spots that have different soil types and hence water demands, then the water use efficiency will be maximised if the irrigation system can cater for the different areas individually.

The most promising research focusing on using this technology to date has been seen with centre pivot irrigators, with trials being undertaken in various countries around the world, including Australia. The technology uses GPS and micro-controllers to bring the concept of automated VRI to life with the ability to now fit centre pivots with a range of variable rate controls and supporting technology.

On a normal centre pivot irrigation system, the sprinklers are spaced and sized to provide a uniform amount of water to the area within the circular area covered by the boom. By using electronic controllers and flow valves, it is possible to regulate and change the amount of water coming from each sprinkler along the boom of the pivot as necessary. A GPS is attached to the pivot which enables the controller to identify the position of the pivot at any time during the rotation, and this can then be compared to a water allocation map of the field that has previously been determined.

Using these tools, different rates of water can be applied to different parts of the crop under the pivot system based on a pre-defined record of crop, soil and water details and the management goals.

VRI is possible with a pivot irrigation system as the technology allows for complex adjustments where part of the pivot boom might be applying double the normal rate and another part applying half the normal rate. The controller can dictate the rates of application by adjusting the pivot speed and the cycle time of each individual sprinkler, and hence a variable rate of water can be applied at different spots as required.

Work on precision irrigation is still in the early days and there is limited information available on the cost/benefit analysis or feasibility of the technology as it stands today. However, recent research has been positive and the technology is set to develop rapidly. With the potential to increase both water use and economic efficiencies by optimising the rate of water applied to specific areas of a crop, this is an area of irrigation technology to look out for in the future.

For further information, contact your local precision agriculture expert, or visit SPAA (Precision Agriculture Australia) at www.spaa.com.au.

http://www.spaa.com.au


INDUSTRYYOUR

YOUR INDUSTRY


YOUR INDUSTRY

myths

BY RICHARD RICHARDSCHIEF RESEARCH SCIENTIST PLANT INDUSTRY, CSIRO

5Topabout genetic modification


YOUR INDUSTRY

Myth 1GM is just haphazard, imprecise cross-breedingIn genetic engineering, scientists can very precisely select genes and introduce them into their target species. For example, genes that produce insulin for medical use have been introduced into bacteria. Genes from bacteria have been introduced into corn or cotton to dramatically reduce insect damage.

In fact, the most dramatic genetic modifications to our crops occurred naturally thousands of years ago when chance events resulted in hybrids of different species.

Some of these events have resulted in some of our most important crops such as wheat, sugar cane, canola and cotton.

The wheat we consume today, for example, is a natural hybrid of three different wild species. This has resulted in bringing tens of thousands of genes together in several independent events. It is responsible for wheat being such an important crop.

Modern wheat breeders release new varieties after introducing thousands of unknown genes from wild grasses without any regulatory requirements or special testing and with no genetic engineering involved.

This is very haphazard and we do not know what genes are being introduced, apart from the target gene we know is present. The irony is that the precise introduction of a single gene is heavily regulated yet the introduction of thousands of unknown genes from wild grasses into a new wheat variety via traditional breeding methods is regarded as being completely acceptable.

Myth 2GM is a cure-all for more efficient land use and food securityIt is important to remember GM technologies are just one of the tools that may be useful. Other important contributions to land use and food security come from traditional breeding, agronomy, land management and sustainability research.

Breeding new varieties of any species requires multiple selection and evaluation methodologies, and there are a lot of conditions at play when developing better wheat.

A new variety has to offer an advantage to the grower, it must have good yields and be adapted to the region where it is grown. It must also have good resistance or tolerance to diseases.

More importantly, it must be beneficial for end users and consumers.

In fact, breeding combines many traits together some of which are simple and some of which are complex. Usually, GM technology contributes only one or two of these traits, although combinations of up to eight genes are now in corn.

Some of these traits may be simply inherited (single gene) — such as plant height or flowering time.

But most are controlled by many genes, including performance in dry environments, grain yield, tolerance to high temperatures, and once the wheat is turned into flour, improved baking quality.

GM technologies are generally only suitable for the single gene traits, not complex multigenic ones. Over time, GM may contribute to factors such as grain yield and drought resistance as we learn more about the basic biology underpinning these traits and identify the key genes to optimise.

Myth 3GM is harmful to the environmentIn fact, there have been many environmental benefits from GM.

GM technologies have massively reduced pesticide use in all circumstances where pests have been targeted.

For example, the GM cotton varieties bred by CSIRO that are insect resistant reduce pesticide use by up to 80%.

This reduced use of pesticides has other flow-on effects: less greenhouse gas associated with lower diesel use; less pesticide run-off; less residual pesticides; more biodiversity and improvements in human safety.

about genetic modification

YOUR INDUSTRY


Both GM crops and non-GM crops with inbuilt herbicide resistance have also resulted in improved agricultural practices. This has resulted in more efficient water and light use, less soil degradation and improved yields for farmers.

Myth 4GM means creating FrankenfoodsFar from creating radical changes to plants, GM produces defined improvements to existing crop plants that meet a recognised need, such as food quality, increased yield or pest resistance. Strong regulatory systems ensure that GM crops meet stringent standards.

The reality is that scientists experiment with purpose and for beneficial outcomes. There is no use breeding a crop with no market need. Regulatory costs and market demand drive what genes will be introduced into crops.

Almost all introductions will be to improve crop production, quality and health outcomes. Other crops will be modified to change management practices, such as introducing resistance to herbicides.

Often GM technologies don’t involve the introduction of any new genes from another species. Rather they turn the “volume” up or down of a certain gene already present in our crops (rather than introducing foreign genes).

Some of them just silence, or “turn off ”, a particular gene. Silencing can be important in modifying grain composition. For example, modifying starches can result in grains that have the potential to reduce the incidence of certain cancers.

Turning up the volume is used to over express some genes, such as those that detoxify excess levels of aluminium in the soil or solubilise nutrients in the soil to improve the nutrition of plants.

Myth 5The GM research agenda is run by big multinationalsGM research has contributed greatly to our understanding of how plants function and this has delivered tremendous benefits to both traditional breeding and to opportunities for GM crops.

However, commercial introductions are extremely costly due to the extensive regulatory processes required by different territories before GM crops can either be grown or utilised for feed and food purposes.

The public sector, through institutions such as CSIRO, also expends considerable research dollars on GM research.

Regardless of this, GM products will not be adopted by growers if they negatively impact their farming operations or they do not capture value in their farm products.

It is largely up to farmers which GM varieties they grow and market. More importantly, if consumers do not accept them, then they will not be grown.

By way of example, the adoption of insect resistant varieties and herbicide resistant varieties by farmers has been spectacularly successful.

It must represent some of the fastest technology adoption ever by farmers.

This has occurred because these varieties offer genuine benefits in terms of the cost, timeliness and sustainability of their overall farming operations.

Despite this, traditional varieties remain available and can be maintained if farmers wish to continue growing them for a particular performance or market demand.

The vast majority of funding for CSIRO’s research relating to gene technology comes from government funding, non-profit organisations and research centres.

There is investment from private companies but investment from all these sources makes up less than 0.2% of CSIRO’s total budget of $1 billion.

GM technologies have massively reduced pesticide use in all circumstances where pests have been targeted.


YOUR INDUSTRY

A widespread outbreak of Listeria food poisoning from contaminated rockmelons occurred in the United States in 2011. There were 33 deaths and 146 total cases. It was the worst food borne illness outbreak in the US since tracking outbreaks began in 1970.

It is suspected that a truck used to take culled melons to a cattle farm could have brought bacteria to the facility. Listeria was detected on the processing line grading belt, conveyor, felt rollers and packing area conveyor belt. No sanitiser used in wash water used to dip rockmelons prior to packing. Bacteria growth may have also been caused by condensation from the lack of a pre-cooling step to remove field heat from the melon before cold storage.

1. Considerable soil, water, human contamination opportunities

2. Wildlife in melon paddocks

3. Microorganisms can infiltrate through pest damage, splits, ground spot, stem scars

4. Complicated supply chains — popular in food service, pre-cut salads, mixed with other foods

5. Melons are most often consumed raw with no ‘kill’ processes

Maintaining food safety practices

in melon production

Most contamination appears to occur in production or packing and, although washing removes loose soil it can introduce contamination through wash tanks and hydrocoolers. Sanitisers such as chlorine are required to control water quality and used in conjunction with brushing will reduce contamination.

As part of a current research project, the industry is responding to concerns about food safety in melons by surveying growers to determine best practice; working cooperatively with Freshcare to include food safety as a priority; and developing Best Management Practice Guidelines.

The guidelines will be distributed to growers in the first half of 2014.

MORE INFORMATION

For further information please contact Dianne Fullelove, Industry Development Manager, Australian Melon Association Inc 0413 101 646 or [email protected]

The farm owners, Eric and Ryan Jensen have recently pleaded guilty to six federal misdemeanour counts of introducing and delivering adulterated food into interstate commerce.

We have not had a serious outbreak of food poisoning in Australia and growers are urged to be vigilant in maintaining good food safety practices.

Melon, particularly rockmelons have unique features which make them susceptible to contamination by microorganisms.

Melon, particularly rockmelons have unique features which make them susceptible to contamination by microorganisms.

BY DIANNE FULLELOVEAUSTRALIAN MELON ASSOCIATION INC

mailto:idp%40melonsaustralia.org.au?subject=


YOUR INDUSTRY

Grower profileGlen Ryan

Grower profileName Glen Ryan

Location Manjimup/Pemberton

Enterprises Potatoes

PERTH


YOUR INDUSTRY

Coordinator of the Manjimup/Pemberton Potato Growers group, Glen Ryan is a very passionate grower excited about the future of his business and the industry.

The Ryan farming family is made up of Glen and his wife Jo, brother Dean and wife Julia plus their parents Tony and Jan, who all take part in producing predominantly potatoes and milk-fed vealers.

The Ryan’s have grown potatoes for many years, and in Glen’s early farming years they also grew cauliflowers to create some extra income.

“We never really fell in love with growing cauliflowers and potatoes generally performed better so we decided to specialise in them,” Glen recalls.

Today the family continue to focus on potatoes and plant oats as a rotation crop in the year prior to potatoes to prepare the soils for the following year’s potato crop. This is an important consideration for maintaining soil health on their property to enable them to continue cropping potatoes.

“I am excited about the progress made with improving the soils on our farm, and can see it will be of great benefit to our operation in the future,” says Glen.

The Manjimup/Pemberton Potato growers group is made up of all the potato growers from the region, including those growing for seed, processing, export and ware. Employees from the Potato Marketing Corporation and the Department of Agriculture and Food often attend the meetings and contribute to the discussions.

The group started in mid 2011 with the aim to help growers consistently produce the highest quality potatoes possible. To achieve this, the group is always seeking knowledge and information by inviting guest speakers to meetings, implementing trials on farm, liaising with the PGA, PMC and DAFWA and having healthy, robust discussions within the group.

It is also important and beneficial for the growers to share information and experiences which happens on a regular basis and helps them to grow as an industry.

The meetings occur each month except in December when the growers are in the peak of their season. Most meetings are at a grower’s property, where they can all observe crops, soil, irrigation and new techniques or improvements made. The meetings also include a sausage sizzle and refreshments afterwards so discussion generated at the meeting can continue.

Glen has recently taken part in the Fresh Potatoes new Karri Country promotion.

“I believe it is a great innovation for this time of the year when traditionally sales are slow. We, as an industry, have to keep trialling new ideas and I would hope the idea becomes more regionalised, and is introduced with a different name to other distinct growing regions.”

“I live in a fantastic part of the world, many say there is no better. I probably am guilty of not appreciating it enough. Our main advantage is our location, climate, soil types and good quality, fresh water. The distance from our main markets in Perth can be an added cost, but our isolation can also be an advantage,” says Glen about the Pemberton region.

Glen believes the main issue with potato growing is producing a cosmetically clean spud that has no internal defects.

“It is frustrating to know that a potato with skin blemishes tastes exactly the same as a potato that shines like an apple.”

“The specifications to sell to supermarkets are now so much tighter. It is a lot tougher being a grower and the pressures on growers have ramped right up. The physical aspects aren’t the same, but it is much harder mentally. Flexibility within our regulated system is now the norm and the management are discussing issues on a regular basis. There is much more industry cohesion and I feel our regulated system is on track.”

The people, the challenges and the lifestyle is what Glen loves most about being in the potato growing industry.

“You could say I am passionate about our industry and this region and I am particularly keen to see both go ahead.”

Dean and Glen Ryan.


YOUR INDUSTRY

Applying calcium cyanamide to celery residues has shown excellent responses against stable fly development in a research trial currently underway.

Even at the lowest application rate of 250kg/ha, adult stable fly numbers were reduced by nearly 75%. At higher applications of 500 and 750kg/ha, nearly 90% reduction in stable flies was achieved under centre pivot irrigation as shown in Figure 1.

Calcium cyanamide fertiliser granules broadcast onto celery crop residues in the field.

BY DAVID COOK1 AND IAN MCPHARLIN2

1 THE UNIVERSITY OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA 2 DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE AND FOOD

Research shows promising stable fly controls

FIGURE 1 Stable fly breeding with applied calcium cyanamide (kg/ha) in celery crop residues under centre pivot irrigation

Calcium cyanamide (kg/ha)

0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200

Stab

le fl

y br

eedi

ng (a

dult

s/m

2 )

0

50

100

150

200

250

Non-irigatedIrrigated

A similar trial done with no overhead irrigation again illustrated how critical water (moisture) is to stable fly development. When water was removed, less than 5% of flies developed from the same treatments.

Calcium cyanamide is a slow-release nitrogenous fertiliser that has a liming effect as well as an insecticidal effect on stable fly larvae. These results will now be verified on larger scale field trials.

The work with calcium cyanamide is part of a larger program evaluating the effect of a number of products on stable fly breeding in crop residues.

For example, bioaccelerants applied to growing crops and fungi pathogenic to stable fly in Mycoforce™ (containing Metarhizium, Beauvaria and Verticillium spp.) are being tested in both irrigated and non-irrigated conditions in box and field trials to celery, lettuce and cabbage residues.

Final results will be available soon but preliminary results are promising. They also appear to verify the need to mulch and dry the crop residues are quickly as possible after harvest.

MORE INFORMATION

This research is carried out as part of HAL project VG12022 (Managing biting fly in vegetable crop residues) which is funded by eight shires, the vegetable industry and DAFWA.

We sincerely appreciate the support of Bogdanich Farms, Monte & Sons and T&C Do and Sons for their help in conducting this work on their properties.


YOUR INDUSTRY


BY ROGER BLOWPRINCIPAL, COVE LEGAL

FrackingWhat are my rights?

CO

MP

ENSA

TIO

Npe

trol

eum

co

mpa

nies

RIG

HTS


YOUR INDUSTRY

Why do I need to know about the Petroleum and Geothermal Energy Resources Act 1967 (PGER Act)?The PGER Act governs the rights held by petroleum companies to enter private (or leased) farmland for the purposes of undertaking petroleum exploration and production in Western Australia.

Why do they have the right to come onto my land and what if I wish to refuse them access?The petroleum companies can gain access to farmland if they have an exploration or production licence (issued by the Government) that gives them the right to explore and produce oil and gas reserves over an area that includes that farmland. One licence will often cover an expansive area and potentially include a number of oil or gas installations. As a result of the licence and the terms of the PGER Act the petroleum company will, in almost all cases, eventually be given the right to access private farmland situated within the licenced area. This right is subject to certain restrictions imposed by the PGER Act and licence, as well as the obligation to pay appropriate compensation to the land owner and/or leaseholder.

A blanket refusal to ever allow access will likely result in an unsuccessful Court appearance, potentially an order to pay the petroleum company’s legal costs and, ultimately, the farmer being held in contempt of court.

What are my rights and how is compensation assessed?The main provisions concerning access to land and the assessment and payment of compensation to the farmer can be summarised as follows:

• No petroleum operations should be commenced on any private land until the parties have reached agreement on compensation. If they cannot agree, either party can apply to the local Magistrates Court for a determination of the compensation to be paid to the farmer;

• Written consent of the landowner is always required where their property is smaller than 2000m² or where the area to be accessed is within 150 metres of either a reservoir or any ‘substantial improvement’ on the land;

• Compensation is payable to the farmer at the commencement of any petroleum operations in respect of the following:

— being deprived of possession of the surface (or any part of the surface) of the land. Note this would include surface areas taken up by any new access roads required for the petroleum operations;

— damage caused to the surface of the land or to any improvements on the land (such as farm infrastructure or crops) as a result of the petroleum operations;

— severance of land, where land cannot be fully exploited due to an inability to access (or easily/properly access) land as a result of the petroleum operations. An example would be where the location of a well causes one corner of a paddock to be become uncommercial for cropping due to access problems for a header during harvest;

— rights of way required over the land; and

— “all consequential losses”.

• Whilst many of the above heads of compensation are relatively straight forward there is significant scope for legal argument over what is covered by “all consequential losses”. Awards of compensation under the PGER Act are still untested in the WA Courts (at the time of writing one case is currently heading towards a trial and may resolve some of these questions) and therefore whether the pro-farmer, wider interpretation of ‘all consequential losses’ will be adopted by the Courts remains to be seen;

• Compensation is expressly not payable to the farmer on account of any natural resources present on the land, on the basis that any oil or gas is owned by the Government;

BY ROGER BLOWPRINCIPAL, COVE LEGAL

No petroleum operations should be commenced on any private land until the parties have reached agreement on compensation.


YOUR INDUSTRY

• The farmer can also recover additional compensation at the end of the petroleum operations for any damage to the surface of the land or to any improvement that was not already covered by an agreement or Court assessment as to compensation determined before the operations commenced. In other words, if damage arises during the works that was not foreseen by the compensation agreement (or Court award) the farmer can still claim for that additional/unforeseen damage when the operations cease.

What issues do I need to consider to establish my claims to compensation?Ensuring that every possible element of compensation is identified is the biggest challenge. Try to think of every impact that the proposed petroleum works will have on the farming operations (including future planned developments of the land) so that everything possible is included in the agreement.

What surface area will be unavailable as a result of the proposed petroleum works? If you are not sure what will be involved, ask questions and seek further detail on exactly what will be happening and where. Once the relevant surface area is identified, calculate how much annual profit would be expected to be made from that area. Next consider how the area used by the petroleum works will impact your ability to fully exploit other areas in the same vicinity (i.e. severance and rights of way considerations within the same paddock; damage to irrigation infrastructure).

Consider having your compensation rights assessed by professionals experienced with such assessments and with the PGER Act compensation process. This can sometimes require assistance from the farmer’s accountant and potentially an agronomist or farm consultant. Farmers should therefore consider seeking the prior agreement of the petroleum company to pay their legal and other professional fees incurred in negotiating the access and compensation agreement. Some of the equivalent legislation to the PGER Act in other States already requires the petroleum company to pay for such costs up to the point of Court proceedings being issued, so whilst the WA legislation does not impose that obligation on the petroleum company the request is not unreasonable.

What does the PGER Act not cover that I also may need to address? The provisions of the PGER Act discussed in this guide are only focused on providing compensation for access to the land. They do not address the remediation of the land at the end of the petroleum operations nor do they protect the farmer’s interests with respect to environmental concerns.

This requires the farmer to ensure that such matters are addressed within the compensation agreement signed with the petroleum company at the outset. By including remediation and environmental obligations in the agreement they become enforceable by the farmer as contractual obligations.

We suggest that farmers consider including detailed remediation obligations in the agreement, as the only standards that currently apply are contained within Department of Mines and Petroleum (DMP) requirements that are quite loosely drafted and allow for considerable disagreement as to the level to which land must be remediated.

On the environmental front, farmers should consider inserting into the access and compensation agreement an obligation to provide them with a copy of any Environmental Management Plan prepared by the petroleum company that relates to their property. At present, EMPs must be filed with the DMP but in most cases those documents will not be released to the farmer because they are deemed ‘confidential’. A Plug and Abandonment Plan for a well and Rehabilitation Management Plan for the land are two further examples of formal documents required by the DMP from the petroleum company of which the farmer might wish to seek copies as part of any access agreement.

How long does the compensation process take and how does it start?The start point will usually be a letter from the petroleum company notifying the farmer that they wish to gain access to their land for the purposes of exploration. They will often at this stage provide a proposed access and compensation agreement aimed at addressing their PGER Act obligations.

Be wary of references to ‘standard’ agreements: each petroleum company will likely have its own standard agreement, but that is not to say that it is drafted in accordance with the PGER Act or includes fair proposals relating to compensation.

Once the petroleum company has served a notice on the farmer formally notifying them that they intend to commence operations pursuant to their licence rights, any application to the local Magistrates Court to determine compensation because the parties have not managed to reach their own agreement should be brought within three months’ of the notice of intended works being served.

Most access agreements are concluded within this three month period and very few became the subject of a Court application. If an application to the local court is required the issue will likely take many months to reach a determination. Given this delay and the legal costs involved for both sides, Court proceedings should be avoided if at all possible — by both sides.

DisclaimerThis fact sheet is provided as general guidance to assist members of vegetablesWA to be better informed as to their general rights under the PGER Act and the usual procedures followed in assessing compensation for access to their land by petroleum companies.

The content of this fact sheet must not be relied upon by any reader as legal advice with respect to their own business or personal affairs, and legal advice should always be sought with respect to specific legal rights or any specific situation relating to the PGER Act.

By providing this fact sheet neither vegetablesWA nor the author, Cove Legal, are providing legal advice to any member or other reader, and no action should be taken (or not taken) in reliance upon the contents of this fact sheet.


YOUR INDUSTRY

The Department of Agriculture and Food, Western Australia successfully conducted meetings during February to inform Carnarvon growers of the Farm Finance Concessional Loans Scheme in WA.

Free training workshops for Refreshing Strategic Plans for growers were also organised during February in the area. These meetings and workshops also involved facilitators from Murdoch University.

Farm Finance Concessional Loans SchemeThe meeting involved 14 Vietnamese growers including land owners, lease farmers and share farmers.

This was held at Gascoyne Research Station on February 25. At this meeting David Budd, a Rural Financial Assistance and Farm Business Adjustment Project Officer from DAFWA informed growers that Farm Finance is an Australian Government initiative that aims to build the ongoing financial resilience of farm businesses. This concessional loan scheme focuses on assisting farm businesses experiencing debt servicing difficulties through the provision of concessional interest rate loans for productivity enhancement activities.

Several growers’ questions relative to the concessional loan scheme, such as the availability of the funding, participant eligibility, rate of interest and loan terms, application process were all addressed by David at the meeting.

Language assistant was also provided to Vietnamese participants. At the post meeting individual growers had the chance to discuss face-to-face their specific concerns and questions with David Budd. Several application forms were also handed out to the growers present.

Refreshing Strategic PlansThe free training workshops for Refreshing Strategic Plans involved about 30 Vietnamese and two English speaking growers in total.

The content of the one day session was developed to help participants review and refine strategic plans. By the end of this workshop day, participants had their strategic plan reviewed, updated and refined. This workshop was about ensuring that the strategic plan is a useful and robust tool for business through:

• Examining planning as a long term process

• Confirming the enterprises vision

• Reviewing and refining the goals, strategies and actions of your strategic plan for:

— business

— production

— work-life balance

— natural resources

This workshop also examined negotiation skills and calculating return on investment for new activities and the use of both in the implementation of a strategic plan. The knowledge of psychological cycle of response to changes and the ‘1% rule’ relative to reducing costs and increasing yield and prices of products in association with significant improving of net profit were also reinforced to participants.

MORE INFORMATION

For further information on the Farm Finance Concessional Loan Scheme can be found here www.agric.wa.gov.au/farmfinance

Meetings and free training workshopsorganised for growers in Carnarvon

BY VO THE TRUYENFIELD EXTENSION OFFICER, VEGETABLESWA

Standing: Maree Gooch and Ann Maree O'Callaghan, the facilitators representing Murdoch University. Sitting: Vietnamese growers from Carnarvon.

http://www.agric.wa.gov.au/farmfinance


YOUR INDUSTRY

Specialist horticultural consultant Deb Archdeacon has spent the last 11 years in the horticultural and agricultural industries, based predominantly in the South West region of WA.

Deb’s career in horticulture began via a Bachelor of Environmental Science and a Masters Degree in Sustainable Agriculture.

Through founding the consulting company Agronomica, Deb has been able to focus on soil health and productivity across the agricultural industries. Her particular passion is improving soil health from a holistic point of view, by looking at the biological, physical and chemical aspects of soil.

“Soil health is the basis of crop production, so it is essential to understand how we can work with the soil to improve it for optimal results. Then we can concentrate on helping to fix the parts of the soil that need it the most — whether it be the biology, the chemical or physical properties, or a combination of the three,” says Deb.

Soil tests, plant nutrient testing and irrigation monitoring are fundamental practices which help growers understand how their soils behave and enable them to move their soils towards a healthy balance to improve crop production.

Professional profileDeb Archdeacon


Key messages• Ask ‘why’ a lot

• Read the information from industry bodies such as vegetablesWA and AusVeg. There is so much excellent material out there pertinent to your crop if you look/ask for it

• If you can’t figure it out because of information overload or you want to change things but are not confident, then seek independent expert opinion

• Make changes slowly and try changes in small chunks. All new systems take time to hit their straps.

“You can’t fix something if you don’t know it’s broken, so monitoring and evaluation are key factors.”

Deb’s background in sustainable agriculture has driven her passion to help growers reduce the use of pesticides where possible, and concentrate more on improving soil health through driving plant and soil biological diversity. Deb’s approach focuses on a long term view of productivity and sustainability rather than quick fixes.

Ultimately, the objective of working with growers for Deb is to assist them in producing the healthiest food that they can, for as long as they wish, with as little impact on the environment as possible. Leaving the land in as good as or better condition is important to Deb.

“We need to make sure we always look at the bigger picture. There is so much focus on crop yields regardless of the real costs involved (both economic and environmental), without really looking at the bottom line and fundamentally the quality and sustainability of the food produced.”

“What is the point of growing crops if the practices we use destroy the soil, overuse our limited water supplies, reduce water quality and use a cocktail of unnecessary chemicals? It is not sustainable in the long term to continue farming that way. More and more farms are hitting the wall because of the disregard for soil health.”

Through Deb’s services, she aims to educate growers and help them to make the whole operation more sustainable both economically and environmentally.

“Grower education is pivotal to the success of the industry. Training and development is part of all professions and it should be recognised as an important part of the vegetable industry as well.”


YOUR INDUSTRY

Deb also emphasises the importance of consumer views and how they impact the vegetable industry, pointing out that food is often taken for granted and under-valued, and hence consumer education is also necessary.

Some examples of the work done through Agronomica include rebuilding soils that have declined over many decades of farming practices without addressing soil health fundamentals. This includes reducing the number of cultivations that destroy soil structure and organic matter. Also important is the improvement of the use of monitoring and recording practices on farms, and helping growers to monitor soil health parameters, fertiliser use and efficiency, and water use and efficiency.

In the potato industry specifically, Deb has run projects to improve potato quality through quantified and measured approaches aimed at improving soil pH, soil structure, soil water holding capacity and plant nutrient availability. These approaches revolve around using appropriate amendments, green manures, cover crops, compost and the judicious use of fertiliser and farm chemicals.

Agronomica is also involved in other agricultural sectors, for example working on increasing pasture and animal health through improved soil health achieved by increased plant diversity and increased nutrient cycling.

Other projects across different industry sectors include reducing soil acidification through manipulation of cropping practices such as green manures, cover crops and optimising fertiliser choices. Projects have also looked at using composts, mulches and other organic amendments to improve soil structure, soil water holding capacity and biological diversity which can have many positive flow-on effects.

Deb’s experience across the horticultural and agricultural sectors is varied and diverse, and has not come without challenges.

Deb admits that it is very difficult to change the “status-quo” in the industry, and that soil health is still often not taken seriously or perceived as an important production consideration.

“As an industry, we cannot ignore the fundamentals of soil health in relation to crop production. It is folly to continue to think that chemicals are the silver bullet, and that a new ‘fix’ will come along to sort out every problem every time,” Deb cautions against relying solely on modern chemistry in vegetable production.

Deb also recognises the reducing numbers of small growers as an increasing risk to the sustainability of the industry as a whole, stating that ‘diversity is the spice of life’ and it is important to support this.

The best part about working the vegetable industry for Deb is working with the growers who are passionate and want to produce the best possible product that they can while making a suitable income and at the same time treading lightly on the planet.

MORE INFORMATION

If you would like further information or to contact Deb, please email:

[email protected]

Rural apprentice recruitmentRural Skills Australia has developed a comprehensive downloadable recruitment resource for industry use.

The full resource kit includes explanations, fact sheets, forms and templates to assist employers with the recruitment, selection and induction of Australian Apprentices.

All content has been tailored for primary producers and employers of rural and related apprentices. It contains streamlined, accurate and relevant information for engaging apprentices under appropriate industrial instruments.

The website takes you through the process of identifying the benefits as well as the responsibilities, the recruiting and induction process, and retention of an apprentice. A handy reference for legal information, tips, HR & OH&S.

MORE INFORMATION

www.agrifoodcareers.com.au/farmrecruit/

mailto:agronomica%40westnet.com.au?subject=

http://www.agrifoodcareers.com.au/farmrecruit/

http://www.agrifoodcareers.com.au/farmrecruit/


YOUR INDUSTRY

Onion levy payers now have a new ‘first point of call’ at their disposal with the appointment of an industry specific development officer.

Onions Australia has appointed well-known horticulturist Tony Napier as the industry’s first dedicated Industry Development Officer.

Mr Napier has been working in the agricultural industry for more than 30 years, with the last 16 years spent in the horticultural sector with NSW Department of Primary Industries.

Mr Napier joined the entomology team at Yanco Agricultural Institute in 1997 where he worked on a number of research projects, including pest management in processing tomatoes and sweet corn.

In 1999, Mr Napier took on the role of ‘District Horticulturist for Vegetables’ in the Riverina. As part of this role, he provided an advisory service for Riverina vegetable growers and continued working in research and industry development projects. Some of the major project activities included irrigation management of vegetables, varietal evaluation of processing tomatoes and integrated pest management of lettuce.

Mr Napier has been heavily involved in the onion industry during his role as an advisory officer with NSW DPI, specifically as a member of the national onion thrips management projects and the current Iris Yellow Spot Virus project.

Mr Napier helped establish and co-ordinate the ‘Onions 2002’ conference held at Yanco Agricultural Institute, and has also been on the executive of the Australian Onion Industry Association for the last seven years.

Prior to joining NSW DPI in 1997, Mr Napier worked as a Production Agronomist for Pacific Seeds (Seed Company) and as a Field Officer for Letona Foods (Food Processor). As an agronomist for Pacific Seeds, he worked with Riverina growers to produce high quality hybrid seed including maize, sunflowers and sorghum. Letona Foods was a food processing plant in the Riverina and as a Field Officer Mr Napier was responsible for working with growers to co-ordinate the delivery of produce to the processing plant, including processing tomatoes and summer fruits.

In his new role, Mr Napier will be extensively involved in liaising with onion growers throughout Australia, ensuring the latest industry information is circulated immediately and effectively.

Mr Napier will also coordinate four grower events in various locations, as well as providing a direct link between growers and the peak industry body.

Mr Napier said he was excited to be appointed to the position, which he believed would enable growers to access additional resources.

“I am very passionate about the horticulture industry, and particularly onions,” he said.

“I am looking forward to being able to meet growers on farm and discuss any issues they may be facing.

“Onions Australia has shown strong commitment to its growers through the creation of such a role.”

Onions Australia Chairman Andrew Moon welcomed the appointment of the organisation’s first Industry Development Officer.

“Onions Australia is committed to ensuring our growers get the best bang for their levy buck,” he said.

“One of the best ways we can serve our growers is to put a person on the ground to communicate directly with people on farm.

“Onions Australia strives to provide relevant and useful advice to our growers and believes that appointing an IDO is yet another example of our support for our industry.”

MORE INFORMATION

Tony Napier's, phone 0427 201 839 or email [email protected]

BY LECHELLE EARLONIONS AUSTRALIA ACTING CEO

OnionsAustralia

New Onions Australia Development officer Tony Napier.

mailto:tony.napier%40dpi.nsw.gov.au?subject=


YOUR INDUSTRY

New DAFWA website up and runningBY GEORGINA WILSON, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE AND FOOD

A new Department of Agriculture and Food website was unveiled in January and should be much easier for growers to navigate and much more visual than the old one.

The new site is still under development and more material is being added daily. Some is being migrated from the old site into the new system, while other items are new material.

Uploading of material continues to be a massive job, especially as the old DAFWA site contained more than 13,000 separate pages and pdf files. Older material can still be accessed via the front page of the

new website but the archive site is due to be shut down later this year.

DAFWA staff involved with the new site believe external users will find it much more accessible and useful, particularly with the extra images and other modern website features. The site also shows what is ‘trending’ under various sections and one of the most popular pages has been one on growing garlic. Many hits are probably from home gardeners, not commercial growers.

MORE INFORMATION

We would be keen to receive feedback from growers on what they would like us to provide, and how they are finding the new site, so this should be channelled through vegetablesWA.

Department ofAgriculture and Food

Wednesday, May 7, 20147–9 May 2014

Abbey Beach Resort, Busselton, WA

Presented by the WA NRM & Regional Development Australia Networks

Contact: Esther PricePhone: (08) 9525 9222

Email: [email protected]

The Natural Resource Management network of WA together with its

major partner, Regional Development Australia, is inviting you to participate

in a conference with a difference.

We have called it The Tipping Point Conference to highlight a key concept

in the work of natural resource management, and that small

things can make a big difference when working with people and the

environment.

People are the key managers and sustainable users of our landscapes

so the health of our places very much depends upon people and their capacity.

For further information please visit www.nrmconference.com.au

THE TIPPING POINT

CONFERENCE

mailto:esther%40estherprice.com.au?subject=

http://www.nrmconference.com.au

why are carrots orange?


YOUR INDUSTRY

Why are carrots orange?They were bred orange in The Netherlands during the 17th century from the older white and purple stock (that are now back in fashion as ‘heritage’ varieties) to show support for the Orange-Nassau dynasty.

The Orange-Nassau were the leading family of The Netherlands from the mid-16th century (and are now its royal family).

As the northern provinces of the Low Countries sought to break away from the Catholic Habsburg Philip II, who ruled from distant Spain,William of Orange-Nassauemerged as the only aristocrat with the power, influence and finances to lead them.

William and his family were to number among the leading Protestant families of Western Europe — although this didn’t stop a number of them from converting to Lutheranism or even Catholicism along the way.

Explainer:

Newly crowned King of the Netherlands Willem-Alexander and his family greet people from the balcony of the Royal Palace.

In the lap of luxuryWilliam of Orange and his sons might have been successful military and political leaders and the prominent faces of the dynasty — but its women were doing plenty to increase the family’s hold on power in other, equally visible, ways during the period.

After a 12-year truce had been signed with Spain in 1609, the Orange-Nassau dynasty entered a new phase of influence.

William’s son Frederick Henry and his wife Amalia von Solms created a different sort of power, presiding over an elegant courtly culture that was funded by a huge haul of gold from captured Spanish ships and imports from Dutch global trade.

Frederick Henry and Amalia set the trend for luxury, and they liked to show off those things to which they had exclusive access through the Dutch trading companies — the Dutch East India Company, established in the east in 1602, and the Dutch West India Company in the west in 1621.

why are carrots orange?


YOUR INDUSTRY

Public relations: 17th-century styleThe Nassau part of the dynasty’s name came from German lands where other branches were already influential. The Orange component was named after a town in southern France and it was this part, which identified their particular branch, which became a key tool in the dynasty’s strategic public relations.

The four daughters of Frederick Henry and Amalia, for example, all created new palaces and castles named after their family: Oranjewoud, Oranienstein, Oranienburg, and Oranienbaum. They even painted the buildings orange and planted orange trees in their gardens.

The glory of the Orange-Nassau family spread far and wide. Indeed, members of the dynasty became Kings of Prussia, England, Wales and Scotland well before they were invited in 1813 to become the monarchy of The Netherlands as well.

Explainer: Fruit and veg brand marketingSo provocative were orange carrots seen to be in the early modern period that, at various points, they were banned from sale in Dutch markets as the fortunes of the dynasty waxed and waned politically.

If eating humble carrots was the way that the general public could show support for the family, exotic oranges were the dynasty’s own particular fruit for brand marketing.

Apart from the orange trees in gardens, Orange-Nassau princesses and their children were often painted holding oranges or orange blossoms in their hands.

They also prepared marmalade and candied fruits (using the luxury goods of orange peel and sugar) which were offered at the end of entertainments and balls, and given as exclusive gifts. Henrietta Catharina even set up a distillery for orange liqueur.

Orange politicsIt is through the Orange-Nassau dynasty and its association with Protestant politics of early modern Europe that the colour gained its religious, political and Dutch associations.

The ships of the Dutch East India Company sailed around the world flying the Prince’s flag based on William’s livery of orange, white and blue.

It is now present in names and flags worldwide such as the Orange Free State in South Africa, the flags of New York and Ireland, as well as various forms of Orangist movements that have arisen. Even the town of Orange in country NSW is named after a Prince of Orange-Nassau.

And of course orange is still known as the sporting colour of the Dutch but, curiously, today’s Dutch flag is red, white and blue. The Dutch discovered early on that orange dye was unstable and so, ever practical, orange was changed to the vermilion red which is seen in the modern Dutch flag.

So humble vegetables and exotic fruit may also be political weapons. Something to think about next time you crunch on a carrot. A colourful variety of ‘heritage’ carrots.

YOUR INDUSTRY


Following a year of consultation with water users, stakeholders and their representatives, a position paper was widely circulated throughout WA by the Department of Water (DoW) in late 2013.

The water resources reference groups are now combined into one ‘Water Resources Reform Reference Group’ (WRRRG) who worked with DoW to produce this paper.

A big thank you to Mr Terry Redman, Minister for Water at the time and Maree De Lacy, Director General DoW and her senior staff who worked very hard and above all listened to the water industry users.

2014

Already this year, DoW has a new Minister. Congratulations to the Hon. Mia Davies MLA Deputy Leader of the Nationals WA, Minister for Water and Forestry. Mia is a great listener and supporter of Agriculture and Horticulture.

WRRG has already met all day in January for a presentation on the submissions received relating to the position papers. Plus discussions on 400 pages of water policy that will underpin the new legislation-regulations surrounding the use of water in this state for many years to come.

The position paperThe vast majority of submissions supported the paper with some suggesting further conditions and ideas.

Water PolicyThere has already been announcements made by the Minister relating to positive changes in water policy. Also there has been a clear emphasis by the DoW on recognising the important role of the independent water resources advisory bodies in regional areas. DoW are already actively involved with these bodies discussing water policy and local issues.

The WRRRG also is working with the local advisory bodies seeking advice on water issues and policy how it will affect their local users. WRRRG is essentially engaged in working with the DoW in the development of state wide water policy. All the members of this group are certainly open to discussing water issues with water users at anytime.

Exciting times ahead for Water PolicyProtective cropping

BY JIM TURLEYTHE POTATO GROWERS ASSOCIATION

Is this the way of the future and why are some of our growers investing in this type of vegetable production?

Protective cropping is generally believed to be a crop growing under or inside a glass or shade house. These types of houses come in all shapes and sizes, incorporating a low or a very high degree of technical sophistication at a considerable cost.

So what is driving some of our growers to change from cropping in an open air field environment? An ever increasing demand by consumers, major retailers for a very high quality product. This is now becoming more and more difficult to achieve in a high percentage of the crop with an open air environment. With costs increasing and returns per hectare down because of crops producing more lower grades than normal the long term profitability is now occupying the minds of some of our growers.

Recently a grower told me he is hoping to achieve 98% first grade in his glass house for the product produces.

Making a change to a modern glasshouse with all the latest technology has a high capital cost, before you produce and market any product. Given that the grower has completed a cost benefit analysis (homework) that clearly indicates a profitable return. Then what concerns me the most, is not the growers ability to return a profit based on his capital outlay and operating costs. It is the domestic market situation in Australia. Where you have two companies purchasing approximately 80% of the fresh vegetable products. Therefore without exports, the grower’s market area may be far too small unless the growers actively participate in selling the product direct or indirect to the consumers.

BY JIM TURLEYTHE POTATO GROWERS ASSOCIATION


YOUR INDUSTRY

BY PROFESSOR SHASHI SHARMACHAIR IN BIOSECURITY AND FOOD SECURITY, MURDOCH UNIVERSITY

Food security and biosecurity


YOUR INDUSTRY

Despite these innovations and incredible wealth creation over the years, it is a shocking realisation that we are still not able to provide enough food for everyone; about two billion out of seven billion people are hungry and malnourished and there will be an additional two billion to feed in less than forty years.

The global food security situation is grim and it is difficult to understand why even after 10,000 years of experience in agriculture we have failed to make food security a non-issue?

Inefficient food value chains are among the key reasons for massive food losses which could feed well over two billion people. Inefficient agricultural practices and technologies are causing adverse impacts on the environment and reducing productive capacity of food production systems; globally over one billion hectares of land are already salinised.

Nearly half of the amount of fertiliser applied to fields often does not reach the plants and ends up in soil or waterways. Poorly designed and implemented irrigation schemes cause waterlogging, salinisation and alkalisation of soils in different parts of the world. Over two million metric tons of pesticides are being applied each year yet insect pests alone continue to destroy food that can feed about one billion people.

In addition, the spinoff of globalisation — massive increases in movement of people and goods — is increasing the exposure of global food value chains to biosecurity threats. There is enhanced potential for dispersal of potential pest species, creating fresh opportunities for them to move to new geographical regions, new hosts and new environment. Developing countries urgently need to implement proper biosecurity strategies to safeguard their food value chain from pest risks, while accommodating trade.

Technological innovations have made excellent contributions to the progress and well-being of human civilisation and discoveries and inventions such as the internet, light bulb, telephone, internal combustion engine, printing press, wheel, etc. have changed the face of this planet.

Australia’s role and capability in making an important global contribution

Globally over one billion hectares of land are already salinised.


YOUR INDUSTRY

Asian countries are facing unavoidable and competing demands on their land and water resources posed by the needs of their growing populations. Changing high energy diets in some of these economically booming countries, natural resource constraints and climate change are further affecting their food security. This increased demand for food in Asia and across the world is creating new export opportunities for countries such as Australia that are endowed with suitable climates and large land area that can potentially be used for farming.

Australia has roughly about 80% of China’s land mass, so if China is able to produce food for about one billion people, Australia should aspire to become a food producer for several million people, despite its lack of good nutrient-rich soils, increasing temperatures, changing rainfall patterns, frequent droughts and extreme weather events.

Australia has the opportunity to be a relatively small yet important and long-lasting contributor to regional and global food security. Proper long-term planning, capital investment and resources will be needed for protection of prime agricultural land.

This includes development of new production areas and regions, and associated skills and technologies in food production, storage, processing and distribution, in combination with increasing community awareness and engagement. In addition to land, strategies for efficient use of the ocean to produce food will be needed.

Australia needs to develop and match new crops to new production areas and climatic regions.

This would require transformation of existing agriculture practices and systems through the implementation of the 3Ps — Produce food sustainably, Protect food from loss in the value chain and Provide bio-secure, safe and nutritious food, necessary for the sustainability of food value chains for the present and future generations.

Produce food sustainablyFood production must not compromise the long term productive capacity of water and land based ecosystems. Productive capacity is the ‘principal resource’, food production practices and technologies are ‘investment strategies’, and harvest or production is ‘dividend’ earned. We must live on ‘dividends’, keeping the ‘principal resource’ intact forever or leave it enriched rather than depleted.

Australia needs to develop and match new crops to new production areas and climatic regions.

Proper long-term planning, capital investment and resources will be needed for protection of prime agricultural land.


YOUR INDUSTRY

We must use our resources more efficiently by developing highly effective food value chains that maximize the input resource use and benefit from the technology developments in other fields such as meteorology, biotechnology, robotics, and nanotechnology. This century has seen an explosion in computing technologies and applications, yet there is still a need and scope for better software applications in agriculture.

Global food security has become increasingly dependent on a handful of crops such as rice, wheat, maize, soybean and potato. There is a need to diversify the portfolio of food sources and look for ‘future foods’ and new protein sources that have lighter environmental foot prints. There are potentially promising yet under-utilised land and water-based plant and animal food species that may provide better scope for achieving high productivity gains and tolerance to biosecurity threats.

It is time to develop better understanding of the biological diversity of soils in agro-ecological systems and recognise its potential use in increasing crop productivity. We have during the 10,000 years of agriculture screened, identified and selected a handful of plant (such as rice and wheat) and animal (such as horse and cow) species that have significantly influenced growth and progress of our civilisation. We need to similarly screen the microbes and identify and select the potential ‘game changers’.

Bio-saline agriculture needs much greater attention particularly when fresh water is a scarce commodity. It is potentially an efficient way of dealing with salinity in agriculture, and developing productive farming systems for areas that are already damaged.

Protect food from loss in the value chain It is equally important that we do not lose what we grow and produce. Development of supply chain infrastructure and postharvest treatments that increase the storage life of food, maintain food quality and prevent pest infestations must remain a priority. In some developing countries, up to 40% of pre-harvest losses and spoilage can occur mainly because of attack from rodents and insects and as a result of inadequate storage facilities. We must aim for achieving zero tolerance to food waste. It is estimated that 30–50% of all food produced is lost or wasted. In Australia, an estimated 361kg of food waste is generated per person annually, this is about 1kg of food waste per person per day.

Provide bio-secure, nutritious and safe foodAustralia must continue to maintain excellent systems to manage biosecurity and food safety across the supply chain using a risk-based regulatory approach. Food trade and distribution must not expose the recipient/importing regions and communities to unacceptable biosecurity (including food safety) risks.

Some of the major problems of food insecurity in the world are caused by distribution of food that exposes the importing regions to pest and disease risks. Currently introduced pests cause about $1.4 trillion worth of losses world-wide. With increased demand for processed food, the issue of food safety is becoming extremely important. Improving understanding of the food value chains by the Australian community is crucial to managing biosecurity and food safety issues, achieving zero tolerance to food waste and promoting intake of nutritious and balanced diets.

Australia has an abundance of natural resources, dynamic farming community, a strong agricultural research and development base and robust biosecurity system.

Australia is perhaps the only country in the region that is best placed to meet the growing food demands of economically booming Asian countries. Additionally, Australia is well placed to significantly contribute to regional and global food security by actively sharing its research and development expertise, building local and regional institutional capacity and individual capability, providing technical assistance and enabling subsistence farmers in the region to uptake technologies and practices relevant for small land holder agriculture.

There is an excellent opportunity to profitably cater to the ever-growing food demands of the present (and future) generation in the region and thus contribute to food security. Ultimately, community and political foresight and wisdom will be the keys to realising the merit of developing a sustainable food sector in Australia.

Australia must continue to maintain excellent systems to manage biosecurity and food safety.


YOUR INDUSTRY

Nuffield Scholar looks abroad


for sustainable production initiatives


YOUR INDUSTRY

Nuffield Scholar Scott Samwell is passionate about growing healthy food in healthy soils.

With his family having grown fruit and vegetables in the Adelaide Hills in South Australia for over 60 years, Scott understands the importance of maintaining healthy soils to produce nutrient rich foods for consumers, and to ensure the longevity of the land for future production.

In recent years, Scott has spent time doing trial work with biological farming practices with an emphasis on soil health.

“The focus is on finding an ideal balance of minerals, nutrients and the organisms found in the soil,” writes Scott in his final scholarship report. Using this approach, his aim is to show that healthy soil will result in healthy plants that are resistant to attack from pests and disease though its own defence mechanism.

After a number of successes and failures in his trail work in the biological farming field, Scott attended numerous seminars and courses on sustainable agriculture and alternative farming practices to further his knowledge and understanding.

With the family farm involved in the commercial production of Brussels sprouts and cabbage, Scott was keen to find out how people around the world where using different production systems and techniques to produce quality vegetables using minimal inputs and with minimal impact on the environment.

The Nuffield Scholarship allowed him to travel to the Philippines, Chine, the United States, Europe and the UK to see how culture and traditions influenced farming practices.

The objective of Scott’s Nuffield Scholarship project was to visit and observe farms around the world growing brassica crops that utilise conventional, biological, organic and biodynamic principles, and then investigate how growers manage their soils in relation to soil health and sustainability.

Top left: Nuffield Scholar Scott Samwell. Right: Scott with growers during his travels.

With this information, Scott set out to examine the viability of these farms and consider if alternative practices can be commercially viable for the production of brassicas in Australia.

Over the course of Scott’s study, many observations were made in different countries and regions to open his mind up to different ways of growing vegetable crops. In the US, the majority of large commercial growers of brassicas used conventional growing methods, with some alternative practices used such as green manure crops, cover crops and composted material. However, Scott also noted the heavy chemical application used in some areas due to continuous cropping over many years. This has contributed to destroying soil life and is not a desirable practice for long term sustainability.

In the UK and across Europe, again the larger scale growers were usually using conventional farming, although many were using crop rotations, green manures crops and compost within the production system.

for sustainable production initiatives

Below left: Scott with a Brussels sprout grower in Germany. Below right: Netting used over crops in Scotland.


YOUR INDUSTRY

Precision farming methods such as controlled traffic and GPS mapping were seen on many farms, and as a result the growers are becoming more efficient and effective with fertiliser applications and applying as needed for the soil. It is also reducing the amount of excess nutrients leaching into the environment and water ways.

One of the main findings throughout Scott’s travels and research, was that it was very difficult to find commercial brassica farms of a large scale using organic and/or biological principles.

However, many operations using conventional methods realised the importance of soil health and the need to improve their soils to maintain current production. The most commonly recognised alternative methods used around the world included cover cropping, green manure crops, crop rotation and compost spreading.

So although the farms may associate more with a conventional method of production, many operations observed in the project demonstrated the need to conserve soil fertility and health. This was managed in many different ways, but the end result was the same.

Sprout harvesting in The Netherlands.“It is widely recognised around the globe that farming sustainably is the way of the future,” noted Scott when reflecting back on his experiences.

Another common observation in many operations was the high volume/low return business model, leaving minimal time and resources for experimenting with soil amendments or new techniques in their operations.

As with many projects based on new or alternative ideas within the vegetable industry, this study has raised many questions and inspired new further research. Scott says that he will continue his work on the home farm, especially in relation to green manure cropping and alternative cover crop species.

“There is plenty of work still to be done to look at the many different types of cover crops and their interactions with Australian conditions.”

Overall, it was evident from the study that organic growing of sprouts and other brassicas on a commercial level is extremely difficult due to the need to control pests and diseases and produce a blemish free end product.

“Smaller scale production can be achieved using methods such as netting to protect crops from pests such as DBM and aphids, but at this stage it would be unviable for a commercial situation which needs to provide a consistent product.”

One of the main take-home messages from the study was the fact that no single type of production system holds the answer to sustainable growing. Instead, a combination or hybrid of a number of different systems offers a real alternative to conventional growing. Scott refers to this as “Fusion Farming” and emphasises that we need to be able to react quickly to changes in markets and growing conditions, therefore we need a variety of tools available to be able to deal with these things — both conventional and alternative.

There is much still to do to understand the implications of soil health on crop productivity and these need to be demonstrated in the field and with tangible results for growers and the industry to see. Ultimately, it is important to note that each grower will need to develop their own production system which can incorporate many different practices, techniques and to test what works most effectively on their own farm.

“It was such a great opportunity to network with overseas growers and the importance of visiting farms abroad cannot be overstated,” says Scott about the whole experience.

“The benefits that this journey has provided far outweigh the time spent off the farm exploring alternative farming practices. The travels I have undertaken have provided me with an excellent opportunity to compare current and potential practices which could be used to help our farm and the wider industry in the future.”

MORE INFORMATION

For more information or to get a copy of Scott Samwell’s report, please contact vegetablesWA Field Extension Officer, Sarah Houston on 0427 373 037 or email [email protected]

You can also contact Scott directly at [email protected]

mailto:sarah.houston%40vegetableswa.com.au?subject=

mailto:sproutman%40samwellsons.com.au?subject=

Pricing From a low 40c* Crate Hire

Excluding GST. Excluding crate deposit. Perth depot pricing.

Head Office United Crate Co operative Ltd.

Perth Office: 1 Zanni Street Canning Vale WA 6155 Phone: (08) 9455 1540 Fax: (08) 9455 2376

Email: [email protected]


BUSINESSYOUR

YOUR INDUSTRY

Insecticide application remains an important part of stable fly control in crop residues. These will remain a backstop of the Biosecurity and Agricultural Management Act 2007 (Stable Fly) Management Plan 2013 until effective non-insecticide options are developed from research.

The requirement to turn irrigation water off as soon as possible after harvest is not easy to do with sequential harvesting, especially under pivots. This means harvested and unharvested areas are often watered at the same time until the whole area is finished.

This moist environment is favourable for stable breeding so pesticide application is usually still needed.

This is an extra cost to growers with no obvious direct benefit except the ‘social licence to operate’ in minimising the negative impacts of stable fly on neighbouring properties. As a result, techniques that minimise stable fly breeding as well as providing agronomic benefits are also being tested.

The number of insecticides approved for grower use had declined over the last few years to just one approved product i.e. trichlorfon, last year. Such limited options increase the likelihood of the development of resistance resulting from over-use of a single product.

As a consequence, DAFWA applied for minor use approval for a number of products from four different chemical groups for use on crop residues.

APVMA minor use approval (PER 14565) was granted for the products listed in Table 1 from 14 February 2014 until 31 March 2019. These products are approved for application to vegetable crop residues after harvest for control of stable fly breeding in WA.

All these products are already approved for use on vegetable crops for the control of a range of pests in the growing crop. All other

TABLE 1 Products approved (minor use) for application to vegetable crop residues after harvest for control of stable fly breeding in WA

Product Rate/ha or 100L Spray volume/ha Chemical group

Chlorpyrifos (500g/L) 0.9L/ha >800L 1B

Diazinon (800g/L) 700–1400mL 1000L 1B

Permethrin (500g/L) 100mL/ha 600–1000L 3A

Deltamethrin (25g/L) 300mL/ha >600L 3A

Alpha-cypermethrin (100g/L) 50mL/ha 600L 3A

Beta-cyfluthrin (25g/L) 40–80mL/100L 1000L 3A

Fipronil (200g/L) 250mL 1000L 2B

Emamectin(44g/L) 300g/ha 500L 6A

Esfenvalerate (50g/L) 380mL/ha 1500L 3A

conditions with respect to their use such as withholding periods need to be followed. This is considered to be of little concern as the product is applied after harvest and prior to the planting of the subsequent crop.

More insecticide options for stable fly controlBY IAN MCPHARLIN1 AND DAVID COOK2

1 DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE AND FOOD, 2 THE UNIVERSITY OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA

DAFWA consultant entomologist Dr David Cook of UWA (left) and DAFWA inspector Tony Shimmin (right) discuss stable fly management under centre pivot irrigation.


BUSINESSYOUR

YOUR BUSINESS

YOUR BUSINESS


The Farm Finance Concessional Loans Scheme in Western Australia is now open and farm businesses can apply for loans between $50,000 and $200,000.

Farm Finance is an Australian Government initiative that aims to build the ongoing financial resilience of farm businesses.

In Western Australia, the scheme will assist farm businesses by providing loans to undertake productivity enhancement activities. These loans are not for restructuring existing debts or for carry-on finance.

The scheme, totalling $50 million, is funded by the Australian Government and is being delivered by the Rural Business Development Corporation (RBDC) on behalf of the Western Australian Government.

The scheme is capped at $25 million per year for 2013/14 and 2014/15. Funds will be allocated across two application periods, one in 2013/14 and one in 2014/15.

It will allow for a minimum of 250 farm businesses in Western Australia to access these loans to improve the productivity of their operations.

Sole traders, partnerships, private companies or trusts carrying out farming activities may apply for a concessional interest rate loan of between $50,000 and $200,000 to enhance their productivity.

These farming activities include horticulture, broadacre, pastoral, dairy, intensive agriculture and aquaculture.

The 2013/14 application round closes at 5pm on 30 April 2014, with farm businesses encouraged to apply as soon as possible as completed applications will be assessed in order of receipt.

An initial concessional interest rate of 4.5% per year has been set by the Australian Government. This rate will be reviewed and revised if necessary on a six-monthly basis in accordance with material changes to the Commonwealth five year bond rate.

The loans will be interest-only at the concessional rate with principal repayment at the end of the loan term of up to five years.

A net non-farm asset threshold of $421,500 will apply and applicants must also have less than $400,000 in liquid assets such as shares, Farm Management Deposits and cash at the bank.

The application form and more details of the scheme for Western Australia are available at the Department of Agriculture and Food website at www.agric.wa.gov.au/farmfinance or by contacting the RBDC on 1800 198 231 (free call) or [email protected].

Examples of eligible farm business productivity enhancement activities include but are not limited to: enterprise build-up/expansion of operations; diversification of farm business; investment in farm-related value-adding; reclamation of degraded areas; purchase of livestock that would provide long-term improvement to the farm business’s productivity (such as dairy herd conversion or purchase of breeding livestock); water harvesting and water quality protection.

Business owners are encouraged not to self-assess in terms of eligibility, but to contact assessors on the free call number.

Applications openfor concessional loans

Farm Finance Concessional Loans Scheme (WA) Frequently asked questions1. What is the aim of the Farm Finance

Concessional Loans Scheme in WA (the scheme)?

Farm Finance is an Australian Government initiative that aims to build the ongoing financial resilience of farm businesses. The focus of the scheme in WA is to assist farm businesses experiencing debt servicing difficulties through the provision of concessional interest rate loans for productivity enhancement activities.

2. How much funding is available?

The funds available under the scheme are capped at $25 million per year for 2013–14 and 2014–15 (total of $50 million).

3. Who can apply for this assistance?

Sole traders, partnerships, private companies or trusts who carry out farming activities in WA may apply. Public companies are ineligible to apply.

4. Is there a limit to the assistance I can apply for?

WA farm businesses can apply for a loan between $50,000 and $200,000 to enhance their productivity at a

http://www.agric.wa.gov.au/farmfinance

mailto:rbdu.loans%40agric.wa.gov.au?subject=


YOUR BUSINESS

concessional interest rate. Loans are not available for debt restructuring or carry-on finance.

5. What interest rate will apply to my approved loan?

An initial concessional interest rate of 4.5 per cent per year has been set by the Australian Government as at 1 July 2013.

This rate will be reviewed and revised if necessary by the Australian Government on a six monthly basis in accordance with material changes to the Commonwealth five year bond rate.

6. What is the term of the loan and do I have to repay it?

The term of the loan is up to 5 years. At the end of that period you will be required to repay the loan in full.

7. Will my loan repayments include principal and interest?

The minimum repayment in the five year concessional period is the interest component.

8. When will my interest repayments commence and when will they be due?

Interest will be calculated on the daily balance of your loan and charged every six months, on 15 March and 15 September. Information about your first interest payment and payment frequency will be detailed in your loan agreement.

9. Can I receive this assistance in both years?

No. A farm business can only access one approved loan under this scheme.

10. Can I apply in 2014–15 if I am unsuccessful in 2013–14?

If your application is declined due to funding being fully subscribed in 2013–14, you may reapply in 2014–15.

If your application in 2013–14 is declined for other reasons, you may reapply in 2014–15 if you can demonstrate your circumstances have changed.

11. What are valid productivity enhancement activities?

Examples of eligible farm business productivity enhancement activities include — but are not limited to:

• Enterprise build-up/expansion of operations

• Diversification of farm business

• Investment in farm-related value-adding

• Reclamation of degraded areas

• Purchase of livestock that would provide long-term improvement to the farm business’s productivity (e.g. dairy herd conversion or purchase of breeding livestock)

• Water harvesting and water quality protection.

Applications should be sent to:Mail (preferred option)Rural Business Development CorporationC/o Department of Agriculture and FoodLocked Bag 4 Bentley Delivery Centre WA 6983

Hand delivery/Courier (preferred option)Rural Business Development CorporationC/o Department of Agriculture and Food3 Baron-Hay CourtSouth Perth WA 6151

Fax: +61 (0)8 9367 4265 Email: [email protected]

12. Why do I need to complete a 5 year management plan and what does it have to include?

The purpose of the management plan is to help you describe your planned investment using the loan funds and how it will measurably enhance the financial performance of your business over the next 5 years.

You will need to provide information detailing what the loan funds will purchase, the costs associated with each activity or purchase, commencement and completion dates and how it will be funded (including the loan).

13. When do applications close?

The 2013–14 round closes on 30 April 2014. We encourage farm businesses to apply as soon as possible as completed applications are assessed in order of receipt.

14. How do I apply and where can I find the application form?

The application form, and scheme guidelines are available at the Department of Agriculture and Food’s website agric.wa.gov.au/farmfinance or by contacting the RBDC on 1800 198 231 (free call within WA).

mailto:rbdu.loans%40agric.wa.gov.au?subject=Farm%20Finance%20Concessional%20Loans%20Scheme%20%28WA%29

http://agric.wa.gov.au/farmfinance

www.drummuster.com.au1800 008 707On our websites you can locate your nearest drumMUSTER collection site with

an interactive map. Alternatively you can contact your nearest drumMUSTER Regional Consultant; Bevan or Graeme for more information.

1800 008 707 | drummuster.com.au

There’s never been a better time to clean your property... There are

over 112 collection points in WA

Southern WA Consultant

Graeme Passmore

0429 933 307

Northern WA Consultant Bevan Henderson0429 089 780

Why use drumMUSTER?☑ HELPS MEET YOUR QA REQUIREMENTS☑ KEEPS WESTERN AUSTRALIA CLEAN ☑ GETS RID OF YOUR CHEMICAL WASTE


YOUR BUSINESS

The SBDC has a team of experienced business advisers who can assist you at every stage of your business development. According to Senior Business Adviser, Sonja Kanban, one of the first steps in running a successful business is deciding on the business structure that best suits your needs.

Sonja says choosing the right structure for your business is one of the most important decisions you will make because as your business grows, you may need to change structures to accommodate those changes but this can be a very expensive exercise.

It is also important to understand the advantages and responsibilities of the various options including the tax implications of each and whether your assets will be protected.

The four most common structures in Australia are; sole trader, partnership, company and trust and your choice should

take into account elements such as the size and type of business you plan to run, anticipated profits, the involvement of family members or other business partners, your current financial status and the cost of establishing the business.

To help you decide which structure best suits your business, the SBDC has devised the following summary with an easy-to-read reference chart setting out the advantages and disadvantages of each structure (see Table 1).

Sole traderSole Trader is the simplest form of business structure and is relatively easy and inexpensive to start and maintain. As a sole trader you may choose to trade under your own name, or register a business name.

As a sole trader you retain complete control of your business, and you get to keep all the after-tax gains if the business is sold.

Small Business Development Corporationa great resource for your businessWhether you’re just starting out in business, or you’ve had a business of your own for years, the Small Business Development Corporation (SBDC) is an organisation you need to know about.

BY SONJA KANBANSMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION

www.drummuster.com.au1800 008 707On our websites you can locate your nearest drumMUSTER collection site with

an interactive map. Alternatively you can contact your nearest drumMUSTER Regional Consultant; Bevan or Graeme for more information.

1800 008 707 | drummuster.com.au

There’s never been a better time to clean your property... There are

over 112 collection points in WA

Southern WA Consultant

Graeme Passmore

0429 933 307

Northern WA Consultant Bevan Henderson0429 089 780

Why use drumMUSTER?☑ HELPS MEET YOUR QA REQUIREMENTS☑ KEEPS WESTERN AUSTRALIA CLEAN ☑ GETS RID OF YOUR CHEMICAL WASTE


MARKETYOUR

YOUR BUSINESS

On the downside, if you don’t have employees then you usually have to do all the work yourself and, you are legally responsible for all aspects of the business including debts and losses. If the business gets into financial difficulties, you may lose private assets such as your home.

In addition, sole traders are taxed as individuals and pay income tax at personal tax rates.

PartnershipChoosing a business partner can be as important, and as tricky, as choosing a husband or a wife because a partnership is a relationship, not a separate legal entity. This means that each partner (and you can have up to 20) jointly owns the business assets and liabilities. It is important therefore, that each partner knows their rights, responsibilities and obligations.

Before entering into a partnership it’s a good idea to seek the help of a qualified professional to prepare a written agreement stating each partner’s role and level of authority, expected financial contributions of each partner and a clear procedure for dispute resolution and dissolving the partnership.

This is important as personal liability is unlimited for each partner in the business. If the business fails and your partner or partners cannot afford to pay their share of any debts incurred, you will be held liable for the shortfall.

You would also be jointly liable for any debts your partner incurs, with our without your knowledge.

CompanyAs a company is a more complex business structure, it is usually more expensive to set up and to maintain however, it also provides greater capacity to access capital to finance the business, and offers increased asset protection.

Shareholders own the company while directors run the company and in many cases, company directors are also shareholders, along with company employees.

A company is a separate legal entity capable of holding assets in its own name and conducting business in its own right. It can also sue and be sued.

There are also greater compliance requirements for companies including taxation and superannuation requirements for company directors and employees and regulations overseen by the Australian Securities and Investment Commission.

TrustsLike a company, a trust is more expensive and can be more complicated to establish and maintain than a sole trade or partnership structure.

The most common variety of trust for a family business in Australia is a discretionary trust. If you operate your business under this structure, you’re considered a trustee and you have the power to decide how the profit will be distributed amongst beneficiaries. However, you may be better served to have a corporate trustee (for example, a company as the trustee). A trustee can be an individual, a number of individuals or a company.

The advantage of this structure is that it further limits liability if the trust is a company, and increases asset protection. This structure is also more suitable for succession planning or transferring ownership.

The disadvantage is that it may be more expensive to complete the taxation and administrative paperwork that’s required each year.

The best policy is to ensure that whatever structure you choose is in place before you start the business and that you're able to comply with the legal requirements it carries.

Each structure has advantages, disadvantages and responsibilities but your structure should accommodate the potential for changing circumstances with minimal disruption; provide adequate asset protection; opportunities for legitimate tax reduction and efficient distribution of profits.

MORE INFORMATION

For further information and free business advice, contact the Small Business Development Corporation on 13 12 49 or visit: www.smallbusiness.wa.gov.au

TABLE 1 Comparison of sole trader, partnership, company and trust

Business structures Sole trader Partnership Company Trust

Is the structure difficult to set up? No No No, but you may need

professional assistance

No, but you may need

professional assistance

Do I retain complete control? Yes No Directors are in control

Trustee(s) are in control

Are there complex reporting requirements?

No No Yes Yes

Will my assets (house etc...) be under threat if my business goes into debt?

Yes Yes Not as likely Not as likely

Do I receive full profits made from the business?

Yes No No No

Can I employ staff? Yes Yes Yes Yes

Do I have to pay myself superannuation, workers comp etc...?

No No Yes (if employed by the company)

Yes (if employed by the trust)

Does the structure make it easy to raise capital?

No Yes Yes Yes

Is it easy to dissolve or exit? Yes Yes Yes No

Information in this table is general only, and may differ in individual circumstances.

http://www.smallbusiness.wa.gov.au


MARKETYOUR

YOUR MARKET


YOUR MARKET

In my export development role, questions keep arising about China; Is China an opportunity for WA fresh produce? Do we have the volumes they want? Can they pay the prices we want? Late last year I was able to join the Citrus Australia China Trade Mission to try to answer some of these questions.

The following is a brief summary of the Mission from my perspective:

BeijingBeijing is the capital of the People’s Republic of China, it is the nations political, economic, cultural, educational and international trade and communication centre. Located in northern China, close to the port city of Tianjin and partially surrounded by Hebei Province, it also serves as the most important transportation hub and port of entry (www.travelchinaguide.com).

My first day in Beijing was spent at the 5th China — Australia Workshop on Horticultural Cooperation. I believe this was a day very well spent. Representatives from many Australian horticulture Peak Industry Bodies (PIB’s) were in attendance to focus on; Cooperation on Technical Exchange and Production, and Marketing Matchmaking of Horticulture Products.

China World Fruit & Vegetable Trade Fair (China FVF)The first official day of the Citrus Australia Trade mission was at the China Fruit and Vegetable Fair in Beijing. Citrus Australia, along with Australia Fresh members including; APAL, Summerfruit Australia, Australian Cherry Growers, Table Grapes Australia and Avocados Australia, shared an area of the exhibition centre to promote Australian produce.

The China FVF is promoted as:

“…a platform where policy makers from China, embassy representatives from major fruit and vegetable trade nations, professional associations and industry executive get together, share information, exhibit new products, meet

clients, social network, discuss solutions and make deals. China FVF is a modest sized but high profile event. Business executives have their voices directly heard by the Chinese government inspection officials. They also get the latest updates in the entry-exit inspection procedures and policies. If you are looking at the huge China market, China FVF is the right event to attend!...

The Top Event of Fresh Industry in China (en.chinafvf.com)

Sponsored by China Entry & Exit Inspection, and Quarantine Association (CIQA), China Fruit Marketing Association and China Cash Forest Association, supported uniquely by AQSIQ, China World Fruit & Vegetable Trade Fair (China FVF) is China’s most authoritative as well as Asia’s leading trade exhibition of its industry.

Chinabigger than Texas!

BY GAVIN FOORDEXPORT DEVELOPMENT MANAGER, HORTICULTUREWA

Overview Andrew Harty, General Manger Market Development, Citrus Australia:

The Citrus Australia China Trade Mission covered the three major economic zones (Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou) plus a second-tier city, Dalian, and attendance at the China Fruit & Vegetable Fair in Beijing. We visited importers, wholesale markets, retailers, on-line sellers and trade associations, and met with Chinese quarantine authorities.

This was a fantastic opportunity to take part in a fully guided and organised tour of this exciting new citrus market. We were joined by the Chair and CEO of Citrus Australia, plus eighteen other industry delegates from throughout the citrus supply chain. The mission was led by China business expert David Thomas and Dr Caroline Hong, from Think Global (www.thinkglobal.com.au).

http://www.travelchinaguide.com

http://en.chinafvf.com

http://www.thinkglobal.com.au


YOUR MARKET

Asia, now the world’s most vibrant region of fresh fruits and vegetables, is not only the origin but also the largest consuming market of the fruits and vegetables…”

Australian exhibitors found that samples were eagerly received by visitors to their stands. Other exhibitors were many and varied with some old friends from South Africa and an impressive array of produce including exotic fruits, vegetables and teas. There were also many (Chinese) Provinces represented and the quality of some of the local fruit was outstanding.

Xinfadi MarketOther highlights of the Beijing leg of the mission were the numerous opportunities to make contact with importers and wholesalers, in particular, at our visit to the Xinfadi Market.

At Xinfadi we were made welcome by Assistant Manager Mr Lin Yang and Mr Fang, General Manager Taina International Fruit (Beijing).

The Market featured a vast array of imported and local produce, and wholesalers were happy to have us view their wares.

There were many familiar, some unfamiliar and other rather bizarre packaging, brands and fruits on sale.

DalianDalian, compared to ancient capital cities such as Beijing, Xian, Nanjing or Luoyang, is a young city with only a 100-year history. Situated at the tip of China’s Liaodong Peninsular, it is a trading and financial centre in north-eastern Asia and has gained the name the ‘Hong Kong of Northern China’. (www.travelchinaguide.com)

After our visit to the Xinfadi Market, half of our group flew on to Dalian where we were hosted by Ms. Gloria Cao and Ms Laura Xu from the Import and Export Department of the Dalian Yidu Group Co., Ltd. The Dalian Yidu Group is an importing, logistics and distribution company which has branches throughout the eastern seaboard of China. The Highlight in Dalian was our visit to Yidu’s facilities at the new container port. These clearly demonstrated that infrastructure in the region was world class in terms of container management and cold storage. It was also interesting to note that quarantine officials have an office adjacent to Yidu’s reception area. This would no doubt facilitate the rapid resolution of any quarantine issues that may arise.

Left: Tania Chapman and Carmen Pandolfo at Xinfadi Market, Beijing. Above: Longwu Markets, Shanghai. Below: A variety of produce at the CFVF.


YOUR MARKET


ShanghaiShanghai, Hu for short, is a renowned international metropolis drawing more and more attention from all over the world. Situated on the estuary of Yangtze River, it serves as the most influential economic, financial, international trade, cultural, science and technology centre in East China. Also it is a popular destination for visitors to sense the pulsating development of the country (www.travelchinaguide.com).

In Shanghai we visited the Longwu and Huizhan wholesale markets. The Longwu market has traditionally been the main handling facility on the eastern seaboard for customs, quarantine and wholesale distribution of Australian citrus imports. Rapid growth of the imported fruit trade has strained Longwu’s ability in recent years, with 8,000 containers handled last year. This has led to the establishment of the Huizhan market, taking the pressure off the Longwu facility.

Our visits to ‘high end’ retail outlets Ole’ and Sam’s Club, organised by Golden Wing Mau, gave us a close look at produce on the supermarket shelves.

Ole’ included an impressive display of citrus, with Australian oranges from MFC, alongside the local product. This provided the opportunity to directly compare quality and price at the retail level. Sam’s Club was equally as interesting, with a vast array of produce, largely pre-packed, at price points that were higher than most of us had expected.

GuangzhouGuangzhou (Canton), a prosperous metropolis full of vigour, is the capital city of Guangdong Province located along the south coastline of China. Being an excellent port on the Pearl River navigable to the South China Sea, and with fast accessibility to Hong Kong and Macau, the city serves as the political, economic, scientific, educational and cultural centre in Guangdong area (www.travelchinaguide.com).

Just a two hour train ride from Hong Kong, Guangzhou was our last port of call, but in no way the least interesting. At the Guangzhou Jiangnan Fruit and Vegetable Market, we were hosted by the market Vice General Manager, Mr Hemin Wu and treated to a ‘golf cart’ tour of the facility. This was a seriously big establishment, routinely turning over in excess of three hundred containers a day, largely unloaded by hand. New containers arriving with popular product were greeted with an almost alarming level of enthusiasm.

We also met with the Golden Wing Mau team at Guangzhou, including Import General Manager, Mr Rod Hill. Golden Wing Mau imports and distributes fruit through-out China, utilising a very impressive network serving over 1000 stores nationwide. Mr Hill was very generous with his time and views on how Australian fruit industries may successfully do business in China.

Some key learningsI joined the Mission thinking the outcome would be that China would be crossed off my list of target markets for WA produce. In fact the reverse happened. While not for all of us, I believe China does present opportunities for some of our produce, because they will take relatively small volumes and (in some cases) they are certainly prepared to pay a premium for it. If we identify the right opportunities, approach China in an orderly fashion, maintain our standards and commit to agreed terms, I’ll use one of my favourite quotes from David Thomas “…In China, anything is possible, nothing is easy…”

China is indeed, bigger than Texas, we just need to work out what that means for us.

I’d like to take this opportunity to congratulate Citrus Australia and Think Global on a very successful Mission. I’d also like to thank all of the participants for the way they approached the Mission. Everyone was made feel welcome and valued. I think we all came home with a new perspective, new friends and new business opportunities.

DELEGATE LIST

Ferdi Bergamin Mildura Fruit Company, Senior Export Manager

Ben Cant Impi Highland, Marketing Manager

Tania Chapman Citrus Australia, Chairperson & Grower Director

Susan Chislett Chislett Developments, Managing Director

Judith Damiani Citrus Australia, Chief Executive Officer

David Daniels Citrus Australia, Citrus Market Access Manager

Chris Deveney Favco, Director

Greg Dhnaram Favco, Chief Executive Officer

Gavin Foord Horticulture WA, Export Development Manager

Andrew Harty Citrus Australia, Market Development Manager

Jeff Knispel Nippys Waikerie Producers, Managing Director

Justin Lane Mildura Fruit Company, Grower Services Representative

Joseph Ling AGRIFresh, Managing Director

Megan MacDonald Redlea Citrus, Director & Marketing Manager

Hamish MacDonald Redlea Citrus, Director & Production Manager

Ken McDougall Super Seasons, General Manager

Gary Pandolfo Mario’s Packhouse, Managing Director

Carmen Pandolfo Mario’s Packhouse, Director & Quality Manager

Con Poulos Citrus Australia SA Region, Chairperson

Yuka Saiba Lee McKeand, Citrus Sales & Administration

Samuel Tan Super Seasons, Director

Daniel Ying AGRIFresh, Financial Director

David Thomas Think Global Consulting, CEO

Caroline Hong Think Global Consulting, Govt & Industry Relations Consultant




Beijing

CHINA

YOUR MARKET

When I was in China for the Citrus Australia Trade Mission, I was fortunate enough to be invited to join the Australian delegation at the 5th China — Australia Workshop on Horticultural Cooperation.

The theme of the workshop was; Cooperation on Technical Exchange and Production, and Marketing Matchmaking of Horticulture Products. Sponsored by the China Entry-Exit Inspection and Quarantine Association (CIQA) and Horticulture Australia Limited (HAL) this event was held in Beijing on the 27th of November 2013. In attendance were more than fifty government and industry delegates from Australia and China.

Leading the Australian side was Professor Robert Clark, Deputy Chairman of HAL. Australian delegates included representatives from; HAL, the Australian Office of Horticulture Market Access (OHMA), Fruit Industries, DoA and the Australian Embassy to China.

Leading the Chinese side was Mr Bao Junkai, Secretary General of CIQA. Chinese delegates included representatives from; the Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ), CIQA, CAWA, Xinjiang, Jiangxi, Shanxi, Produce wholesalers and retailers.

Co-chairs of the workshop were Mme Guo Lisheng, Senior Advisor, CIQA and Mr Chris Langley, Manager of OHMA.

Opening remarks were provided by Mr Ge Zhirong, President of CIQA and Professor Robert Clark (HAL). These focussed on; Market situation and perspective for fruit trade between China and Australia, quarantine access and technical issues on new access and in current trade, dialogue among traders and industries.

Keynote presentations were:

• Opportunities for two-way horticultural trade between China and Australia, by Mr Chris Langley, Manager of OHMA.

• Situation and perspective of produce wholesale and retail in China, by Mr Ma Zengjun, President of CAWA.

• Phytosanitary access and technical issues regarding new access and current trade, by Ms Vanessa Findlay, Chief Plant Protection Officer at DoA.

The 5th ChinaAustralia Workshop on

Horticultural CooperationBY GAVIN FOORDEXPORT DEVELOPMENT MANAGER, HORTICULTUREWA

• Regulations, policies and market access procedures of China on fruit inspection and quarantine, by Mr Wu Hao, Deputy Director, Department of Supervision on Animal and Plant Quarantine (AQSIQ)

These keynote presentations were followed by presentations from Australian delegates on; Citrus, Table Grapes, Apples and Pears, Summerfruit, Cherries, Mangoes, Lychees and Avocados.

Round table discussions were certainly not all one way. While the Australian delegates were clearly seeking opportunities for our fruit in China, in the spirit of cooperation, Chinese delegates were similarly interested in opportunities for their fruit in Australia.

Chinese officials inspecting Australian pears.


What is Sheng Siong?Sheng Siong was founded in 1985 by the Lim brothers; Mr Lim Hock Eng, Mr Lim Hock Chee and Mr Lim Hock Leng. Their first step into retail was in the form of a rented stall focussed on selling chilled pork produced on the family farms in Singapore. From these humble beginnings, the business has grown into one of Singapore’s largest retailers operating the Sheng Siong Supermarket Chain, including 33 stores all across Singapore.

In 2010, Sheng Siong launched their ‘Taiwan Food Fair’ and ‘Korean Food Fair’ to “…address market trends and to let local consumers enjoy top-grade agricultural produce and processed foods from popular overseas markets…”

Australian Food FairIn December 2013 Sheng Siong ran their first ‘Australian Food Fair’ showcasing produce from Australia and through DAFWA, Western Australian producers were invited to participate. While some product for the ‘Fair’ was sourced from WA, for a range of reasons, many of our producers were unable to participate.

An increased presence in the Singapore markets is a concept that has sparked a lot of interest among Western Australian producers.

Mr Joseph Ling, from AGRIFresh, was in Singapore on family business at that time, so visiting Sheng Siong during the Australia

Food Fair gave us the opportunity to better understand how the event was rolled out and how Western Australian producers may be able to participate in similar events in the future.

Agreeable discussionsJoseph and I met with Ms Lin Rui Wen, Sheng Siong’s International Business Development Manager at their new Mandai Link Headquarters and Distribution Centre. This was followed by a guided tour to a store featuring the Australian Food Fair. There was a lot of discussion about how the current promotion was received and how future promotions, featuring Western Australian fresh produce, may be progressed.

We agreed that timing was critical, as was commitment from Sheng Siong and WA producers alike.

In the coming months, I will be working with DAFWA Trade Development staff and fresh produce industries to develop short and long term strategies to expand markets in Singapore and beyond.

MORE INFORMATION

For further information, to get involved in promotions with Sheng Siong or other export opportunities contact: Gavin Foord, email [email protected] phone (08) 9481 0834 or Dr Soon Chye Tan, email [email protected] or (08) 9368 3647.

Sheng SiongAustralian Food Fair, Singapore

Gavin Foord with Rui Wen Lin at Sheng Siong, Singapore.

BY GAVIN FOORDEXPORT DEVELOPMENT MANAGER, HORTICULTUREWA

YOUR MARKET

mailto:gavin.foord%40vegetableswa.com.au?subject=

mailto:sooncye.tan%40agric.wa.gov.au?subject=

REGISTER NOW AND SAVE!

Join us

at the premier

event in Australian

Horticulture.

Early Bird rate for

vegetablesWA Members

only $495.

AS A MEMBER

YOU CAN SAVE $200!*

To register for the Convention go to www.ausveg.com.au/convention or call AUSVEG on (03) 9882 0277.

*On the full delegate registration cost compared to the non-member, standard rates.

HURRY ENDS 25

APRIL.

Cairns Convention Centre, 19-21 June


YOUR MARKET

Recent research was undertaken to explore consumers’ perceptions of vegetable availability in the Australian restaurant sector.

Specific research objectives

1. Is there wide enough variety of vegetables available on restaurant menus?

2. Should vegetables be more centre-plate in restaurants and how do consumers currently rate their presentation?

3. Are portion sizes of vegetables sufficient in restaurants?

4. Which vegetables in particular would consumers like to see more of in restaurants?

5. Would consumers buy more for vegetables at a restaurant if they used specific claims around; hydroponically grown, organic, produced in Australia and fresh.

6. Do consumers copy recipes with vegetables from dishes in restaurants?

With these findings, the industry aims to encourage greater use of vegetables in restaurants and help educate growers (and all other stakeholders) what opportunities exist in strengthening the quality and volume sold of vegetable produce to restaurants.

Research on vegetable consumptionin restaurants


YOUR MARKET

Executive summaryFor consumers, the quality of vegetables was just as important as the quality of the meat: Respondents’ satisfaction with restaurants overall, was equally driven by the quality of both meat and vegetables.

• Satisfaction was also strongly impacted by the vegetable to meat ratio in the meals, with main meals being the most important.

• Consumers wanted slightly more vegetables than other ingredients in their restaurant meals.

• The majority of respondents in this study wanted vegetables to be more prominent in their restaurant meals.

• To do this they would like to see slightly more vegetables used in their meals (entrees, lunches, dinners and snacks) relative to other ingredients being used.

• A larger variety of vegetables will further assist in the satisfaction of restaurant experiences.

• Asian cuisine (especially Chinese and Thai) was the strongest performing cuisine in the Australian restaurant market (this was consistent across all ethnic groups).

• Asian Cuisine provided the most variety in meals overall (and vegetables used) and had garnered the most interest from respondents in regard to the types of meals that are copied for cooking at home (e.g. stir fry’s and Asian meals).

• Of the claims explored for restaurants, communicating that all vegetable produce used are fresh and local was the most effective claim to drive trial and repeat purchase.

RecommendationsThe food industry promote the high quality of the vegetables used in their meals, to the same level as meat is highlighted.

Offer more vegetables in meals, particularly within the main meal. These should be part of the main meal’s cost, and not an additional charge.

Restaurants should highlight the freshness of vegetables used. Consider using local produce claims to highlight not just quality, but freshness aspects.

Provide greater varieties of vegetables, locally produced, in peak freshness, and at a higher proportion compared to other ingredients. This is likely to increase consumers restaurant satisfaction and consequently increase purchase and visitation frequency.

A plan of action1. The Australian vegetable industry needs

to identify key personnel and connections who can directly influence food service markets. Communication strategies should be targeted to these people.

2. A communication/sales plan needs to be developed that highlights the bottom line ($) impact greater inclusion of fresh, local, high quality vegetables may have on the food service industry i.e. greater inclusion = greater customer satisfaction = greater return business.

3. Within communication to the food service industry, it should be made clear that the quality of vegetables is just as important as the quality of meat. Supply the industry with clear descriptions of each vegetable to enhance their knowledge of what is a high versus low

quality product so they can in turn highlight this in their consumer offering.

4. The Australian vegetable industry should supply the food service sector ready prepared statements/claims they can use indicating provenance of each vegetable supplied and it’s freshness (from harvest to plate timings).

5. A consumer campaign should also be mounted, with the basic premise of “Demand more from your restaurant”. Consumers indicate they want more fresh, local, high quality vegetables. The more vocal consumers are in communicating this, the greater the chance of compliance from the food service sector.

MORE INFORMATION

For a copy of the full report contact vegetablesWA Field Extension Officers, Sarah Houston or Truyen Vo.

NOW LEASINGNew Coldchain Warehouse, E7

Market City, 280 Bannister Road, Canning Vale, WA, 6155

Key attributes of the facility:• New cold chain, fresh

produce warehouse• Leasable areas from 300m²

to 2,100m²• High energy efficient

building, with minimum of R4.2 thermal rating

• Currently under construction• Forecast completion October

2014

www.perthmarket.com.au

METCASH

NOT DRAWN TO SCALE

CENTRAL

TRADING

AREARANFORD RD

BANNISTER RD BAILE ROAD

BAILE RDMARKET

ENTRANCE

MARKET

ENTRANCE

E7

WAREHOUSE

E7

WAREHOUSE

RETAIL &

BUSINESS

SERVICES

CENTRE

Contact: Noel Ryan, Property ManagerT: 08 9456 9200 | E: [email protected]

Be part of “The Centre of Freshness”

Ad- West Australian 2014_v2.indd 1 17/02/2014 12:22:07 PM


YOUR MARKET

This study was conducted by the team at Harvest FreshCuts in Queensland, and used formal and structured qualitative and quantitative approaches to consumer research to gain information regarding the current situation. The approaches used were focus groups (nine groups of 10 consumers) in three different states, an online survey with 900 participants, and analysis of comprehensive historical data for the green leaf category over a six year period (sourced from AC Nielsen Homescan).

Research results revealed that the most important factors influencing consumer purchases are quality and freshness when purchasing pre-packed salads.

Of the people surveyed in the study, 60% of them perceived pre-packaged greens to be as good quality as whole lettuce, and 65% perceived them to be as fresh as whole lettuce. This information has resulted in an increase in focus on ‘freshness’ across the whole supply chain.

Consumers were also very interested in different pack sizes and formats, and the research was able to identify a market opportunity for single serve packs and family packs which were not previously widely available in the leafy salad marketplace prior to this research. In response to these findings, Harvest FreshCuts now produces a range of single serve salads and single serve ready meals for its customers (as well as other pack sizes). These meet consumers’

growing need for convenience, freshness and healthy alternatives to fast food. They have been very successful and the company expects to see more shelf space in store devoted to these offerings in future, driven by consumer demand.

The research suggests that it is necessary to periodically engage with consumers through formal market research to identify future trends in consumer attitudes to enable the industry to adapt to market demand. The research also emphasises the importance of maintaining a robust whole of supply chain approach to optimise freshness and quality at each stage.

This research has helped Harvest FreshCuts and the leafy vegetable industry to identify key factors that babyleaf growers need to keep in mind when harvesting their green leaf produce, in order to keep quality and presentation at its best. Removing field heat as quickly as possible and then maintaining a <5ºC chill chain is one of the key factors in maintaining good shelf life and a great quality product. Other factors to control in delivering a great quality product that consumers will want to purchase again and again, are to be relentless in elimination of foreign bodies and food safety risks. Audit your processes to ensure compliance with standards (for example, Freshcare) and if standards aren’t rigorous enough, think about creating your own. Talk to your customers about what their expectations are and do everything you can to meet or even exceed them.

Leafy green industrydelivering on quality and freshness to meet consumer demand


The results of a study into consumer attitudes and usage in the green leaf vegetable category have shown that 65% of main grocery buyers are now purchasing pre-packed salads at least once a month.

Pre-packaged or fresh-cut leafy green vegetables have now existed as a category in Australia for more than 15 years, however there has been little research into consumer views and trends based around these products. One of the main aims of project VG10094 was to identify the triggers and barriers to consumer uptake and therefore potential growth of the market for this category.

Leafy green products include baby-leaf cultivars such as baby spinach, rocket, mizuna, baby corals, baby cos, tat-soi etc, as well as some shredded/processed greens such as iceberg and cos. About 50% of the total output is now believed to be baby-leaf based, and about 44% of leafy green product is sold through the “big two” supermarkets in Australia.

An estimated 3,000 plus businesses are now depending on the green leaf category for their livelihoods around the country, and so it is essential that the whole supply chain gains an accurate understanding of the requirements of the consumer to ensure a sustainable future for the industry.


YOUR MARKET

Now that they are armed with the latest research findings, Harvest FreshCuts believe that the next step forward for the category is driving consumption and frequency of purchase. Australian salad consumers buy, on average, seven bags of salad per year. In the UK (where it rains most of the year and where weather isn’t overly conducive to salad consumption), they buy twice that.

There is much opportunity to encourage more people to buy more packaged salads more often.

The keys to this outcome are freshness, quality and value for money as well as convenience. Work is continuing with retailers to improve shelf space allocation and numbers of facings to ensure that the products are on shelf when consumers are looking for them.

MORE INFORMATION

For further information or for a full copy of the report, please contact vegetablesWA Field Extension Officer Sarah Houston on 0427 373 037 or [email protected]

65% of main grocery buyers are now purchasing pre-packed salads at least once a month.

Important: The descriptions, illustrations, photographs, advice, suggestions and vegetation cycles that may be presented herein are aimed at experienced professionals and are derived from observations made in defined conditions on various trials. They are offered in all good faith, for purely informational purposes, and shall not therefore, under any circumstances, be held to be exhaustive, be taken as any form of guarantee of harvest or performance, prejudge specific factors or circumstances (either current or future), and more generally, form any kind of contractual undertaking whatsoever. The user must first and foremost ensure that his exploitation conditions, local geographical conditions, his planned growing period, his soil, the means at his disposal (such as technical knowledge and experience and cultural techniques and operations), his resources (such as tests and control methods) and his equipment, and more generally his agronomical, climatic, sanitary, environmental and economic context are suitable for the crops, techniques and varieties that are presented herein. All the varieties illustrated in this publication were photographed in favourable conditions and no guarantee can be provided that results will be identical under different conditions. All reproductions, whether in part or in whole, of this publication (of the medium and/or the contents), in any form whatsoever, are strictly forbidden, unless specific prior permission is granted. Non contractual photographs - All rights reserved - © 2013 HM.CLAUSE

HM.CLAUSE PACIFIC - P.O. Box 475 - Bulleen - VIC 3105 - AUSTRALIATel: +61 (0)3 8850 5400 - Fax: +61 (0)3 8850 5444

For more information, contact: Kevin Swan – Sales & Development Manager – Tel: 0400 622 314 – [email protected]

Two centuries of innovation. A lifetime of success.

+ High yields

+ Short internodes with

consistent 5-6 fruit per truss

+ Large sized fruit of 180-200g

+ Extremely uniform shape &

size provides for high

pack-out

+ High quality fruit with good

colour & exceptional gloss

+ Very firm fruit with

outstanding shelf life

+ Combination of Fusarium

(F3) & TSWV

Resistances:

HR: ToMV / V / Fol:1,2,3 / For

IR: Ss / TSWV

Duncan F1

Suited to Southern & Western Australia


YOUR MARKET

The campaign is jointly developed by the Perth Market Authority and the Chamber of Fruit and Vegetables Industries WA, and encourages consumers to support local independent green grocers and increase awareness on the importance of choice, flavour and expert knowledge when buying fresh produce.

Defend Yourself Against Average

With 32 local Great Greengrocers Stores!

The Great Greengrocer is a marketing campaign which has been joined by an army of independent green grocers across WA. The number of Great Greengrocers is growing! We have 32 Great Greengrocers on board.

Above: Ambassadors seven-year-old twins Reese and Emily Prior. Below left to right: Shawn Offer, from Fresh Provisions; John Ale, from Tony Ale's; and Gilbert from Gilbert's Fresh.

The last three months were busy for the Great Greengrocer! Great Greengrocer supported 2013 Market City Charity Cherry Auction in December and helped to raise $73,100 to help the children and their families at the Princess Margaret Hospital Foundation.

Important: The descriptions, illustrations, photographs, advice, suggestions and vegetation cycles that may be presented herein are aimed at experienced professionals and are derived from observations made in defined conditions on various trials. They are offered in all good faith, for purely informational purposes, and shall not therefore, under any circumstances, be held to be exhaustive, be taken as any form of guarantee of harvest or performance, prejudge specific factors or circumstances (either current or future), and more generally, form any kind of contractual undertaking whatsoever. The user must first and foremost ensure that his exploitation conditions, local geographical conditions, his planned growing period, his soil, the means at his disposal (such as technical knowledge and experience and cultural techniques and operations), his resources (such as tests and control methods) and his equipment, and more generally his agronomical, climatic, sanitary, environmental and economic context are suitable for the crops, techniques and varieties that are presented herein. All the varieties illustrated in this publication were photographed in favourable conditions and no guarantee can be provided that results will be identical under different conditions. All reproductions, whether in part or in whole, of this publication (of the medium and/or the contents), in any form whatsoever, are strictly forbidden, unless specific prior permission is granted. Non contractual photographs - All rights reserved - © 2013 HM.CLAUSE

HM.CLAUSE PACIFIC - P.O. Box 475 - Bulleen - VIC 3105 - AUSTRALIATel: +61 (0)3 8850 5400 - Fax: +61 (0)3 8850 5444

For more information, contact: Kevin Swan – Sales & Development Manager – Tel: 0400 622 314 – [email protected]

Two centuries of innovation. A lifetime of success.

+ High yields

+ Short internodes with

consistent 5-6 fruit per truss

+ Large sized fruit of 180-200g

+ Extremely uniform shape &

size provides for high

pack-out

+ High quality fruit with good

colour & exceptional gloss

+ Very firm fruit with

outstanding shelf life

+ Combination of Fusarium

(F3) & TSWV

Resistances:

HR: ToMV / V / Fol:1,2,3 / For

IR: Ss / TSWV

Duncan F1

Suited to Southern & Western Australia


YOUR MARKET

GGG and Swimming WA: Jessica Cannon, Nadia Di Tullio and Josh Lynn.

The Great Greengrocer program has partnered with Swimming WA to support thousands of swimmers who have taken part in the Open Water Swimming Competitions this summer. The swimming competitions were held on different WA beaches, and all ages are encouraged to compete in distances ranging from 1.25–10km.

Hundreds of sweet and delicious bananas supplied by the Great Greengrocers were provided to swimmers to refill their energy levels after the exhausted swim.

Great Greengrocers also presented the male and female winners with gift vouchers enabling them to purchase fruit and vegetables at any Great Greengrocer store.

The GGG marketing program is designed to promote independent retail stores to the consumer by providing retailers with TV, radio, newspaper, website and Facebook advertising support and in-store merchandising including: shelf wobblers, recipe cards seasonal charts, aprons, badges, posters, and consumer giveaways. To assist consumers identify their local great greengrocer and identify the freshest seasonal produce.

MORE INFORMATION

To find out more about the Great Greengrocer marketing campaign, please contact Nicole Fernandes, Marketing and Communications Manager or Zarina Weston, Marketing Campaign Coordinator on (08) 9456 9200 or email [email protected]

To date, 32 independent retailers across WA from Geraldton through to Bunbury and including metropolitan areas have joined the Great Greengrocer campaign.Fresh Provisions

Tony Ale Fruit MarketDrovers Garden Glow Fruit & Veg WholesalersMr Fresh CarineThe Fruit Basket Bunbury Farmers MarketWembley Supa IGAScutti A Taste Of EuropePeaches Fresh Food MarketGilberts Fresh

Brookland Piazza FreshGwelup Fruits & MoreLimes Fresh Farmers MarketFresh Stop Market/ Fresh Stop Morley

The Good GrocerHills Fresh

Cannington Fresh MarketBasil's Fine FoodsForrest Road FreshNorth Perth Growers MarketCrimea Growers MarketBeetroot BrothersDomenics Fruit & VegetablesGeraldton Fruit & Vegetable Supply

Broadway Fresh

Sun Fresh Fruit and VegetablesThornlie Fresh ProduceWilletton Fresh Market The New Benara Fresh MarketNguyen Brothers Asian GrocersOrganic on CharlesFresh today

mailto:info%40greatgreengrocer.com?subject=


ENVIRONMENTYOUR

YOUR ENVIRONMENT


YOUR ENVIRONMENT

In January Perth Region NRM in collaboration with Wines of WA held a number of workshops on Wastewater Management.

Whilst these workshops focused on winery wastewater, the basic principles are largely applicable to any horticultural industry producing wastewater including the vegetable industry.

Turning wastewater into a resource can have significant benefits economically and environmentally this article aims to provide some of the detail on these principals and their relevance to the vegetable industry.

In the wine industry, the majority of wastewater is produced through the cleaning of tanks and equipment whereas in the Vegetable industry wastewater is mostly produced from the washing of different vegetable products where the higher the food safety risk associated with a particular product, the higher the quantity of wastewater produced. This is driven by the inherently higher risks associated with re-using cleaning water. To improve the effectiveness of the washing water the Wine industry adds cleaning/sterilising chemicals such as Caustic Soda and this practise is similar in the vegetable industry where products that contain chemicals such as Peroxyacetic Acid and Hydrogen Peroxide are added to the water resulting in the production of chemically contaminated wastewater.

There are two main parts to effective and efficient wastewater management — Planning Phase and Operational Phase (see Figure 1).

Planning and Evaluation PhaseThe most important step in any wastewater management program is identifying the intended use of the wastewater before making any decisions on how to treat the wastewater. For example, many wineries intend to immediately use wastewater as a source of irrigation water for the vineyard. In this case the treatment of this wastewater would be different to a winery which might aim to reclaim its wastewater for cleaning floors or other purposes where the quality of the water is more important.

Another critically important requirement is to know and understand your local council rules and regulations; these may be different across different councils or shires.

Wastewater managementBY NIGEL TODDSUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE COORDINATOR, HORTICULTUREWA/PERTH REGION NRM

Key messages• Always adhere to statutory

restrictions

• First identify what will be done with the wastewater

— Critical to the above step, know and understand what your local council laws

— Ensure you review the industry codes of practice such as those outlined by Freshcare and EnviroVeg

• Consider implementing an environmental management plan such as those offered by Freshcare or EnviroVeg

• Know your wastewater — the load and concentration, BOD, COD etc

• Review all possible treatment options based on the above information

• Where possible reduce or eliminate the production of wastewater

• There is no such thing as a wastewater treatment system that looks after itself, monitoring and maintenance is critical.

FIGURE 1 GWRDC winery wastewater management diagram

Source: GWRDC Winery Wastewater Management & Recycling, Key principles for wineries www.gwrdc.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/FS-Key-Principles-Wineries.pdf

http://www.gwrdc.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/FS-Key-Principles-Wineries.pdf



YOUR ENVIRONMENT

Industry codes of practice such as the EnviroVeg or Freshcare programs also provide guidance for producers. The wine industry has in collaboration with Freshcare developed their own code of practice specific to wineries called Freshcare Code of Practice — Environmental Winery. Section E5.2 in this code provides guidelines specifically to managing wastewater to (view this section please visit www.freshcare.com.au/downloads).

Once you’ve completed the above steps the next stage is to gain a detailed understanding of your wastewater. Some of the terminology used is as follows:

• Load — this refers to the volume produced and in many cases will fluctuate depending on the season for example, the peak volume period for the wine industry is from February to May when produced in the

• Concentration

— BOD — Biological Oxygen Demand (mg/L) is the amount of oxygen consumed over five days by microbes as they digest organic matter with in the wastewater.

— COD — Chemical Oxygen Demand (mg/L) is the amount of oxygen consumed during chemical breakdown of materials in the wastewater.

— Acidity/alkalinity — a measure of the pH

— TOC — Total Organic Carbon is the total amount of carbon present in organic compounds with a wastewater sample

— DOC — Dissolved Organic Carbon — is the amount of organice carbon remaining

— TDS — Total Dissolved Solids (mg/L)

— TSS — Total Suspend Solids (mg/L)

— Nutrient — Nitrogen

— Salinity — Sodium (mg/L) & Potassium (mg/L)

— Pesticides

Correct sampling procedure and laboratory analysis provides winemakers with a detailed understanding their wastewater which allows them to develop the most efficient and effective treatment option. For example if the wastewater has low concentration of potential pollutants but high volume the most effective and efficient treatment option might be minimal physical filtration to prevent dripper or sprinkler blockages and then immediately irrigation into a pasture crop or wood lot with scheduled monitoring of soil samples to ensure that there is no build-up of any particular nutrient.

Another important consideration is your businesses image in the eyes of your customers and consumers.

For example Cape Mentelle, after completing the above stages also identified that their businesses viability also depended on their environmental credential and so developed an intensive system for the management of their wastewater.

Operations PhaseApplying cleaner production methods is simply the process of identifying where wastewater production can be minimised or eliminated. For example by sweeping hard surfaces rather than hosing them down, fixing leaky hoses, taps and fittings.

Treating wastewater

As identified above treat wastewater to a level where it is “fit for purpose”, there is no sense in over treating waste water if it is not required. There are three commonly recognised levels of wastewater treatment and at each level there is a range of different methods used:

1. Primary

2. Secondary

3. Tertiary

Primary treatment is the physical removal of material for example the use of a static screen to remove leaves, stems and grape peels or the temporary holding of water where heavy solids settle to the bottom and floating materials are skimmed off the surface (see Figure 2).

Static screen.

Aerobic wastewater treatment pond with oxygenator.

http://www.freshcare.com.au/downloads


YOUR ENVIRONMENT

Secondary treatment is usually referred to the biological stage where removal of dissolved and suspended biological matter is undertaken by micro-organisms. Within this stage there are two main principals of importance:

1. Aerobic where the types of organisms living in the wastewater and breaking down the organic matter survive with oxygen and produce carbon dioxide gas as a by-product (see Figure 3).

2. Anaerobic where the types of organisms living in the wastewater and breaking down the organic matter survive without oxygen and produce methane gas as a by-product.

Tertiary treatment is typically anything past the primary and secondary stage and can include the use of wetlands, filtration, reverse osmosis and disinfection using chemicals (see Figure 4).

The key with wastewater treatment is to realise there is no such thing as a wastewater treatment system that looks after itself entirely, monitoring and maintenance is critical.

After treatment there are a number of different ways to dispose of the water however, as detailed above a good understanding of the council regulations in your area is critical.

In many cases, growers reuse this water for irrigation however, it is important to consider the following:

• Ensure that crop being irrigated can cope with the volume of water so irrigation scheduling might be required

• Ensure that the soil type is suitable and that there is no build-up of salts or nutrients which could move into other water sources such as the ground water table or creeks

• Ensure there is no risk of flooding or erosion

• Always adhere to statutory restrictions.

Plant bed

Sealing (plastic film)

Inspection funnelDrain

Pump funnel

Multi-chamber tank

1 = Raw wastewater inlet pipe2 = Inlet stilling well (baffle)3 = Clarified water overflow weir4 = Primary sludge outlet pipe

3 2

4

1

From milk house

Inlet baffle

Liquid layer Wastewaterlevel

Outletbaffle

Ground surfaceManhole

Riser

Sludge

Inlet

OutletScum

FIGURE 2 Diagrammatic representation of a settling tank FIGURE 3 Diagrammatic representation of an anaerobic wastewater treatment tank

RESOURCES

Freshcare Environmenta, Winery Code of Practice, 2nd Edition www.freshcare.com.au/downloads

Grape Wine Research & Development Corporation, Winery Wastewater Management & Recycling Key principles for wineries www.gwrdc.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/FS-Key-Principles-Wineries.pdf

FIGURE 4 Diagrammatic representation of a horizontal wetland used for the tertiary treatment of wastewater







YOUR ENVIRONMENT

At the time, the beekeeping industry in WA was focused on honey production, with very little expertise or knowledge directed into the horticultural industry.

DAFWA researcher Rob Manning focused on diversification in response to directions within agriculture, looking to value-add to farm businesses that had reached a position where costs were exceeding traditional income.

Beekeeping was one of those industries where a low price of honey in China (for example) directly affected farm income as most of the honey the State produced was exported.

The diversification project focused primarily on pollination services, as the process is essential to horticulture where honey bees have the biggest influence on a grower’s income. The horticulture industry had already moved down the path of high density orchards (trellis and net) without taking into account any planning for bee pollination. At this time, the scientific literature was documenting yield depressions in the centre of these modern orchards, and the fact that in Europe, even higher planting densities were being evaluated.

To diversify really meant developing a new product to service high density orchards, rather than foster an old system of beehive rental.

Through that development, however, hive rental did pick up with adjustments to the low service price. So the unobstructive, lightweight Beetube was invented and for awhile it literally took off, a kilogram of bees in a tube married into a queen bee replacement program in the bee industry, and a new profitable pollination price was struck, and new remote areas (pastoral stations were also diversifying into horticulture) were able to be serviced profitably for the first time.

Much of the publicity kept the Association buoyant, with later beekeeper involvement with the research on canola pollination, and activity in the Ord River Irrigation Area (pollination of melons and sunflowers, and the successful use of chiller trucks to transport bees the long distance north).

Pollination Association of Western Australia1995–2013

An enthusiastic core of beekeepers formed the Pollination Association of Western Australia (PAWA) after the Department of Agriculture’s (DAFWA) Apiculture program initiated industry pollination meetings in 1992.

BY COLIN FLEAYAPC BEEKEEPERS COMMITTEE


YOUR ENVIRONMENT

Poorly pollinated fruit can affect their size, shape, taste and shelf-life.

A Research has shown that for well pollinated apples, a higher seed number correlates with higher calcium level which gives the fruit a longer shelf-life.

B Where you have fruits with a large numbers of seeds like pumpkin, watermelon (other than seedless varieties), kiwifruit and strawberry, a greater number of visits by honey bees are required.

C An example of a butternut pumpkin with relatively few seeds which results in poor fruit quality.

1995“The newly formed Pollination Association of WA will hold its inaugural annual general meeting of growers and beekeepers as part of a seminar at Donnybrook on 23rd September 1995”. Countryman

A

B

C

Poor pollination

Many meetings over the 18 years were turned into successful seminars and field days across different horticultural enterprises, including Northam, Dowerin, Merredin, Donnybrook, and Karragullen.

Sadly, the association’s demise was the lack of response from the horticulture sector. Later changes within DAFWA of its apiculture section where perhaps the failure of the WA almond enterprise was the final nail.

Only a few growers appeared to understand the association’s purpose — the grower’s future profitability and a mechanism that beekeepers could develop to have an additional (more secure) source of income, thus staying in business and continuing to service the horticulture sector. The pollination association offered a professional service through code of conduct and involved a DAFWA researcher who could independently assess aspects of grower-beekeeper requirements.

I was the interim, then inaugural president of the association and it is distressing to see the demise of the PAWA when it may be needed most.

The PAWA was set up after global research confirmed the benefits of intensive honey bee pollination on a wide range of fruits and vegetables, and the supply of ‘dubious hives’ at the time which were supplying the pollination service to growers. With the inevitable arrival of the varroa mite and the subsequent loss of the feral bee population, growers of beneficial crops will become dependent on beekeepers to provide bees for pollination.

The onus is now back on the grower to ensure the quality of the hives provided. I am certain PAWA could have remained viable with more grower support. Perhaps it is not too late?

MORE INFORMATION

Anyone interested in resurrecting this invaluable service can contact Colin on 0428 899 030 or email [email protected]

mailto:colinfleay%40bigpond.com?subject=PAWA


SELFYOUR

YOUR SELF


YOUR SELF

CUT BACK

ON ALCOHOL

In Australia, drinking alcohol is sometimes seen as part of our culture with many believing it’s a normal part of socialising. Apart from the obvious health and social problems associated with excessive or binge drinking, alcoholic drinks such as beer, wine and spirits contain a large amount of energy (measured in kilojoules). Therefore, just like any other food or drink, alcohol should be limited if you’re trying to maintain a healthy weight.

Although alcohol provides energy, it’s not considered to be a healthy beverage as it doesn’t provide the body with any extra nutrients. In fact, drinking alcohol can actually increase the amount of vitamins and minerals the body requires.

We recommend you drink no more than two standard alcoholic drinks on any day. Drinking more than this increases your lifetime risk of harm from alcohol-related disease or injury.

There are 29 kilojoules (7 calories) per gram of alcohol. A ‘standard’ alcoholic drink contains 10 grams of alcohol, which equates to 290 kilojoules from the alcohol alone (not to mention the sugars that are also usually present).

In addition to this, people often drink alcohol with soft drinks (ie. mixers) and snack foods, such as potato chips, pastries and nuts. These all add to your overall kilojoule intake.

‘Low carb’ beers and wines are now available, and while these are lower in carbohydrates, they’re not necessarily a healthier option. The alcohol and kilojoule content in these “low carb” varieties is often very similar to standard types of beer and wine. Instead, consider a beverage with a lower alcohol content, such as a light beer. The energy you’ll save by reducing alcohol far outweighs any benefit a “low-carb” beverage can offer.

How much is a standard drink?

Drink Equivalent to a standard drink

375ml can/stubby low-strength beer

= 0.8 standard drink

375ml can/stubby mid-strength beer

= 1 standard drink

375ml can/stubby full-strength beer

= 1.4 standard drinks

375ml can/stubby low-carb beer

=1.4 standard drinks

100ml wine (13.5% alcohol)

= 1 standard drink

30ml nip spirits = 1 standard drink

Can spirits (approx. 5% alcohol)

= 1.2 to 1.7 standard drinks

Can spirits (approx. 7% alcohol)

= 1.6 to 2.4 standard drinks


YOUR SELF

CHOOSE

HEALTHY SNACKS

The time between meals can often be a danger zone in our efforts to maintain a healthy weight. Whether it be hunger, boredom or stress, there are many things that can draw us towards quick and often unhealthy snacks.

Many quick snack choices are high in sugar and fat, and contribute a lot more to our daily kilojoule intake than we think. For example, just one handful of crisps can contain up to three tablespoons of fat and provide the same amount of kilojoules as a small meal.

If you do feel like a snack, first have a drink of water. You may actually be thirsty! If you really need a snack, try to choose a healthy alternative instead:

▲ Instead of lollies, try fresh or dried fruit. They’re packed full of vitamins and fibre to fill you up, and have less sugar than a bag of lollies. Remember to aim for two servings of fruit a day.

▲ Fancy some potato chips? Choose vegetable sticks and hummus instead. These will count towards your daily vegetable servings while still being a delicious, crunchy snack with a quarter of the fat in potato chips.

▲ Instead of roasted salted nuts, have some plain unsalted nuts. Nuts can be a healthy snack if eaten in small amounts. Roasting adds more fat so choose unroasted nuts. And stick to a sensible amount, e.g. 10 almonds.

▲ Craving a chocolate bar? Try a cup of fruit salad. It’ll give you that sweet hit you’re after, but with only one third of the kilojoules, half the sugar and almost no fat!

▲ Feel like a muffin? Grab a slice of fruit toast with a light spread of low-fat cream cheese. Fruit toast contains close to half the energy and sugar of most muffins, as well as less fat.

▲ Fancy a sausage roll? Try wholegrain crackers with cheese and tomato. This contains almost half the kilojoules and fat of a sausage roll. Adding the tomato also gives you a serving of vegetables.

There are plenty of healthy and convenient snack choices available. Options such as fruit toast, low-fat yoghurt, rice cakes and air-popped popcorn are easy to store and convenient to grab when hunger strikes.

Supported by

livelighter.com.au


YOUR SELF

WATCH YOUR

PORTION SIZETo be a healthy weight, you need to watch the amount of food that you eat to make sure you aren’t eating too much.

Packaged food, take-away food and restaurant meals have been getting bigger and bigger over the last couple of decades, and are now served in very large portions.

We may think bigger serves are better value for money, but they’re actually costing our health a great deal more!

Larger portions mean you consume more kilojoules. This is especially problematic when it comes to high-kilojoule

foods such as soft drinks, take-away food and highly-processed snack foods.

To help keep to healthy portion sizes, use a smaller plate, avoid going back for seconds and freeze leftovers. Aim to fill half your plate with veg, one quarter with protein (eg: meat, chicken, legumes) and the last quarter with carbohydrate (eg: rice, pasta, potato, bread).

Check out this table to find out what an ideal serving size is, and how many servings from each food group you need a day.

Food group Number of serves per day What is one serve?

Breads, cereals, rice, pasta, noodles Men: 6 - 12 Women: 4 - 9

2 slices of bread 1 bread roll 1 cup of cooked rice or pasta 11 3 cups of cereal ½ cup of untoasted muesli

Vegetables, legumes (beans, peas and lentils)

Men: 5 Women: 5

½ cup of cooked vegetables 1 cup of salad vegetables 1 small potato ½ cup of cooked lentils

Fruit Men: 2 Women: 2

1 medium piece of fruit (e.g. apple) 2 small pieces of fruit (e.g. apricot) 1 cup of canned or chopped fruit 1½ tablespoons of sultanas

Milk, yoghurt, cheese Men: 2 Women: 2

1 cup of milk 2 slices of cheese (40g) 1 small carton of yoghurt (200g)

Meat, fish, poultry, eggs, nuts, legumes Men: 1 Women: 1

65–100g of cooked, lean meat ½ cup of lean mince 2 small chops 2 slices of roast meat 80–120g of cooked fish 2 small eggs 1 3 cup of peanuts or almonds

Extra foods Men: 0–3 Women: 0–2.5

1 doughnut 4 plain sweet biscuits 1 tablespoon of margarine 1 3 regular meat pie 12 hot chips

These guidelines were taken from the Dietary Guidelines for Australian Adults, 2003. Guidelines for children and adolescents can be found here


YOUR SELF

GO FOR

2 FRUIT & 5 VEGEating plenty of fruit and vegetables not only contributes to good health, it also protects us against a number of diseases and helps us maintain a healthy weight.

Fruit and vegetables are a great source of nutrients, including vitamins, minerals, dietary fibre and phytochemicals. They are also low in fat.

Research shows that most people would benefit from increasing the amount of fruit and veg they eat. Developing the habit of eating the recommended amount of fruit and vegetables every day can help prevent:

▲ coronary heart disease

▲ some forms of cancer

▲ obesity

▲ constipation

It can also reduce blood pressure and blood cholesterol levels, and improve control of diabetes.

How much fruit and veg should I eat?

Most Australians eat only half the amount of fruit and veg recommended for good health.

Health authorities recommend that adults eat at least two serves of fruit and five serves of vegetables each day.

What is a serve?

Serving sizes vary for different types of fruit and vegetables.

One serve of fruit is 150 grams of fresh fruit or:

One serve of vegetables is 75 grams or:

Try to vary what you eat by having raw and cooked fruit and vegetables in a variety of colours, every day.

1 medium piece (e.g. apple)

2 small pieces (e.g. apricots)

1 cup chopped or canned fruit

½ cup cooked vegetable or cooked

legume

1 medium potato

1 cup salad vegetables

Supported by

livelighter.com.au


YOUR SELF

Recipes

Rosemary lamb with Sicilian vegetables

Ingredients4 x 120g lamb leg steaks, trimmed of fat

4 cloves garlic, crushed

4 sprigs of rosemary

8 unpeeled baby potatoes, washed

Olive or canola spray

1 large onion, diced

2 sticks celery, trimmed, diced

1 small eggplant, cut into 1cm cubes

1 zucchini, cut into 1cm cubes

1 red capsicum, seeded and diced

400g can diced tomatoes with garlic and basil or 400mL passata

2 tablespoons balsamic or red wine vinegar

½ cup (50g) pitted olives, sliced

Freshly ground black pepper

1 cup basil, chopped

Courtesy of the LiveLighter campaign

MethodSlice steaks in half lengthways and add to a dish with 2 cloves crushed garlic and the finely chopped leaves from 2 sprigs of rosemary.

Coat lamb with marinade and set aside while vegetables are prepared. Place unpeeled potatoes in a saucepan and cover with water. Bring to the boil and allow to simmer for 10 minutes or until they can be easily pierced with a knife. Drain and set aside.

Spray a large non-stick frypan with oil and place on high heat. Add lamb and sear on both sides for 30 seconds until browned. Remove from the pan; cover to keep warm. Cook onion with remaining 2 cloves garlic over medium to high heat for 3 minutes, stirring often; add celery and eggplant and stir for 2 minutes. Add zucchini, capsicum, tomatoes, vinegar, olives and remaining 2 rosemary sprigs; season with pepper.

Simmer covered for 20 minutes, or longer if time permits, stirring occasionally until thickened. Remove rosemary sprigs. Return lamb to the pan to cook for 2 minutes each side or until cooked to your liking. Place lamb on serving plates then stir basil through vegetables and serve with potatoes.

Hint

This eggplant and vegetable stew known as ‘Caponata’ is great served warm or cold on bread, polenta, gnocchi or as a pasta sauce.

Cover bowl, refrigerate and marinate lamb for as long as time permits, from 30 minutes to overnight.

Ingredients5 eggs

Freshly ground black pepper

1 large zucchini, grated

400g peeled and grated carrot, sweet potato or pumpkin

1½ cups drained canned corn kernels or frozen peas

1 medium brown onion, peeled and diced

2 teaspoons dried mixed herbs

¾ cup wholemeal self-raising flour

1 cup reduced-fat grated cheddar cheese

Olive or canola oil spray

3 large tomatoes, thinly sliced (optional)

Green side salad, to serve

Preparation time: 15 minutes

Cooking time: 30 minutes

Serves: 4



Serves: 6

Zucchini slice


YOUR SELF

Ingredients400g firm boneless white fish fillets, roughly chopped

1 clove garlic, peeled and quartered

4 stems coriander, roots removed (50g stems and leaves)

1 tablespoon red curry paste

1 tablespoon lemon or lime juice

1 egg

150g green beans, trimmed, cut into 1cm rounds

½ small red capsicum, seeded and diced

Olive or canola oil spray

Lemon or lime wedges, to serve

Salad

½ small red capsicum, seeded and thinly sliced

1 continental or 2 large Lebanese cucumbers, halved lengthways

2 cups bean sprouts

1 cup roughly chopped coriander, extra

½ cup fresh mint leaves, torn

1 long red chilli, seeded, thinly sliced (optional)

1 tablespoon lemon or lime juice, extra

1 ½ tablespoons sweet chilli sauce

1 teaspoon fish sauce

MethodPlace fish, garlic, coriander, curry paste, juice and egg into a blender or food processor. Process until the mixture is well combined and is a smooth paste consistency. Transfer to a large bowl with diced red capsicum and the green beans. Mix until well combined.

With damp hands, using 2 tablespoons of mixture at a time, shape mixture into 12 balls. Flatten into 1cm thick patties. Spray a large non-stick frypan with oil and place over medium heat. Place 6 fish cakes evenly around the pan. Cook for 3–4 minutes then flip and brown on reverse side for a further 2–3 minutes until cooked through. Transfer to a plate and repeat with remaining mixture.

Begin to prepare salad by adding remaining ½ red capsicum, thinly sliced, to a large bowl. Using a teaspoon, discard seeds from cucumber. Slice thinly on the diagonal and add to capsicum along with bean sprouts, extra coriander, mint and chilli.

To make the dressing, combine extra juice, sweet chilli and fish sauce in a cup and pour over salad just before serving. Divide fish cakes and salad among serving plates. Serve with lemon or lime wedges, if desired.

Hint

Fish cakes can be steamed in the microwave rather than browned in a pan. Place fish cakes around the outer edge of a large microwave-safe plate lined with non-stick baking paper. Cook, uncovered, on MEDIUM (50%) for 12–15 minutes or until firm and cooked through.

Thai fish cakes with crunchy salad

Zucchini slice



Serves: 4

MethodPreheat oven to 200°C (180ºC fan forced). Whisk eggs in a medium jug, season with black pepper and set aside.

In a large bowl combine remaining ingredients except tomato. Add eggs and stir mixture until well combined.

Spray a large baking dish with oil. Pour in zucchini mix and flatten with a spoon. Cover with tomato slices arranged in a single layer. Bake for 40–45 minutes or until firm and golden brown.

Rest in the pan for 10 minutes before dividing into 6 pieces and cutting into slices. Serve with a green side salad.

Hint

Serve hot or cold, a healthy favourite for toddlers, children and adults alike. Great to take on a picnic, served as a finger food cut into small squares.

Variation

Substitute other vegetables including baby spinach, cherry tomatoes, broccoli florets, chopped asparagus or mushrooms, grated parsnip or potato and add fresh parsley, basil or dill.

Vary the flavour by adding roast vegetables or chopped fat-free semi-sundried tomatoes or chargrilled capsicum.

Replace brown onion with chopped leek or spring onions.


YOUR INDUSTRY

MORE INSECTICIDE OPTIONS FOR STABLE FLY CONTROL — VIETNAMESE TRANSLATION

DAFWA consultant entomologist Dr David Cook of UWA (left) and DAFWA inspector Tony Shimmin (right) discuss stable fly management under centre pivot irrigation.

IAN MCPHARLIN VÀ DAVID COOK Bộ Nông nghiệp và lương thực, Đại học Western Australia

Áp dụng thuốc hóa học vẫn là một phần quan trọng các biện pháp phòng trừ ruồi trâu trên xác bã rau cải. Biện pháp này tiếp tục đóng vai tró then chốt trong Kế hoạch khống chế ruồi trâu 2013 Nghị định an toàn sinh học và quản lý nông nghiệp 2007 cho đến khi nghiên cứu đưa ra được các biện pháp phòng trừ ruồi không dùng thuốc.

Yêu cầu ngưng tưới trên diện tích đã thu hoạch là khó khả thi đối với các loại rau phải thu hoạch làm nhều đợt kéo dài và tưới phun như rau cần tây, hành tây — có nghĩa là toàn bộ diện tích đã thu hoạch và chưa thu hoạch đều được tuới phun cho đến khi kết thúc thu hoach toàn bộ.

Bảng 1 Danh mục thuốc cho phép phun tên xác bả rau cải ngoài đồng sau thu hoạch để phòng trừ ruồi trong tiểu bang WA

Tên thuốc Liều lượng/ha hoặc 100L

Lượng nước phun/ha

Nhóm thuốc

Chlorpyrifos (500g/L) 0.9L/ha >800L 1BDiazinon (800g/L) 700–1400mL 1000L 1BPermethrin (500g/L) 100mL/ha 600 1000L 3ADeltamethrin (25g/L) 300mL/ha >600L 3AAlpha-cypermethrin (100g/L) 50mL/ha 600L 3ABeta-cyfluthrin (25g/L) 40–80mL/100L 1000L 3AFipronil (200g/L) 250mL 1000L 2BEmamectin(44g/L) 300g/ha 500L 6AEsfenvalerate (50g/L) 380mL/ha 1500L 3A

Thêm nhiều lựa chọn thuốc trừ ruồi trâu

để tìm ra các biện pháp vừa phòng trừ ruồi nhưng cũng vừa mang lại lợi ích trực tiếp cho đồng ruộng và cho nông dân.

Những năm qua số lược các loại thuốc ruồi cho áp dụng bị giới hạn dần chỉ còn lại Trichlorfon. Giới hạn này làm tăng khả năng kháng thuốc của ruồi do áp dụng quá nhiều một loại thuốc duy nhất. Để tránh trườnh hợp trên Bộ Nông nghiệp đã thông báo danh mục một số loại sản phẩm của 4 nhóm thuốc khác nhau (APVMA minor use approval (PER 14565) cho phép áp dụng như bảnh kèm theo kể từ ngày 14/2/2014 đền ngày 31/3/2019. Danh mục thuốc này cho phép áp dụng phun tên xác bả rau cải ngoài đồng sau thu hoạch để phòng trừ ruồi.

Tất cà các loại thuốc này cũng đang được lưu hành để phòng trừ nhiều loại sâu hại khác trên cây trồng. Nông dân phải tuân thủ tất cả các khuyến cáo chẳng hạn như thời gian cách ly từ khi phun thuốc đến khi thu hoạch. Tuy nhiên vấn đề này không quan trong lắm khi mà việc phun thuốc chỉ áp dụng cho diện tích đã thu hoạch.

Vì điều kiện ẩm ướt thích hợp cho ruồi sinh sôi nên biện pháp phun thuốc hoá học là cần thiết. Chi phí phun thuốc trong trường hợp này không mang lại lợi ích thiết thực cho nông nân nhưng có tác dụng cộng đồng khi hạn chế ruồi ảnh hưởng đến các hộ khác trong khu vực. Vì vậy mà người ta phải tiếp tục thử nghiệm


YOUR INDUSTRY

RESEARCH SHOWS PROMISING STABLE FLY CONTROLS — VIETNAMESE TRANSLATION

DAVID COOK VÀ IAN MCPHARLIN Đại học Western Australia Bộ Nông nghiệp và lương thực

Trong các thí nghiệm đang được tiến hành thì biện pháp rãi calcium cyanamide lên xác bả dư thừa ngoài ruộng cần tây sau thu hoạch đã chứng tỏ hiệu quả khống chế ruồi rất tốt.

Rãi 500-750kg calcium cyanamide trên hec-ta làm giảm 90% ruồi phát triển. Thậm chí ở mức độ thấp hơn là 250kg/ha cũng giảm bớt ruồi được 75% như trong đồ thị minh họa dưới đây

Trên thí nghiêm rãi calcium cyanamide tương tự nhưng ngưng tưới nước đã cho thấy việc cắt nước là hết sức quan trong để hạn chế ruồi. Không tới 5% ruồi

phát sinh trên lô thí nghiệm bị cắt nước hoàn toàn.

calcium cyanamide là loại phân chậm tan có chứa đạm vừa có tác dụng như rải vôi vừa có tác dụng khống chế ruồi (xem hình 2). Kết quả này sẽ được kiểm chứng thông qua thử nghiệm trên diện rộng.Nghiệm thức áp dụng calcium cyanamide chỉ là một trong nhiều nội dung của một chương trình thí nghiệm lớn hơn để đánh giá tác dụng khống chế ruồi trên xác bả thực vật của một số loại sản phẩm.

Một vài thí dụ của chương trình là thử nghiệm Bioacceletants (chất thúc đẩy

Rãi phân Calcium cyanamide trên xác bả rau cần tây loại thãi ngoài đồng.

Đồ thị 1 Tác dụng khống chế ruồi của các liều lượng vôi (kg/ha) khác nhau trên ruộng rau cần tây có tuới nước và không tưới nước sau thu hoạch

Calcium cyanamide (kg/ha)

0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200

Stab

le fl

y br

eedi

ng (a

dult

s/m

2 )

0

50

100

150

200

250

Non-irigatedIrrigated

Nghiên cứu cho ra những kết quả triển vọng khống chế ruồi trâu

nhanh quá trình phân hủy) và mầm bện tấn công trực tiếp lên ruồi Mycoforce (chứa các loại nấm bệnh Metarhizium, Beauvaria and Verticillium spp.) trên 2 điều kiện có tưới và nghưng tưới trong điều kiện thực tế ngoài đồng và trong thùng chứa, trên xác bả dư thừa của nhiều loại rau cải như cần tây, xà lách, bắp cải…

Kết quả cuối cùng sẽ được sớm công bố nhưng kết quả bước đầu cũng rất khả quan. Kết quả thí nghiệm cũng chứng tỏ tầm quan trọng của việc băm nhỏ phơi khô rau cải loại thãi ngoài đồng sau thu hoạch càng sớm cành tốt.

Các thí nghiệm kể trên nằm trong dự án HAL project VG12022 (Quản lý ruồi trâu trên rau cải loại thãi ngoài đồng) do 8 quận phối hợp với bộ Nông Nghiệp và Hiệp hội rau tài trợ.

Chúngtôi chân thành cũng cảm ơn các nông trại Bogdanich Farms, Monte & Sons and T&C Do and Sons đã tạo điều kiện cho chúng tôi thực hiện thí nghiệm trên trang trại của mình.


CARNARVON IRRIGATION REPORT CARD — VIETNAMESE TRANSLATION

YOUR PRODUCTION

ROHAN PRINCE VÀ TILWIN WESTRUP Dự án tăng cường hiệu quả sử dụng nước, Bộ Nông Nghiệp và Lương thực.

Cuối năm 2013 là thời gian thách thức với nông dân Carnarvon khi lượng nước cung cấp sụt giảm nghiêm trọng và nguồn cấp nước không đều đặn ảnh hưởng đến cả khu vực. Chính vì vậy tăng cường hiệu quả sử dụng nước tối đa là điều sống còn. Trong tổng số 51 điểm kiểm tra đánh giá của 25 trang trại chúng tôi đã tìm ra một số khía cạnh trong hệ thống tưới có thể cải thiện ngay để gia tăng lợi nhuận.

Nông dân Carnarvon tưới khoảng 6.000 đến 8.500 mét khối nước cho 2 vụ cà trên 1 hec-ta. So vời nơi khác thì lượng nước tuới như trên là thấp. Áp dụng kỹ thuật tưới nhỏ giọt và che màng ny-lon cũng chứng tỏ nông dân đã cố gắng sử dụng nước hiệu quả.

Mặc dù tưới nhỏ giọt là một kỹ thuật tưới nước và bón phân rất hiệu quả, tuy nhiên điều này còn tùy thuộc vào việc thiết kế, vận hành và bảo trì như thế nào. Việc bảo đảm phân phối nước thật đồng đều để lên lịch tưới chính xác là vấn đề đầu tiên để đạt hiệu quả cao trong sử dụng nước.

Ba điểm chính cần lưu ý nếu muốn tăng cường hiệu quả sử dụng nước là: Thiết kế dường ống, theo dõi và ghi chép.

Thiết kế và lắp đặt hệ thống tướiThiết kế không đúng cách thì áp lực không đều và nước tưới không đều. Gia tăng độ đồng đều sẽ tránh được tình trạng nơi thừa nơi thiếu nước thiếu phân. Qua khảo sát ở Carnarvon cho thấy độ đồng đều của nước tưới thay đổi từ 71 — 98% (bình quân là 86%) trong khi yêu cầu phải đạt 90-95%.

Độ đồng đều thấp hơn 90% có nghĩa là có nơi thừa nơi thiếu nước trong cùng một lô đất gây khó khăn cho việc xác địng thời gian tưới và theo dõi hiệu quả tưới nước và hiệu quả canh tác.

Các vần đề lien quan đến thiết kế và lắp đặt hệ thống tưới cần lưu ý ở Carnarvon gồm có:• Ống phụ quá nhỏ (ống nối vào ống

chính để đưa nước ra T-tap của từng

lô) gây ga tình trạng giảm dần áp lực về phía cuối ống, hậu quả là giảm áp lực của T-tap gắn vào phần cuối ống.

• T-tap quá dài gây ra hiện tượng giảm áp và giảm nước phân phối ở cuối đường ống.

• Lượt không tốt và xúx xả ống không tốt gây ra vấn đề nghẹt ở phần cuối đường ống.

Khuyến cáo khắc phục vấn đề trên:• Liên hệ nhân viên kỹ thuật của nơi bán

ống để được hướng dẫn thiết kế lắp đặt đúng kỹ thuật.

• Lắp đặt ống phụ đúng kích cở. Có thể lắp ống phụ lớn hơn ở các lô đất gần bơm và ống phụ nhỏ hơn ở các lô đất xa bơm để bù giảm áp lực do mất nước đầu nguồn.

• Nếu lô đất cuối cùng quá dài thì không nên lắp ống phụ ở bìa cuối của lô đất mà nên lắp ở giửa lô rồi đi T-tap xương cá ra 2 bên để tránh tình trạng giảm áp do ống T-tap quá dài.

• Gắn khóa ở đầu cuối mỗi ống T-tap và thường xả khóa để trách nghẹt ống.

• Thiết kế đồng bộ các thông số về lục bơm của mô-tơ, độ dài đường ống giửa các khóa để đảm bảo đủ áp lực theo yêu cầu thiết kế của T-tap.

Theo dõi kiểm tra Theo dõi kiểm tra là biện pháp cần thiết để biết rằng nước tưới thấm tới độ sâu cần thiết và chỉ vừa đủ cho nhu cầu của cây trồng mà không thất thoát (bao gồm cả phân bón) do thấm quá sâu khỏi vùng rể. Nếu không có thiết bị theo dõi ẩm độ đất thì rất khó để nông dân thực hiện được yêu cầu trên.

Khảo sát vừa qua tại Carnarvon cho thấy nông dân cần phải quan tâm đến vấn đề theo dõi kiểm tra việc tưới tiêu. Mặc dù tổng lượng nước tưới cho suốt vụ không lảng phí nhưng trong suốt vụ vẫn xảy ra tình trạng lúc thừa lúc thiếu cho nhu cầu phát triển của cây trồng.

Sử dụng dụng cụ theo dõi ẩm độ đất giúp nông dân khắc phục tình trạng trên. Áp dụng hơp lý các bước lắp đặt, đọc và ghi chép số đồng hồ để điều chỉnh lịch tưới và thời gian tưới đảm bảo chỉ cung cấp nước và phân bón vừa đủ cho vùng rể sẽ giảm

hiện tượng sốc do thiếu nước, gia tăng năng suất chất lượng và hiệu quả.

Tùy theo khả năng đầu tư mà nông dân có thể lựa chọn các thiết bị theo dõi ẩm độ đất khác nhau. Khi mua dụng cụ thì yêu cầu người bán trình bày cách đo ngoài đồng để thực hành cho đúng. Thường xuyên kiểm tra và thử dụng cụ theo dõi ẩm độ trong các điều kiện khác nhau để đảm bảo dụng cụ luôn trong tình trạng hoạt động tốt là điều rất quan trọng.

Ghi chép và lưu giử số liệu mùa vụLảnh vực thứ ba có thể giúp tăng cường hiệu quả sử dụng nước và hiệu quả sản xuất là thường xuyên ghi chép, cập nhật các số liệu vế năng suất, chất lượng sau mỗi lần điều chỉnh tưới tiêu và phân bón để đối chiếu và sửa đổi khi cần thiết.

Các số liệu như chi phí đầu tư (công lao động, phân bón, thuốc trừ sâu bệnh, nước…) và sản lượng (năng suất, chất lượng, phân loại…) được theo dõi trên từng lô đất giúp nông dân so sánh hiệu quả sản xuất giửa các lô trong một mùa vụ và giửa các mùa vụ khác nhau để quyết định những thay đổi nếu cần.

Điều này cũng giúp nông dân dễ xác định vấn đề nào ưu tiên cần đầu tư hay quan tâm để chuẩn bị sẳn sàng. Không có các số liệu ghi chép so sánh hiệu quả thì khó đưa ra được quyết định chính xác mà lệ thuộc vào sự may rủi.

Các điểm chính yếu trong báo cáo kết quả khảo sát tưới tiêu tại Carnarvon


YOUR BUSINESS

FARM FINANCE CONCESSIONAL LOANS SCHEME (WA) FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS — VIETNAMESE TRANSLATION

1. Mục tiêu của chương trình cho vay ưu đãi?

Chương trình tài chính nông nghiệp là một sáng kiến của chính phủ liên bang nhằm xây dựng khả năng ứng phó với khủng hoảng tài chính của các doanh nghiệp nông nghiệp. Trọng tâm của chương trình này tại WA là hổ trợ các doanh nghiệp nông nghiệp đang gặp khó khăn về vốn thông qua chương trình cho vay ưu đãi để tăng cường các hoạt động sản xuất.

2. Tổng nguồn vốn của quĩ cho vay ưu đãi là bao nhiêu?

Tổng cộng 50 triệu: 25 triệu/năm cho 2 đợt 2013-2014 và 2014-2015

3. Đồi tượng nào được nộp hồ sơ vay vốn?

Những doanh nghiệp nông nghiệp cá thể, gia đình hay tập thể có qui mô nhỏ. Không áp dụng cho công ty thuộc sở hữu cộng đồng.

4. Giới hạn số tiền cho vay?

Trong phạm vi từ $50.000 đến $200.000 để nâng cao năng lực sản xuất. Không cho vay để trả nợ hay thanh toán các khoản tín dụng khác.

5. Lãi xuất?

Chính phủ đã ấn định lãi xuất 4,5%/năm kể từ ngày 01/7/2013. Mức lãi xuất này có thể được chính phủ xem xét thay đổi mỗi 6 tháng nếu cần tùy theo những thay đổi trong hạn mức vay 5 năm của Commomwealth.

6. Thời hạn vay vốn và nghĩa vụ trả nợ vay?

Thời hạn vay vốn tối đa 5 năm. Người vay vốn phải hoàn tra toàn bộ vốn vay vào cuối hạn kỳ.

7. Có bắt buộc trả dần cả gốc lẩn lãi trong quá trình 5 năm hay không?

Trong suốt 5 năm đó ít nhất phải trả được tiền lãi.

8. Khi nào phải bắt đầu trả lãi, thời điểm trả lãi trong năm?

Trả lãi mỗi 6 tháng vào ngày 15/3 và 15/9. Tiền lãi sẽ được tính toán tùy

theo tiến độ giải ngân của mỗi người. Các thông tin về đợt trả lãi đầu tiên và tần xuất trả lãi sẽ được ghi trong hợp đồng vay vốn.

9. Tôi có được xin vay liên tiếp 2 đợt không?

Không. Chỉ được vay một lần mà thôi.

10. Nếu hồ sơ xin vay vốn đợt 2013-2014 không được chấp nhận tôi có được nộp hồ sơ lần nữa trong đợt 2014-2015 không ?

Nếu hồ sơ xin vay đợt đầu của quí vị không được duyệt vì nguồn quĩ vay đợt này đã hết thì quí vị có thể nộp lại vào đợt sau.

Nếu hồ sơ xin vay đợt đầu của quí vị không được duyệt vì những lý do khác thì quí vị có thể làm lại vào đợt sau khi đã bổ xung hay chỉnh sửa những nội dung cần thiết.

11. Những hoạt động nâng cao năng lực sản xuất nào phù hợp qui định cho vay?

Có nhiều hoạt động nâng cao năng lực sản xuất khác nhau được xem xét. Dưới đây là vài ví dụ cụ thể:• Mở rộng sản xuất.• Đa dạng hóa các hoạt động sản

xuất.• Đầu tư nâng cao giá trị sản xuất• Khôi phục diện tích bị thoái hóa• Mua con giống phục vụ cho kế

hoạch nâng cấp trang trại lâu dài (Chẳng hạn như mua giống lai mới, chuyển đổi mục đích sản xuất…)

• Thu thập nguồn nước và bảo vệ chất lượng nước.

12. Tại sao phải xây dựng kế hoạch hoạt động sản xuất 5 năm? Kế hoạch này bao gồm những gì?

Bản kế hoạch trong hồ sơ vay vốn nhằm mô tả kế hoạch đầu tư vốn vay của quí vị và mức độ tăng cường / cải thiện khả năng tài chính của doanh nghiệp trong suốt 5 năm vay vốn.

Quí vị phải cung cấp thông tin chi tiết về chi phí và thời gian mua sắm, đầu tư và giải trình các nguồn vốn cho các

hạng mục đó (bao gồm cả vốn đang xin vay)

13. Khi nào hết hạn nộp hồ sơ?

Đợt đầu hết hạn vào 30/4/2014. Quí vị nên nộp hồ sơ càng sớm cáng tốt. Hồ sơ sẽ được xem xét theo thứ tự tiếp nhận.

14. Mẩu hồ sơ và qui trình nộp hồ sơ?

Quí vị có thể truy tìm Thông tin hướng dẫn có tại bộ Nông nghiệp và trên mạng internet: agric.wa.gov.au/farmfinance

hoặc liên hệ với RBDC theo số điện thoại miển phí 1800 198 231.

Những thắc mắc phổ biến về chương trình cho vay ưu đãi tại WA

Địa chỉ nộp hồ sơ vay vốn:Tốt nhất nên gửi theo đường bưu điện đếnRural Business Development CorporationC/o Department of Agriculture and FoodLocked Bag 4 Bentley Delivery Centre WA 6983

Hoặc nộp trực tiếp tạiRural Business Development CorporationC/o Department of Agriculture and Food3 Baron-Hay CourtSouth Perth WA 6151

Fax: +61 (0)8 9367 4265 Email: [email protected]



mailto:rbdu.loans%40agric.wa.gov.au?subject=Farm%20Finance%20Concessional%20Loans%20Scheme%20%28WA%29

YOUR PRODUCTION


EFFECTIVE GROWERS’ MODIFIED PRACTICES TO CONTROL STABLE FLY — VIETNAMESE TRANSLATION

Vào đầu tháng hai 2014 chúng tôi rất phấn khởi ghi nhận được một số cải tiến biện pháp canh tác của nông dân có tác dụng khống chế ruồi trâu sinh sản. Những cải tiến này do nông dân trồng hành tây người Việt Nam tại Bullsbook thực hiện. Điều đáng khích lệ là các biện pháp cải tiến này vừa dể áp dụng lại vừa phù hợp theo yêu cầu của qui định mới của tiểu ban BAM Act (stable fly management plan 2013) về phòng trừ ruồi trâu.

Nên nhớ rằng của qui định mới của tiểu ban BAM Act (stable fly management plan 2013) về phòng trừ ruồi trâu qui định nông dân phải có trách nhiệm áp dụng các biện pháp hạn chế ruồi trâu sinh sản trong trạng trại của mình. Ngoài việc chỉ được bón phân gia cầm đã qua xử lý, nông dân còn phải xử lý rác thãi rau cải sau thu hoạch ngoài đồng trong vòng 3 ngày sau khi thu hoạch bằng cách cho máy băm nhỏ, phơi, ngưng tưới nước trước khi phun thuốc diệt ruồi rồi xới vùi vào đất.

Tuy nhiên nhưng biện pháp khuyến cáo trên rất khó áp dụng trong điều kiện thực tế canh tác của các trang trại. Thông

thường các lô đã thu hoạch và chưa thu hoạch đều được tưới nước cho đến khi thu hoạch xong toàn tộ diện tích. Hơn nữa, đa số nông dân canh tác diện tích nhỏ không có máy băm và việc phun thuốc sâu vào rác thải sau thu hoạch chỉ gây tốn kém mà không mang lại lợi ích kinh tế rỏ ràng.

Để khắc phục các vấn đề trên và tuân thủ khuyến cáo hạn chế ruồi trâu sinh sản của chính phủ, vài nông dân trồng hành tây người Việt tại Bullsbook đã cải tiến cách thức xử ký đất và rác thải rau cải thu hoạch ngoài đồng. Hai phương pháp cải tiến này rất đơn giản:

(i) Rải rác thải rau cải thu hoạch ngoài đồng mỏng và đều trên mặt líp cho chúng khô vài ngày cho đến lần thu hoạch kế tiếp + Phun thuốc ruồi như khuyến cáo vào rác thải bị nghiền nát đưới hai hàng bánh xe máy cày trong lúc thu hoạch + xới đi xới lại rác thải rau cải thu hoạch ngoài đồng mổi lần tiến hành thu hoạch diện tích kế tiếp.

(ii) Rải rác thải rau cải thu hoạch ngoài đồng mỏng và đều trên mặt líp cho chúng khô vài ngày cho đến lần thu hoạch kế tiếp + xới đi xới lại lô đã thu hoạch vài ngày/lần cho đến khi kết thúc thu hoạch toàn bộ (biện pháp này được cho là còn có tác dụng diệt cỏ).

Những lần kiểm tra ngoài đồng của chúng tôi đã chứng minh rằng những biện pháp trên của nông dân rất có tác dụng trong hạn chế ruồi trâu sinh sản. lượng vòi trong đất giảm rất đáng kể. Có lẻ các biện pháp này đã giúp thúc đẩy nhanh quá trình phân hủy của rác thải rau cải thu hoạch ngoài đồng và liên tục gây xáo trộn môi trường sinh sản của ruồi và môi trường phát triển của vòi.

Mặc dù hiệu quả lâu dài của các biện pháp này cần được kiểm chứng một cách khoa học bởi vì các nghiên cứu trước đây đã chứng minh ruồi thích ứng rất tốt với nhiệt độ cao trong đất cát, tuy nhiên kết quả bước đầu của những cải tiến của nông dân trong hạn chế ruồi sinh sản qua quan sát trên đồng rất có triển vọng.

Điều quan trọng là những biện pháp cải tiến này vừa dể áp dụng, dể cho nông dân khác học hỏi, lại vừa phù hợp theo yêu cầu của qui định mới của tiểu ban BAM Act (stable fly management plan 2013) về phòng trừ ruồi trâu.

Sáng kiến của nông dân có hiệu quả khống chế ruồi trâu sinh sản

VÕ THẾ TRUYỀN Chuyên viên khuyến nông Việt Nam, Hiệp hội rau Tây Úc


MEETINGS AND FREE TRAINING WORKSHOPS — VIETNAMESE TRANSLATION

YOUR INDUSTRY

Bộ Nông nghiệp và lương thực tiểu bang Tây Úc đã tổ chức thành công các cuộc hội thảo và tập huấn chuyên đề cho nông dân Carnarvon từ ngày 25-28 tháng 2 năm 2014. Cuộc hội thảo vào ngày 25 tháng 2 nhằm thông báo cho nông dân chương trình trợ giúp tài chánh của chính phủ ở tiểu bang Tây Úc dưới hình thức chương trình cho vay lãi xuất ưu đãi. Chương trình tập huấn chuyên đề củng cố kế hoạch chiến lược được tổ chức trong 3 ngày từ 26-28 tháng hai.

Phối hợp với Bô Nông nghiệp và lương thực triển khai các buổi hội thảo và tập huấn chuyên đề này còn có chuyên viên khuyến nông Việt Nam của Hiệp hội Rau Tây úc và các cán bộ đào tạo cộng đồng đại diện cho đại học Murdoch.

Cuộc họp ngày 25 tháng hai tại trạm nghiên cứu nông nghiệp Gascoyne qui tụ 14 nông dân bao gồm các chủ trang trại, người thuê đất và người làm hợp đồng thuê khoán. Chuyên viên khuyến nông Việt Nam của Hiệp hội rau Tâu Úc đã hổ trợ phiên dịch cho nông dân tham giam. Trong cuộc họp này ông David Budd, Chuyên viên dự án tài chính nông thôn và doanh nghiệp nông nghiệp của bộ Nông Nghiệp và lương thực đã thông báo cho nông dân chương trình trợ giúp tài chánh của chính phủ ở tiểu bang Tây Úc dưới hình thức chương trình cho vay lãi xuất ưu đãi. Chương trình này nhằm hổ trợ cho những doanh nghiệp nông nghiệp đang gặp khó khăn tài chính thông qua chương trình cho vay lãi suất thấp để tăng cường các hoạt động sản xuất.

Nhiều câu hỏi của nông dân bao gồm các vấn đề như nguồn quĩ tín dụng, thành phần được vay, lãi suất, kỳ hạn trả nợ vay, cách nộp hồ sơ…đã được giải thích rỏ ràng trong cuộc họp. Các cuộc trao đổi riêng lẻ với từng trường hợp cũng đã được tổ chức với ông David Budd sau cuộc họp để bà con nông dân trình bày và được giải đáp những thắc mắc cá nhân của mình. Hồ sơ tham gia chương trình vay vốn ưu đãi của chính phủ cũng đả được phân phát cho bà con nông dâng ngay tai cuộc họp.

Tiếp theo hoạt động thông tin về chương trình trợ giúp tài chánh của chính phủ ở tiểu bang Tây Úc dưới hình thức chương trình cho vay lãi xuất ưu đãi, chương trình tập huấn chuyên đề củng cố kế hoạch chiến lược đã được tổ chức trong 3 ngày từ 26-28 tháng hai tại khu nghỉ mát Fascine Lodge Carnarvon. Tham gia tập huầm gồm có 28 bà con nông dân Việt Nam và 2 nông dân nói tiếng Anh. Chuyên viên khuyến nông Việt nam của Hiệp hội rau tây Úc cũng đã hổ trợ phiên dịch và cùng phối hợp với các cán bộ đào tạo cộng đồng đại diện cho đại học Murdoch để truyền đạt nội dung tập huấn.

Nội dung tập huấn được xây dựng để giúp bà con nông dân ôn tập và củng cố kế hoạch chiến lược của mình đã soạn thảo trong các đợt tập huấn trước đây. Sau hội thảo mỗi người tham gia đều đã củng cố và xây dựng lại kế hoạch chiến lược của mình cho phù hợp với sự thay đổi của hoàn cảnh trong thời gian qua.

Hội thảo này đã góp phần làm cho mỗi người tham gia đều có được kế hoạch tốt và thiết thực cho công việc của mình. Các nội dung chính của lớp tập huấn gồm có:

• Xem xét kế hoạch chiến lược như là một tiến trình dài hạn.

• Xác định tầm nhìn của doanh nghiệp• Xem xét và tinh chỉnh lại các mục tiêu,

chiến lược, hành động trong kế hoạch chiến lươc đối vớo các lảnh vực:

• Làm ăn kinh doanh• Sản xuất• Cân bằng công việc và cuộc sống• Tài nguyên thiên nhiên

Tập huấn chuyên đề này cũng kiểm tra khả năng thương lượng hợp đồng và tính toán các khoản đầu tư cho những hoạt động sản xuất kinh doanh sắp tới cũng như ứng dụng các khả năng này vào việc thực hiện kế hoạch chiến lược đã đề ra.

Các kiến thức khác như chu kỳ tâm lý đối phó với sự thay đổi, “qui luật 1%” liên quan đến vấn đề giảm chi phí, tăng năng suất và giá bán tương quan với sự cải thiện lợi nhuận đáng kể cũng đã được ôn luyên lại cho nông dân tham gia tập huấn.

Bà con muốn biết thêm thông tin về chương trình trợ giúp tài chánh của chính phủ ở tiểu bang Tây Úc dưới hình thức chương trình cho vay lãi xuất ưu đãi có thể tham khảo thêm trên internet: www.agric.wa.gov.au/farmfinance

Hội thảo và tập huấn cho nông dân tại Carnarvon

VÕ THẾ TRUYỀN Chuyên viên khuyến nông Việt Nam, Hiệp hội rau Tây Úc

Hàng đứng: Ann Maree O’Callaghan và Maree Cooch đại diện đại học Murdoch chủ trì hội thảo

Hàng ngồi: nông dân Việt Nam tại Carnarvon tham dự hội thảo.


YOUR PRODUCTION

Permits Minor Use Permits can also be searched by specific crop or pest types at www.apvma.gov.au/permits/search.php

Permit No. Chemical Treats Expiry date

Adzuki beans

PER13293 Abamectin Two spotted mites and onion thrips 30-Apr-15

PER13610 Procymidone Sclerotinia rot 31-Dec-14

PER13607 Spinnaker Herbicide Weeds 30-Sep-18

PER12237 Pendimethalin Broad leaf weeds 30-Nov-15

PER11405 Haloxyfop Grass weeds 30-May-14

PER13451 Pirimicarb Cowpea aphid and soyabean aphid 31-Mar-16

PER14586 Altacor Insecticide Lucerne seed web moth & bean pod borer 31-May-14

Almonds

PER14415 Altacor (chlorantraniliprole) Carob moth 30-Jun-19

PER14310 Apollo SC Miticide (clofentezine) Two-spotted mite & brown almond mite 30-Sep-18

PER13553 Methoxyfenozide (Prodigy Insecticide) Carob moth 30-Sep-15

PER13387 Pirimicarb Aphids 31-Mar-17

PER13384 Abamectin Two-spotted mite & brown almond mite 30-Jun-18

PER13383 Pymetrozine (Chess) Green peach aphid 31-Mar-17

PER13266 Azoxystrobin Anthracnose 31-Mar-14

PER13199 Phos acid Phytopthora 31-Mar-15

PER12989 Propiconazole Blossom blight, anthracnose 31-Aug-16

PER11121 Simazine Broadleaf weeds and grasses 31-Dec-14

Apples

PER12864 Polyram (metiram) Alternaria 30-Jun-16

PER12865 Delan 700 WG Alternaria control 30-Jun-16

Apricots

PER13527 Sumitomo Samurai Systemic Insecticide (clothianidin)

Oriental fruit moth 30-Jun-18

PER14501 Lebaycid (fenthion) Fruit fly 30-Apr-14

Asparagus

PER12777 Avatar (indoxacarb) Garden weevil 30-Sep-16

PER11271 Score Foliar Fungicide (difenoconazole) Stemphylium leaf spot 30-Sep-14

PER12990 Various Fungicides Purple spot disease and asparagus rust 28-Feb-16

Avocado

PER11284 Methomyl (Lannate L) Ectropis looper. 31-Mar-14

PER13808 Lebaycid Insecticide (Fenthion) Queensland fruit fly 30-Oct-14

PER13624 Phosphorous acid Phytophthora root rot 31-Aug-14

Banana

PER14512 Glyphosate Destruction of plants infected with banana freckle 30-Sep-14

PER14237 Diesel Distillate Removal of unwanted suckers 30-Sep-23

PER11733 Glyphosate Destruction of banana plants 30-Sep-14

PER14240 Chlorpyrifos Sugarcane bud moth, banana scab moth, banana rust thrips, caterpillars, mealy bugs

30-Sep-15

PER14516 Tatodust Banana fruit speckle disease 31-Mar-16

PER9409 Sulfur Dust Mites 30-Sep-16

PER14235 Rattoff Zinc Phosphine Bait Sachet Roof or black rat and mice 30-Jun-23

PER13599 Glyphosate, imidacloprid & paraffinic oil Plant destruction & banana aphid control 31-Oct-16

Beans

PER13123 Amistar 250SC Fungicide Specified fungal diseases 31-Mar-14

PER13897 Filan Fungicide (boscalid) Sclertonia rot 30-Jun-14


YOUR PRODUCTION


PER12947 Talstar 100 EC Insecticide/Miticide Specified whitefly and mite species 30-Apr-15

Beetroot

PER14245 Score Foliar Fungicide Leaf spot 31-Aug-18

PER11450 Ethofumesate (Tramat) Grass weeds 30-Jun-15

PER11949 Lambda-Cyhalothrin Various insects 31-Mar-15

PER14184 Phosphorous (phosphonic) acid Damping off and downy mildew 30-Jun-17

PER10908 Tebuconazole Sclerotonia rot 31-Mar-14

PER14223 Flint 500 WG Fungicide (trifloxystrobin) Alternaria leaf spot and cercospora leaf spot 31-Dec-14

PER11853 Imidacloprid Aphids & thrips 30-Sep-15

Blackberry

PER13956 Abamectin Two-spotted mites 31-May-18

Blackcurrant

PER12750 Glufosinate Various weed species 30-Jun-16

PER13956 Abamectin Two-spotted mites 31-May-18

Blueberries

PER12793 Metham Weed seeds & soil born pathogens 30-Jun-16

PER14309 Chlorothalonil Various fungal diseases 30-Sep-16

PER14134 Methomyl Red-shouldered leaf beetle, Helicoverpa spp. & plague thrips 30-Jun-23

PER14133 Suscon Blue Soil Insecticide Scarab beetles 31-Jul-17

PER14132 Copper Anthracnose 30-Sep-18

PER13955 Infruta Sulphur Dioxide Pads Botrytis cinerea 31-Mar-23

PER13630 Switch Fungicide Grey mould & anthracnose 30-Sep-18

PER13629 Pristine Fungicide Grey mould, anthracnose, rust 31-Oct-16

PER13532 Suscon Blue Soil Insecticide (chlorpyrifos) Scarab beetles 31-Jul-17

PER12219 Casoron G Herbicide (dichlobenil) Specified weeds 31-Mar-16

PER11430 Basta, Glufosinate-Ammonium Various weeds 30-Jun-14

PER11429 FUSILADE As per label, grass control within crops 30-Jun-14

PER10894 Tilt 250 EC (propiconazole) Rust (Pucciniastrum vaccinii) 30-Jun-14

PER13290 Dimethoate Queensland fruit fly and Mediterranean fruit fly 5-Oct-14

PER12816 Tebufenozide (Mimic) Light brown apple moth 30-Jun-15

PER12534 Confidor Guard (imidacloprid) Scarab beetle larvae 31-Oct-15

PER13958 Various products Various fungal blights 31-Mar-18

PER13677 Hy Mal Insecticide Fruit fly bait spray 30-Jun-16

PER12940 Maldison Fruit fly 31-May-14

PER12927 Dow AgroSciences Success Neo (spinetoram) Fruit fly (suppression only) 31-May-14

Borlotti beans

PER9509 Methomyl Bean pod borer and budworm 31-Oct-16

Botany wetlands

PER10597 2,4-D Ludwigia peruviana 1-Feb-18

Brassica leafy vegetables

PER12008 Ramrod Herbicide (propachlor) Annual grasses and broadleaf weeds 30-Sep-15


PER14584 Imidacloprid Aphids, whitefly and thrips 31-Mar-19

PER13154 Dual Gold Herbicide Various broadleaf and grass weeds 31-Mar-17

PER11994 Proclaim Insecticide Diamondback moth, heliothis and vegetable looper 31-May-14

PER10845 Barmac Zineb Fungicide Cercospora leaf spot & downy mildew 31-Mar-15

PER10497 Imidacloprid Aphids, whitefly and thrips 31-Mar-14

PER14127 Pendimethalin Weeds 31-Aug-18


YOUR PRODUCTION


PER11848 Clethodim Grass weeds 30-Sep-15

PER14292 Secure 360SC (chlorfenapyr) Lepiotera and mites 31-Mar-16


PER12054 Propiconazole Cercospora leaf spot, rust, septoria leaf spot 31-Aug-14

PER14433 Alpha-cypermethrin Various insects 30-Jun-17


PER12016 Mancozeb Anthracnose and septoria 31-Mar-15

Brassica seed crops

PER13778 Various herbicides, insecticides & fungicides 31-Mar-18

PER14596 Chlorpyrifos Vegetable beetle adults 30-Sep-19


PER13672 Chlorpyrifos Vegetable beetle adults 30-Sep-14


Breadfruit

PER13702 Copper Specified fungal diseases 30-Jun-15

Broad beans

PER13752 Tebuconazole Cercospora leaf spot & rust 30-Jun-16

Broccoli


PER14164 Clethodim Rye grass, winter grass 30-Jun-17

PER11951 Phosphorous acid Downy mildew 31-Mar-15

PER14352 Metalaxyl-M (Apron XL 350) and Fludioxonil (Maxim 100)

Damping-off and rhizoctonia 31-Mar-19

PER14051 Iprodione Rhizoctinia 31-Mar-18

Brussels sprouts


PER10090 Iprodione Grey mould 1-Aug-15



Capsicums

PER12565 Scala Fungicide Botrytis rots 30-Sep-17

PER14326 Captan Grey mould 30-Nov-16

PER11564 Switch Fungicide Botrytis & sclerotinia 30-Nov-14

PER13567 Bifenthrin Fruit fly 31-May-14

PER13566 Fruit fly 30-May-14

PER13901 Glyphosate (shielded sprayer) Annual and perennial grass and broadleaf weeds 30-Jun-19

PER11778 Agri-fos 600 Systemic Fungicide (phosphorous acid)

Phytophthora soil fungus 30-Nov-15


Capsicums (protected)

PER14050 Flint 500 WG Fungicide Powdery mildew 30-Jun-23

Carrot

PER13795 Agpro Propazine 500 Nightshade, fat hen & wireweed 31-Mar-18

PER11747 2,2-Dichloropropionic Acid Promotion of bolting and grass weed control 30-Nov-14

PER10914 Azoxystrobin Powdery mildew, downy mildew and white blister rust 31-May-14



PER13305 Glyphosate (shielded sprayer) Certain broadleaf and grass weeds 30-Jun-15

PER13091 Tebuconazole Powdery mildew 31-Mar-16

Permits (cont.)


YOUR PRODUCTION


PER13013 Clethodim Grass weed control 31-Mar-14

PER12383 Prometryn Broadleaf weeds 30-Sep-15

PER13656 Rovral Aquaflo Fungicide Various diseases 30-Sep-14

Casuarina

PER11918 Imazethapyr Cunninghamiana, glauca, littoralis, torrulosa, annual ryegrass, barley & nut grasses

30-Apr-15

Cauliflower



PER13147 Lontrel Capeweed and clover 30-Sep-16

PER10272 Diazinon Onion fly and onion seedling maggot 30-Sep-16


PER14037 Alpha-Cypermethrin Staphylinid beetle 31-Mar-23

Cavendish bananas

PER14239 Nufarm Amicide Destruction of banana suckers 30-Jun-23

Celeriac

PER13573 Rovral Aquaflo Fungicide (Iprodione) Sclerotinia rot 30-Jun-14

PER13323 Score Foliar Fungicide (difenoconazole) Cercospora leaf spot & septoria leaf blight 31-Mar-15

PER13114 Prometryn Grass weeds listed on label 31-Mar-17

PER10875 Pirimor WG Aphicide (pirimicarb) Aphids 30-Sep-15

PER13367 Linuron Grass and broadleaf weeds 30-Apr-16

PER13088 Success Neo Insecticide (spinetoram) Various insect pests 31-Mar-17

Celery

PER14049 Permethrin (Ambush ) Helicoverpa and looper 31-Mar-23

PER13936 Applaud Insecticide (buprofezin) Greenhouse whitefly 30-Jun-14

PER13654 Avatar Insecticide (indoxacarb) Heliothis, lightbrown apple moth, lucerne leaf roller and vegetable weevil

30-Sep-14

PER13627 Score Foliar Fungicide (difenoconazole) Cercospora leaf spot & septoria spots 31-Dec-15

PER13496 Linuron Range of weeds 30-Apr-17

PER9161 Esfenvalerate Helicoverpa armigera 31-Mar-16

PER13122 Proclaim Insecticide Heliothis, lightbrown apple moth and cluster caterpillar 30-Sep-16

PER13673 Ridomil Gold MZ WG Late blight, septoria leaf blight & downy mildew 30-Sep-16

PER13658 Flint 500 WG (trifloxystrobin) Various diseases 30-Sep-14

Cereal

PER12179 Hotshot Three-horned bedstraw 30-Nov-15

PER12647 Phosphine In-transit fumigation 30-Sep-14





Chard

PER13691 Gallery 750 Dry Flowable Herbicide Wild radish 30-Nov-15

Cherries

PER13131 Regent 200 SC Insecticide European earwig 30-Nov-14

PER11002 Dupont Avatar (indoxacarb) European earwig 31-Mar-15

PER9941 Dipterex Fruit fly 31-Mar-15

PER12709 Nufarm Pristine Fungicide Brown rot & botrytis 30-Jun-15


YOUR PRODUCTION


Chesnuts

PER13640 Sodium Hypochlorite Surface moulds 31-Oct-17

PER13375 Scholar Fungicide (fludioxonil) Suppression of surface moulds 31-Oct-17

PER13273 Copper present as Cupric hydroxide Chestnut blight 31-Mar-17

PER12507 Tsunami or Adoxysan Surface moulds 30-Jun-16

PER11979 Foli-R-Fos (phosphorous acid) Phomopsis nut rot 30-Jun-15

PER11731 Paraquat and diquat (SpraySeed) Annual grass and broadleaf weeds 31-Mar-15

Chia

PER14322 Haloxyfop (Verdict 520) Awnless barnyard grass 30-Jun-17

PER13892 Larvin (thiodicarb) Heliothis 31-Jan-15

PER13393 Fusilade Forte (fluazifop) Various grasses 30-Jun-16

PER13392 Methomyl Heliothis 30-Jun-18

PER13391 Betacyfluthrin Heliothis 30-Jun-18

PER11245 Trifluralin Specified broadleaf weeds 30-Jun-14

PER11215 Powermax (glyphosate) Various weeds 30-Jun-14

PER11332 Gemstar Heliothis 30-Jun-14

Chickpeas

PER14347 Spinnaker 700WDG Various weeds 30-Sep-18

PER14346 Simazine Weeds 30-Nov-18

PER14348 Metribuzin Various weeds 30-Sep-18

Chicory


PER11848 Clethodim Grass Weeds 30-Sep-15




PER10677 Propyzamide Grass and broadleef weeds 30-Apr-18

PER11352 Walabi Fungicide Botrytis and alternaria 30-Sep-14

PER11855 Betanal (phenmedipham) Broadleaf weeds 30-Jun-14

PER12397 Alpha-cypermethrin Red-legged earth mite, onion thrips 30-Nov-14


Chilli peppers

PER13860 Lebaycid (fenthion) Fruit fly 30-Oct-14

PER13254 Dimethoate Queensland and Mediterranean fruit fly 5-Oct-14

PER13397 Clethodim (Select Herbicide) Fops annual ryegrass and winter grass 31-Dec-16

Chillies


PER12823 Trifluralin Various broad leaf and grass weeds 30-Jun-21

PER13657 Abamectin Two-spotted mite 31-Mar-14


PER12399 Ridomil Gold MZ Systemic & Protective Fungicide

Downy mildew 30-Sep-16

Citrus

PER14651 Fipronil Mastotermes darwiniensis 31-Mar-18

PER13540 Amistar 250SC (azoxystrobin) Emperor brown spot & citrus black spot 31-Mar-14

PER10706 Garlon Citrus canker 31-Mar-20

PER13059 Abamectin + Clofentezine Citrus red mites 30-Sep-15

Permits (cont.)


YOUR PRODUCTION


Coriander

PER11850 Lambda-cyhalothrin Red-legged earth mite, Rutherglen bug, grey cluster bug, looper, plague thrips

31-Aug-15

PER13303 Coragen Insecticide Heliothis, cluster caterpillar 31-Mar-15

PER13396 Methomyl Thrips and western flower thrips 30-Jun-15

PER13396 Methomyl Thrips and western flower thrips 30-Jun-15

Cucumber

PER14077 Eco-Oil (Botanical Oil) Silverleaf whitefly 30-Sep-23


PER12447 Teldor 500 SC Fungicide Botrytis rot 31-May-16



PER7909 Scala 400 SC Fungicide Botrytis rot 30-Sep-17

PER12906 Acramite Miticide (bifenazate) Two-spotted mite 31-Mar-18

PER12391 Prodigy Insecticide Lepidopteran pests 30-Sep-17


PER14046 Mancozeb Grey mould 31-Mar-18

PER13349 Pyranica Two-spotted mite 31-Mar-15

PER14050 Flint 500 WG Fungicide Powdery mildew 30-Jun-23

PER12998 Amistar Fungicide Alternaria leaf spot (Alternaria cucumerina) 30-Sep-14

Curcurbits

PER10979 Bupirimate Powdery mildew 30-Sep-14

Culinary herbs

PER13794 Imidacloprid Various insect pests 31-Mar-17

PER13704 Azoxystrobin Specified diseases 30-Jun-17

PER13790 Mancozeb Specific fungal diseases 30-Jun-18

PER14158 Metolachlor Weeds 30-Jun-23


PER13791 Mono-di potassium phosphite or Pottassium phosphonate

Specified fungal diseases 30-Jun-16

PER13793 Potassium Bicarbonate Specified fungal diseases 31-Mar-18

PER13304 Paramite Two-spotted mite, red spider mite 30-Jun-18

Custard apple

PER14227 Paramite (etoxazole) Two-spotted mite 30-Jun-16

PER13952 Cabrio WG Fungicide and Cabrio Fungicide (pyraclostrobin)

Pseudocercospora leaf spot 30-Jun-18

PER13951 Sunny Plant Growth Regulator (uniconazole-P) Plant growth regulation 30-Jun-18

PER13807 Phosphorous acid Phytophthora 30-Sep-17

PER11970 Imidacloprid Citrus mealybug 30-Jun-15

PER11944 Octave WP Fungicide (prochloraz) Anthracnose 31-Aug-16

PER11943 Copper & Mancozeb Anthracnose 30-Jun-22

PER13029 Trichlorfon Various insect pests 31-May-14

PER13027 Bulldock 25EC Various insect pests 30-Sep-15

Cut flowers

PER12024 Various Fungicides Various fungal diseases 31-Oct-15

PER11771 Pirimor, Prodigy, Insegar, Chess, Avatar, Applaud

Various insect pests 30-Sep-17

PER12156 Triadimenol, Triforine, Mancozeb, Azoxystrobin, Copper oxychloride, oxycarboxin and propiconazole

Myrtle rust (Uredo rangelii) 30-Aug-18


YOUR PRODUCTION


PER13760 Dimethoate Spiraling whitefly 5-Oct-14

PER12785 Deltamethrin & Iprodione Quarantine pests and diseases 30-Jun-16

Eggplant






PER11778 Agri-fos 600 Systemic Fungicide (phosphorous acid)

Phytophthora soil fungus 30-Nov-15

PER14186 Success Neo (spinetoram) Melon thrips 30-Sep-18

PER14036 Bupirimate Powdery mildew 31-Mar-18

PER13517 Rovral (iprodione) Grey mould 30-Sep-15


PER12506 Dimethoate Queensland fruit fly & Mediterranean fruit fly 5-Oct-14

PER8930 Phorate Aphids, jassids, mites, thrips and onion maggot 31-Jul-16

PER13394 Fluazifop Grass weeds 30-Sep-15

PER12862 Zineb Anthracnose (Colletotrichum spp.) 31-Jul-14

PER12442 Trichlorfon Fruit fly 31-May-14

PER11451 Chlorothalonil Various fungal diseases 30-Jun-18

PER14047 Methidathion Rutherglen bug 30-Jun-18

PER13122 Proclaim Insecticide Heliothis, lightbrown apple moth and cluster caterpillar 30-Sep-16

Endive





PER10677 Propyzamide Grass and broadleef weeds 30-Apr-18




Eucalypt

PER12704 Flumetsulam Broadleaved weeds 31-Mar-15

PER12111 Alpha-cypermethrin & maldison Various pests 31-Mar-15

PER11723 Chlorpyrifos African black beetle 31-Oct-14

PER13066 Methabenzthiazuron Annual grasses & broadleaf weeds 31-Mar-17

PER13908 Silva Shield Grey box psyllid 31-Aug-16

PER11419 Dimethoate Various insects 31-Mar-15

PER12655 Dimethoate Psyllid 31-Dec-14

PER13934 Payback (paclobutrazol) Enhancement of flowering 31-Mar-23

PER14221 Paclobutrazol Promote flowering 30-Jun-18

PER10632 Paclobutrazol (CULTAR) Promote flowering 31-May-18

PER13334 Dimethoate Rutherglen bug and wingless grasshoppers 5-Oct-14

PER12046 Metosulam, pendimethlain, sulfometuron, gibberellic acid, 6-benzyladenine & paclobutrazol

30-Jun-15

Faba beans

PER13752 Tebuconazole Cercospora leaf spot & rust 30-Jun-16

Permits (cont.)


YOUR PRODUCTION


Fennel

PER13036 Bravo 720 SC Downy mildew, purple blotch 31-Jul-16

PER13698 Phosphorous Downy mildew 30-Sep-17

Figs

PER13472 Methomyl Green peach aphid 30-Jun-15

PER13471 Torque Miticide (fenbutatin oxide) Two-spotted mite 30-Jun-15

Fruit

PER11092 Methyl bromide Fruit fly control 30-Oct-14

PER10145 Methyl Bromide Fruit fly & thrips 30-Oct-14

PER12753 Naturalure Fruit Fly Bait Concentrate Mediterranean fruit fly and Queensland fruit fly 31-Mar-14

PER11251 Maldison Fruit fly surveillance 30-Sep-15

Garden peas


Garlic


PER14610 Clethodim Winter grass 30-Jun-15

PER14609 Methabenzthiazuron Annual grass and broadleaf weeds 30-Jun-15

PER14608 Pirimicarb Bulb aphid and other aphid species 30-Jun-15

PER14607 Chlorothalonil (Rover & Bravo) Downy mildew 30-Jun-15

PER14606 Bromoxynil Broadleaf weeds 30-Jun-15

PER14605 Tebuconazole Orange rust 30-Jun-15

PER14604 Lambda-cyhalothrin Selected insect pests 31-Mar-17

PER14465 Lambda-cyhalothrin Bulb aphid red-legged earth mite 31-Mar-14

PER14463 Tebuconazole Orange rust 31-Mar-14

PER14462 Bromoxynil Broadleaf weeds 31-Mar-14

PER14461 Imidacloprid Aphids 31-Mar-14

PER14459 Clethodim Winter grass 31-Mar-14

PER14270 Royal MH-30XTRA plant growth regulator Inhibit sprouting of bulbs 28-Feb-15

PER14008 Mancozeb + Metalaxyl Downy mildew & purple blotch 31-Mar-23

PER13970 Methabenzthiazuron Annual grass and broadleaf Weeds 30-Jun-14

PER12465 Movento (spirotetramat) Onion thrips 30-Jun-17

PER14611 Iprodione Damping off diseases 30-Jun-15

PER12464 Iprodione Damping off diseases 30-Jun-14


PER11105 Temik 150G Insecticide/Nematicide Aphids, thrips & stem and bulb nematode 31-Mar-14

Ginger


PER13871 Bifenthrin Symphylids 30-Jun-16

PER13811 Fipronil Symphylids 30-Jun-16

PER12409 Chlorpyrifos Symphylids 31-Dec-15

PER12407 Fusilade (fluazifop) Grass weeds 31-Dec-15

PER11719 Metalaxyl & Phosphorous acid Pythium rhizome rot (Pythium myriotylum) 31-Oct-17

PER13792 Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) kurstaki Various insect pests 31-Mar-18

PER12180 Oryzalin (Surflan) & Simazine Broadleaf and grass weeds 31-May-14

Grape vine

PER13944 Ammonium Nitrate and Calcium Nitrate Chemical cordon bunch removal 31-Mar-18

PER12770 Glyphosate Phylloxera 31-Dec-16

PER13674 Lebaycid (fenthion) Queensland fruit fly 30-Oct-14


YOUR PRODUCTION


PER13380 Chlorpyrifos African black beetle 31-Mar-14

PER12563 Alpha cypermethrin (Dominex & Fastac) Black vine & garden weevil 31-May-14

PER11611 Chlorpyrifos European earwig 30-Sep-14

PER13565 Hy-Mal Insecticide Fruit fly 30-Sep-14

PER12179 Hotshot Three-horned bedstraw 30-Nov-15

Green beans

PER13626 Metolachlor Various broadleaf and grass weeds 30-Jun-17

PER12392 Basagran (bentazone) Broadleaf weeds 30-Sep-14

Green tea

PER13313 Fluazifop-P Various grass weeds 30-Sep-14

PER13311 Glufosinate-ammonium Various weeds 30-Sep-14

PER13310 Glyphosate Various weeds 30-Sep-14

PER13312 Paraquat + Diquat Various weeds 30-Sep-14

Hazelnuts

PER13021 Paraquat, Diquat & Simazine Weed and sucker control 31-Mar-17




PER13830 Pirimicarb Hazelnut aphid 31-May-16

PER13619 D-C-Tron Plus Plum scale 31-Oct-17

PER13162 Cupric hydroxide Hazelnut blight 31-Mar-17



PER10807 Vertimec (abamectin) Two-spotted mite 31-Mar-14

Herbs

PER13038 Phosphorous acid Phytophthora 31-Oct-14

PER11815 Petroleum oil Insect pests 31-Dec-14

PER8628 Pendimethalin Grass & broadleaf weeds 30-Sep-14

PER13319 Trifluralin Various weeds 30-Sep-14

Horeseradish

PER12396 Pendimethalin Annual grasses & broadleaf weeds as per label 30-Jun-15

Jojoba

PER14528 Various herbicides Various weeds 30-Sep-17

Leafy lettuce



Leeks




PER13257 Select Herbicide (clethodim) Grass weeds as per label including winter grass (Poa annua) 31-Mar-17

PER13466 Various Actives Specified grass and broadleaf weeds 30-Sep-15

PER13367 Linuron Grass and broadleaf weeds 30-Apr-16

PER10272 Diazinon Onion fly and onion seedling maggot 30-Sep-16

PER14473 Dimethomorph & Mancozeb Downy mildew, purple blotch & botrytis rots 30-Jun-18

PER13653 Maldison Onion thrips 31-Oct-18

PER13584 Tribunil Herbicide Various broadleaf and grass weeds 30-Jun-14

Lentils

PER14348 Metribuzin Various weeds 30-Sep-18

Permits (cont.)


YOUR PRODUCTION


PER12638 Deltamethrin Etiella 31-Mar-16

PER12964 Bifenthrin & Demand CS Mosquito 31-Jan-15

Lettuce





PER14077 Eco-Oil (Botanical Oil) Silverleaf whitefly 30-Sep-23

PER14351 DC-Tron Plus Various bugs 31-Mar-17

PER14318 Metalaxyl-M Damping off 30-Sep-18

PER14257 BALAN (benfluralin) Grass and broadleaf weed control 31-Mar-18

PER14210 Acramite Miticide Two-spotted (red spider) mite 30-Sep-18

PER13301 Alpha-cypermethrin Red-legged earth mite & vegetable weevil 31-May-15

PER12386 Dacthal (chlorthal-dimethyl) Stinging nettle 31-Aug-16

PER12447 Teldor 500 SC Fungicide Botrytis rot 31-May-16

PER11564 Switch Fungicide Botrytis & sclerotinia 30-Nov-14

PER12846 Abamectin Two-spotted mite 30-Sep-17

PER13698 Phosphorous Downy mildew 30-Sep-17

PER12565 Scala Fungicide Botrytis rots 30-Sep-17

PER13332 BALAN (benfluralin) Grass and broadleaf weed control 31-Mar-22

PER14336 Prodigy Cluster caterpillar, looper and light brown apple moth 30-Sep-17

PER14149 Glyphosate Gamba grass 30-Jun-18

Lychees



PER13030 Cabrio & Cabrio 200 WG Anthracnose or pepper spot 30-Nov-14

PER13028 Octave WP Fungicide Anthracnose or pepper spot 30-Nov-14

PER14099 Methidathion Mango planthopper 30-Jun-18

PER13660 Copper hydroxide & cuprous oxide Lychee pepper spot 30-Sep-17

PER13659 Mancozeb Pepper spot 30-Sep-17

Macadamia

PER14276 Diazinon Macadamia lace bug 30-Nov-15

PER12796 Methomyl Banana caterpillar 30-Jun-16

PER11635 Petroleum oil Macadamia felted coccid 30-Jun-15

PER13689 Trichlorfon Fruit-spotting bug bananna bug, green vegetable bug 30-Sep-16

PER13879 Phosphorus acid Phytophthora trunk canker 30-Sep-17

PER11462 Ethephon Promote nutfall 30-Jun-15

Mangoes



PER13484 Carbaryl Mango leafhoppers 30-Jun-16

PER14286 Actara Insecticide (thiamethoxam) Mango seed weevil 30-Sep-15

PER14147 Scholar (fludioxonil) Anthracnose, stem end rot & dendritic spot 30-Jun-15


Mung bean


PER13687 Indoxacarb Bean pod borer 31-May-14

PER13606 Methomyl Bean pod borer 31-Mar-15


YOUR PRODUCTION


PER13604 Cabrio Fungicide (pyraclostrobin) Powdery mildew 30-Jun-15

PER13293 Abamectin Two-spotted mites and onion thrips 30-Apr-15

PER13979 Tebuconazole Powdery mildew 30-Jun-17

PER13609 Carbendazim Powdery mildew 30-Nov-14

PER13605 Sulphur Powdery mildew 30-Sep-15

PER14592 Chlorantraniliprole (Altacor) Lucerne seed web moth and bean pod borer 31-May-14

Mushrooms

PER14350 VectoBac WG Biological Larvicide Fungus gnats and sciarids 31-May-19

PER12965 Imazalil Green mould 31-Jul-17

PER12848 Carbendazim Dry bubble, wet bubble & green mould 30-Sep-14

PER12645 Prochloraz Cobweb disease 31-Mar-17

PER12172 Pestigas Mushroom fly 30-Jun-15

PER11472 VectoBac WG Biological Larvicide Fungus gnats and sciarids 31-May-14

Native grass seed crops


PER13319 Trifluralin Various weeds 30-Sep-14

PER13318 Simazine, Pendimethalin Various broadleaf and grass weeds 31-Mar-15

PER13312 Paraquat + Diquat Various weeds 30-Sep-14

PER13707 Metsulfuron methyl Bellyache bush 30-Jun-17


PER11816 Glyphosate Blue periwinkle 31-Dec-14

PER12932 Triclopyr (Garlon 600) Environmental weeds 31-Aug-16

PER12931 Basta Innocent weed 31-Aug-16

PER13371 Glyphosate and or metsulfuron-methyl Environmental weeds 31-Mar-17

Navy beans

PER13293 Abamectin Two spotted mites and onion thrips 30-Apr-15


Nursery stock

PER13942 Suscon Maxi Insecticide Various insects 31-May-15

PER13459 Aero Fungicide Various 31-May-15

PER12662 Nimrod Fungicide Powdery mildew 31-Jul-16

PER12661 Pristine Fungicide Powdery mildew, grey mould, athracnose, leaf spot and blotch 31-May-15

PER12660 Switch Fungicide Grey mould, anthrancnose, sclerotinia rot and rhizoctonia rots 31-May-15

PER12659 Admiral Insect Growth Regulator Insecticide (pyriproxyfen)

Whitefly and fungus gnats 31-May-15

PER11972 Acramite Miticide (Bifenazate) Mites 31-May-15

PER11971 Pegasus insecticide Aphids, mites and whitefly 31-May-15

PER9796 Bifenthrin Quarantine usage 31-Mar-17

PER12029 Dupont Avatar Insecticide (indoxacarb) European earwig, heliothis, lightbrown apple moth & weevils 31-May-15

PER12028 Mancozeb + Metalaxyl Alternaria, anthracnose, septoria leaf spot & phytophthora 31-May-15

PER12027 Dupont Coragen Insecticide (chlorantraniliprole) Heliothis, lightbrown apple moth, apple looper and soybean looper

31-May-15

PER11517 Amistar (azoxystrobin) Downy mildew, powdery mildew, grey mould, rusts and leaf spots

30-Nov-14

PER11546 Acrobat + Mancozeb Downy mildew, alternaria, anthracnose & phytophthora 31-Oct-14

PER12982 Alpha-cypermethrin Thrips, grasshoppers, locusts, aphids, cutworms and Rutherglen bug

31-May-15

PER12543 Movento Insecticide Aphids, scale insects and whitefly 31-May-15

PER11553 Applaud Insecticide (buprofezin) Mealybug, leafhoppers, scale and whitefly 30-Nov-14

PER13959 Brigade Red imported fire ant 31-Mar-18

Permits (cont.)


YOUR PRODUCTION


PER13382 Durivo Insecticide Diamond black moth, cabbage white butterfly, heliothis, loopers, leafhoppers and aphids

31-May-15

PER13328 Copper Hydroxide Specified diseases 31-May-15

PER11973 Chess Insecticide & Fulfill Insecticide (pymetrozine)

Aphids and whitefly 30-Jun-15

PER12156 Triadimenol, Triforine, Mancozeb, Azoxystrobin, Copper oxychloride, oxycarboxin and propiconazole

Myrtle rust (Uredo rangelii) 30-Aug-18

PER13330 Ecocarb Fungicide Powdery mildew 31-May-15

PER10043 Bifenthrin Quarantine usage 31-Mar-17

PER10281 Acetamiprid General suppression of quarantine pests 31-Mar-17

Olives


PER13703 Bifenthrin Specified insect pests 31-Mar-17

PER14575 Chlorpyrifos Various insect pests 31-Mar-19

PER14550 Azoxystrobin (Amistar) Anthracnose 31-Mar-15

PER14414 Natrasoap insecticidal soap spray Lace bug 30-Sep-23

PER13999 Dimethoate Various insect pests 5-Oct-14

PER13868 Fenthion Olive lace bug & Rutherglen bug 30-Oct-14

PER13267 Insegar 250 W Insect Growth Regulator (fenoxycarb)

Black olive scale 31-Mar-14

PER12853 Avatar (indoxacarb) Apple weevil 31-Mar-14

PER12228 Ethephon Fruit loosening 31-May-14

PER11360 Copper Fungal leaf spot and fruit rot 31-Mar-17

Onions

PER12257 Carbendazim Fungal disease control 21-Sep-15

PER12538 Stomp XTRA Weed control 31-May-16

PER13574 Filan (boscalid), Rovral (iprodione) & Bravo (chlorothalonil)

Neck rot (Botrytis alli) 30-Jun-14

PER11450 Ethofumesate (Tramat) Grass weeds 30-Jun-15

PER13119 Diazinon Onion thrips 31-Mar-17

PER11854 Switch Fungicide White rot, black mould, botrytis 31-Mar-14

PER11851 Basagran (bentazone-sodium) Broadleaf weeds 31-Mar-14



PER12782 David Grays Thermal Fogging & ULV Insecticide Concentrate

Mushroom fly, mosquitos (phorids & sciarids) 30-Sep-17

Pawpaw

PER13076 Propamocarb Damping off 31-Mar-17

Papaya

PER14417 Copper (cupric) hydroxide Phytophthora fruit rot 31-Mar-19

PER14098 Paramite Selective Miticide (etoxazole) Two-spotted mite 30-Jun-18

PER14096 Acramite (bifenazate) Two-Spotted mite 30-Sep-18

PER13671 Bulldock 25 EC Fruit-spotting bug and the banana-spotting bug 31-Oct-17

PER12592 Chlorothalonil & Difenoconazole Black spot & brown spot 30-Jun-20

PER14097 Abamectin & Fenbutatin oxide Two-spotted mite 30-Jun-18

PER13076 Propamocarb Damping off 31-Mar-17

Paprika




YOUR PRODUCTION






Parsley

PER11850 Lambda-cyhalothrin Red-legged earth mite, Rutherglen bug, grey cluster bug, looper, plague thrips

31-Aug-15


PER13499 Diazinon Onion maggot 31-Mar-17

PER13499 Diazinon Onion maggot 31-Mar-17


PER14032 Chlorthal-dimethyl Various broadleaf weeds and grasses 31-Mar-23

PER13121 Ridomil Gold 25G (metalaxyl-M) Pythium & phytophthora 30-Nov-16

Parsnips



PER14581 Pendimethalin Grasses and broadleaf weeds 31-Mar-15

PER12048 Prometryn Weeds 30-Sep-15

PER11348 Clethodim Grass weeds 31-Mar-22

PER13696 Trifluralin Wintergrass 31-Mar-18

PER12357 Linuron Grass and broadleaf weeds 30-Sep-15

PER12354 Ridomil Gold 25G (metalaxyl-M) Pythium spp. and Phytophthora Spp. 30-Apr-14

PER11935 Triadimenol Powdery mildew 30-Jun-17

Passionfruit

PER13565 Hy-Mal Insecticide Fruit fly 30-Sep-14

PER14421 Glyphosate Grass & broadleaf weeds 30-Sep-18

PER13641 Sacoa Biopest (paraffinic oil) Red scale, hemispherical scale & passionvine mealybug 30-Sep-14

PER12781 Cabrio and Cabrio 200WG (pyraclostrobin) Anthracnose & septoria spot 30-Jun-18


Peas

PER14035 Diflufenican Broadleaf weeds 31-Mar-23



Pine



30-Jun-15




Pineapple

PER13350 Regent 200SC & Talstar 100EC & 250EC Symphylids 31-Mar-14

PER10457 Dimethoate Red mite & flat mite 5-Oct-14

Potatoes

PER10283 Chlorpyrifos Black beetle, wingless grasshopper, red-legged earth mite 30-Sep-14

PER12612 Alpha-cypermethrin Garden weevil 30-Apr-16

Radicchio


Permits (cont.)


YOUR PRODUCTION






Radish





PER14048 Pendimethalin Various broadleaf and grass weeds 31-Mar-23

PER11949 Lambda-Cyhalothrin Various insects 31-Mar-15


PER13035 Clethodim Control of grasses 30-Sep-16


PER11350 Mancozeb Alternaria, cercospora leaf spot, white blister 31-Mar-15

PER11441 Propachlor Grass and broadleaf weeds 31-Dec-19

PER13444 Propiconazole Cercospora 31-Mar-17

Rhubarb

PER13441 Ambush Emulsifiable Concentrate Insecticide Green peach aphid, green looper, light brown apple moth and budworms

31-Mar-17

PER14212 Imidacloprid Aphids 30-Jun-18

PER13586 Phos acid Downy mildew 30-Jun-14

PER13300 Abamectin Broad mite 31-Dec-16

PER13152 MCPA 250 Selective Herbicide Broadleaf weeds. 30-Sep-16

PER12384 Dual Gold Herbicide (S-metolachlor) Various weeds 31-Aug-15

PER11358 Clethodim Grass weeds listed on label 30-Jun-14

Rocket


PER14127 Pendimethalin Weeds 31-Aug-18

PER14292 Secure 360SC (chlorfenapyr) Lepiotera and mites 31-Mar-16


PER13068 Fosetyl-Al (Aliette WG) Downy mildew 30-Jun-16


Sandalwood



30-Jun-15




PER12109 Bifenthrin Red-legged earth mite & bryobia mite 31-Mar-15

PER12301 Shield Systemic Insecticide (clothianidin) Various insects 30-Jun-16

PER11041 Atrazine Broadleaf and annual grass weeds 30-Sep-14

PER12418 Basta Weeds 31-Dec-15

PER12001 K-Obiol Combi Various pests 31-Aug-15

PER13777 Vitavax 200FF Quarantine treatment 30-Sep-15

Shallots

PER13626 Metolachlor Various broadleaf and grass weeds. 30-Jun-17


YOUR PRODUCTION


PER14073 Diazinon Thrips (excluding WFT) and onion seedling maggot 30-Jun-18

PER10824 Copper Oxychloride, Cuprous Oxide or Cupric Hydroxide


PER14073 Diazinon Thrips (excluding WFT) and onion seedling maggot 30-Jun-18

PER10824 Copper Oxychloride, Cuprous Oxide or Cupric Hydroxide



PER14142 Ioxynil Broad leaf and grass weeds 31-Mar-16

PER14142 Ioxynil Broad leaf and grass weeds 31-Mar-16







Silverbeet










PER13655 Propiconazole Various fungi 30-Jun-14

PER11991 Legend Fungicide (quinoxyfen) Powdery mildew 31-Mar-16

PER14081 Tramat 500 SC Selective Herbicide (ethofumesate)

Various weeds 31-Jul-14


Snow peas



PER13899 Etoxazole Two-spotted mite 31-Mar-15

PER13497 Acrobat Downy mildew 30-Apr-14

PER14211 Fenhexamid Grey mould and chocolate spot 30-Sep-16

PER14185 Chess Insecticide Aphids 30-Jun-15

PER13633 Pyrimethanil Botrytis 30-Jun-14

PER10976 Bentazone Broadleaf weeds 31-Mar-15

PER11964 Chlorothalonil (Bravo) Downy mildew & chocolate spot 31-Mar-18

PER14033 Lambda-cyhalothrin Pasture webworm, cutworm, Rutherglen bug and thrips 31-May-18

PER10988 Bladex 900 WG (cyanazine) Broadleaf weeds 31-Mar-15



Soy beans

PER13850 Spirotetramat Silverleaf whitefly 30-Jun-15

PER13849 Petroleum oil Silverleaf whitefly 30-Jun-15

PER12699 Shield Systemic Insecticide (clothianidin) Redbanded shield bug and green vegetable bug 30-Sep-14


PER14288 Abamectin Soybean moth 30-Jun-17

Permits (cont.)


YOUR PRODUCTION


PER14592 Chlorantraniliprole (Altacor) Lucerne seed web moth and bean pod borer 31-May-14

PER14413 Tebuconazole Soybean rust 30-Jun-16

Spinach

PER13068 Fosetyl-Al (Aliette WG) Downy mildew 30-Jun-16












PER14081 Tramat 500 SC Selective Herbicide (ethofumesate)

Various weeds 31-Jul-14

Spring onions










PER14080 Lannate L (methomyl) Western flower thrips 30-Sep-14

PER13205 Secure 360 SC (chlorfenapyr) Western flower thrips 30-Jun-17

PER14080 Lannate L (methomyl) Western flower thrips 30-Sep-14

PER13205 Secure 360 SC (chlorfenapyr) Western flower thrips 30-Jun-17




Stone fruit

PER14252 Samurai Systemic Insecticide (clothianidin) Fruit fly 30-Jun-15

PER14562 Calypso Insecticide Mediterranean fruit fly 30-Nov-18

PER12590 Dow AgroSciences Delegate Fruit fly (suppression only) 31-May-14

PER14124 Aliette WG Phytophthora 31-Dec-16

PER12690 Trichlorfon Mediterranean fruit fly 31-May-14


Strawberries


PER14192 Avatar Insecticide White fringed weevil and garden weevil 30-Sep-18

PER13941 Bifenazate Two-spotted mite 30-Jun-14

PER13542 Maldison Rutherglen bug 30-Jun-17

PER13539 Switch Fungicide Various diseases 31-Mar-14

PER13377 Proclaim Insecticide (emamectin) Cluster caterpillar, heliothis, lightbrown apple moth & looper 30-Sep-15

PER13331 Admiral Insect Growth Regulator (pyriproxyfen) Greenhouse & silverleaf whitefly 31-Oct-15


YOUR PRODUCTION




PER12927 Dow AgroSciences Success Neo (spinetoram) Fruit fly (suppression only) 31-May-14

PER13120 Bitertanol (Baycor) Powdery mildew, blight, scorch 30-Nov-16


PER14598 Fenamiphos (Nemacur) Leaf and bud nematode 31-Mar-19

PER12698 Fenamiphos (Nemacur) Leaf and bud nematode 31-Mar-14

PER13697 Ridomil Gold 480EC and Phos acid Root & crown rot (Phytophthora cactorum) 30-Sep-17

PER12387 Switch Fungicide Colletotrichum crown or petiole rot 31-Oct-15

PER14483 Cabrio Fungicide Colletotrichum gloeosporioides 30-Sep-18

Suagr snap peas



PER13899 Etoxazole Two-spotted mite 31-Mar-15

PER11964 Chlorothalonil (Bravo) Downy mildew & chocolate spot 31-Mar-18

PER14033 Lambda-cyhalothrin Pasture webworm, cutworm, Rutherglen bug and thrips 31-May-18

PER10988 Bladex 900 WG (cyanazine) Broadleaf weeds 31-Mar-15

PER14211 Fenhexamid Grey mould and chocolate spot 30-Sep-16

PER14185 Chess Insecticide Aphids 30-Jun-15

PER13633 Pyrimethanil Botrytis 30-Jun-14

PER10976 Bentazone Broadleaf weeds 31-Mar-15



Swede





Sweet corn

PER13116 Propiconazole Northern corn leaf blight 31-Mar-16


Sweet potato


PER13395 Methomyl Heliothis, cucumber moth and cluster caterpillar 30-Sep-17

PER14582 Oxamyl (Dupont Vydate L) Nematodes 30-Sep-15

PER13465 Dupont Vydate L (oxamyl) Nematodes 31-Mar-14

PER13352 Chlorpyrifos Sweet potato weevil and wireworm 31-Mar-14

PER13153 Regent 200 SC White fringed weevil & wireworm 31-Dec-16

PER13151 Mouseoff and Rattoff Zinc Phosphide Baits House mouse and introduced rats 31-Dec-16

PER12047 Tecto Flowable SC Fungicide (thiabendazole) Field rots caused by scurf & root rot 30-Sep-16

PER13902 Phorate Aphids, thrips, jassids and organophosphate susceptible two-spotted mite and wireworm

31-Mar-18

Table grapes

PER14492 Acramite Miticide Two-spotted mites 31-Oct-15

PER13424 Sulphur Dioxide & Carbon Dioxide Redback spiders 31-Mar-17

PER13378 Torque Miticide (fenbutatin-oxide) Rust mite & two-spotted mite 30-Sep-17

PER13253 Maldison Queensland and Mediterranean fruit fly 31-May-14

PER12439 Trichlorfon Fruit fly 31-May-14

Permits (cont.)


YOUR PRODUCTION


Tea tree



PER13704 Azoxystrobin Specified diseases 30-Jun-17

PER13790 Mancozeb Specific fungal diseases 30-Jun-18

PER13831 Acetamiprid Mealy bug, fungus gnat larvae and tea tree psyllid 30-Jun-17




PER13613 Gesaprim (atrazine) Purple top verbena 31-Mar-16

PER14114 Various actives Various pests and diseases 31-Mar-16

PER14031 Methomyl Pyrgo beetle 30-Mar-16

PER13555 Simazine and Metolachlor Annual weeds 31-Mar-16

PER13554 Linuron Colombian waxweed 31-Mar-16

Tomatoes


PER12378 Acephate Western flower thrips 31-Oct-15

PER13675 Maldison Queensland, Mediterranean and lesser Queensland fruit fly and cucumber fly

31-May-18

PER12514 Sencor 480 SC (metribuzin) Weed control 31-Dec-15

PER13567 Bifenthrin Fruit fly 31-May-14

PER13566 Methomyl Fruit fly 30-May-14

PER13721 Switch Grey mould (botrytis) 31-May-16

PER14100 Buprofezin Greenhouse whitefly 30-Sep-14

PER13726 Trifloxystrobin Powdery mildew 31-May-16

PER13725 Chess Greenhouse whitefly, silverleaf whitefly, green peach aphid 31-May-16

PER13724 Previcur Root rot 31-May-16

PER13723 Avatar Heliothis (corn earworm), looper, cluster caterpillar, leafhoppers, green mirid

31-May-16

PER13722 Teldor 500SC Fungicide Grey mould (botrytis) 31-May-16

PER13720 Pristine Powdery mildew 31-May-16

PER13717 Amistar Top (azoxystrobin + difenoconazole) Powdery mildew 31-May-16

PER13716 Abrade Abrasive Barrier Insecticide Various insect pests 31-Jan-16

PER13530 Apollo Miticide (clofentezine) Two-spotted mite 30-Jun-14

PER13529 Torque Insecticide (fenbutatin oxide) Two-spotted mite 30-Jun-14

Turnip





Walnuts

PER14383 Retain Plant Growth Regulator Pistillate flower abortion 31-Oct-14

PER14455 Botanical & Petroleum Oils Frosted scale 31-Mar-19

PER14390 Ethephon Aid harvesting 30-Jun-19

PER13939 Diquat, Paraquat & Simazine Weed control 31-Mar-22

PER13937 Phosphonic acid Phytopthora root rot 30-Sep-17

PER13214 Mancozeb & Copper Bacterial blight 31-Mar-22

Zucchini



WA GrowerADVERTISING SPECIFICATIONS

FULL PAGE

HALF PAGE

ONE THIRD PAGE

Full page with bleed 210mm wide x 297mm high plus 5mm bleed — 220mm wide x 307mm high

Preferred format: press ready PDF

Must be saved as: • 300dpi • CMYK • Fonts embedded

Half page without bleed 190mm wide x 130mm high

One third page without bleed 60mm wide x 254mm high

vegetablesWAHorticultural House 103 Outram Street, West Perth 6005

t: (08) 9481 0834 f: (08) 9481 0024 e: [email protected]

WA Grower advertiser contactsName Website/Email Address Contact name Contact number

Clause Pacific (p72) www.hmclause.com PO Box 475, Bulleen, VIC 3105 Kevin Swan 0400 622 314

C-Wise (p9) www.cwise.com.au Nambeelup Rd, Nambeelup, WA 6207 David Howey 08 9581 9582

Delta Water Solution (p45) wwwdeltawater.com.au PO Box 507, HRMC, NSW 2310 Dianne Panov 1800 283 600

Dobmac Ag Machinery (OBC) www.dobmac.com.au 36–38 Industrial Dve, Ulverstone, TAS 7315 Mark Dobson 03 6425 5533

G & S Seedling Nursery (p33) www.gsseedlings.com.au 1 Dunstan Rd, Nowergup, WA 6032 Glenn McKay 08 9407 5400

Peacock Bros Pty Ltd (71) www.peacocks.com.au Unit 8, 28 Belmont Ave, Rivervale, WA 6103 Daryl Collins 08 9475 3700

Perth Energy (p5) www.perthenergy.com.au Level 4, 165 Adelaide Tce, East Perth, WA 6004 08 9420 0300

Solar Gain (22) www.solargain.com.au 10 Milly Ct, Malaga, WA 6090 Keith Lynch 0458 600 566

United Crate (p53) www.unicrate.com.au 1 Zanni St, Canning Vale, WA 6155 08 9455 1540

WA Crates (IBC) [email protected] Crate Yard, Market City, 280 Bannister Rd, Canning Vale, WA 6155 08 9456 4092

WA cratesThe professional packaging service

for WA’s finest fresh fruit and vegetables

0 email: [email protected]

WAGROWER_0909.indd 18 15/9/09 3:52:00 PM

A leader in the design, manufacture & supply of specialised agricultural

machinery

A leader in the design, manufacture & supply of specialised agricultural machinery

Phone: (03) 6425 5533 • Fax: (03) 6425 5847

Quality Master 2 Row Potato Harvester

• 2 Row Trailing Harvester • Lightweight design (4.0t approx) • Low HP Requirements • Auto Depth Control • Draper Web • Galaxy Star separation system • Adjustable haulm roller • Hydraulic levelling

• Picking table (4 person inline) • Simple operation

Bulk Intake & Grading Systems

• Bulk Intake Hoppers and Cleaning Systems • Grading Lines • Washing Equipment • Bin Fillers• Bulk Bag Fillers • Carton/Bag Fillers • Separation/Cleaning Tables • Easy Grade Sizing Modules

• Elevators & Conveyors • Complete Turn Key Grading Systems

Gentle, CompACt, Simple, HiGH output

Email: [email protected] • Website: www.dobmac.com.au

wa grower autumn 14

Documents