2026

WINTER 2026 ■ VOL.61 NO.02

Since the Autumn edition of WA Grower magazine, vegetablesWA has continued to deliver its core advocacy role on behalf of members and the broader horticulture industry during what remains one of the most complex and challenging operating environments in recent years. Global uncertainty, compounded by domestic pressures, continues to test the resilience of growers and the wider supply chain.

The Western Australian potato and vegetable industry has lost one of its most dedicated and respected voices. Jim Turley, who served with distinction as Executive Officer of the Potato Growers Association of WA and vegetablesWA, passed away recently, leaving behind a legacy of service that touched growers, colleagues, and communities across the state.

Western Australia has taken a major step forward in agricultural technology and regional innovation with the launch of a new drone technology hub at the Food Innovation Precinct Western Australia (FIPWA).

New cold storage and post harvest technologies aim to boost quality, extend shelf life and open higher value markets for growers.

Western Australia’s agricultural sector met on 29 April for the APC Annual Forum, bringing producers, industry leaders, and government representatives together to explore the future of the state’s primary industries.

Australian horticulture has celebrated outstanding contributions to the industry at the 2026 Horticulture Awards for Excellence held at the Hort Connections 2026 Gala Dinner in Adelaide.

Science from Australia shaping horticulture worldwide

The Buy West Eat Best 2026 retail activation, Try Local, Buy Local, held on Saturday 28 March, highlighted seasonality and broad diversity of Western Australian fresh produce and groceries by showcasing it directly to shoppers at the point of purchase.

For Milan Vaswani, Director of New Product Development at Rademi Enterprises, the decision to take their Amaise popcorn range to Meet the Buyer™ for the first time last year came with a question most small producers know well: will the right people actually be in the room? They absolutely were.

For more than 14 years, the Genuinely Southern Forests brand has helped put the Southern Forests region firmly on the map — building recognition, trust and value for local growers and producers across Western Australia and beyond.

At Moshie, we work closely with businesses across Australia’s horticulture industry to improve business performance, control costs, increase productivity, and strengthen long-term sustainability. Our goal is simple — to help business owners achieve both their business and personal goals.

Generating ammonia and nitrate with just air, water and electricity

vegetablesWA’s Carnarvon and Geraldton Roadshows, delivered in March 2026, brought growers and industry stakeholders together at an important time for Western Australia’s vegetable sector. The focus was simple. Deliver practical, relevant information that supports real on-farm decisions.

Winter has been a productive period for the VegNET WA team, with activities focused on innovation, grower engagement, and strengthening industry connections across Western Australia and beyond.

Growers, industry representatives and service providers came together in Myalup this May for a practical day focused on innovation, business resilience, and the future of vegetable production in Western Australia.

Horticultural growers across Western Australia are facing mounting pressure from rising labour costs, tightening workforce availability, and increasing expectations around sustainability. In response, many are exploring new technologies that can deliver both efficiency and long-term resilience. One of the most promising developments is laser weeding.

Fresh produce, fun and future careers were all on display at the Granville Civic Centre on April 15th, as the community gathered to celebrate National Youth Week 2026.

The VegNET WA team recently swapped Perth sunshine for raincoats and muddy boots, heading east to attend VicVid 26 on Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula.

Across the Great Southern and Wheatbelt, agriculture is changing fast. Today’s farms still need practical, hands-on workers, but they also rely on science, data, GPS-guided machinery, drones, sensors, and automation.

The APVMA has updated the requirements for more than 100 rodenticide products that have been previously available for purchase for the control of rodent pests commercially and domestically with the following active ingredients: Broadifacoum, Bromadiolone, Difenacoum, Difenialone and Flocoumafen.

biosecurity underway in Perth’s southern suburbs

During winter, the life stages of stable fly (eggs, larvae and pupae) remain inactive in soil where there is decaying organic material. While stable fly activity may appear low at this time of year, these life stages are simply waiting for warmer conditions to resume development.

Grape growers in Western Australia should be vigilant for Grapevine berry inner necrosis virus (GINV) as it has been recently detected in vineyards in Victoria, Queensland, and South Australia. There have been no detections reported in Western Australia.

The recent war has forced almost every business around the world to review their finances and operations. Many producers are now assessing costs and targeting underperforming activities for change.

How the ATO is strengthening superannuation compliance

Things that we cannot control are our biggest stressors in life. In agriculture it is mostly weather issues followed by a multitude of other factors such as commodity prices, input costs (diesel, fertiliser availability and price), machinery breakdowns … how long is a bit of string.

What growers need to know

Men in Australia are much more likely to be diagnosed with and die from cancer than women. In fact, according to the Cancer Council of WA the lifetime cancer risk is 1 in 2 for men and 1 in 3 for women.

A QUALITY HARVEST under tougher conditions

Western Australian apple growers have much to celebrate this year! To share in the joy and highlight our remarkable harvest, Pomewest partnered with Buy West Eat Best for a fun-filled event at Yagan Square in Perth on April 29.

Easter Saturday in Donnybrook was the ideal backdrop for this year’s apple and pear showcase. The 2026 Donnybrook Apple Festival was blessed with blue skies and warm sunshine, attracting around 9,000 festival-goers eager to sample the finest selections of the new season’s pome fruit.

Results from year one

The National Narrow Orchard Systems for Future Climates project (NOS) is currently in its second year since planting and things are already looking promising.

Winter arrived with the season starting a little differently across the state. Although internals were good, there was later colouring than normal in the south, and earlier colouring in northern orchards.

A small group of the Western Australian citrus industry attended the Australian Citrus Congress in Adelaide on 2–4 March.

A field trial suggests overhead netting can lift Grade 1 packout, from wind-scuffed fruit to premium packout.

Retail figures are providing a positive snapshot of the 2025–26 stonefruit season for Western Australian growers, with WA recording some of the strongest retail growth results nationally across cherries, plums, peaches and nectarines.

At a time when rising diesel costs and global fuel supply uncertainty are placing renewed pressure on Australian agriculture, a new autonomous e-tractor trial in a Perth Hills orchard is giving growers a practical look at how electric autonomous equipment may fit into day-to-day operations.

WA Stonefruit recently hosted representatives from Cherry Growers Australia and Hort Innovation in Manjimup for a collaborative industry and research engagement day focused on extension, innovation, biosecurity and export development.

In the 2025–26 financial year the Beekeepers Producers’ Committee (BPC) supported three key industry-focused projects. These initiatives collectively focused on delivering essential support services to beekeepers, promoting industry sustainability, and ensuring timely and effective communication between stakeholders.

The Western Australian Apiarists’ Society (WAAS) is a long-established, incorporated not-for-profit association dedicated to supporting beekeepers across Western Australia. While its core membership is made up of hobbyist beekeepers, the Society also welcomes anyone with an interest in bees, pollination, and the natural environment.

The Bee Industry Council of Western Australia (BICWA) supports WA’s bee industry, producers, and related organisations by providing leadership, advocating on their behalf, and actively contributing to policy development and planning.

Experiments look to improve beekeepers’ ability to import desirable genetics, by understanding how deformed wing virus is transmitted from queen bees to eggs through drone semen.

Highlighting an often-overlooked part of honey bee nutrition: fats

Matthew Colvin Chairperson e: matt@wapurehoney.com

Warming dishes for the coldest nights

Indulge in the rich flavours of roasted cauliflower blended with creamy hummus, topped with a drizzle of spiced chilli walnut oil for a tantalizing twist on a classic dip.

1. Fritters can be made up to two days ahead and kept refrigerated. To reheat, place them in a single layer on a baking paper-lined oven tray and heat in a moderate oven for approx. ten minutes.

There are so many delicious varieties of pumpkins available in the Southern Forests. This recipe features butternut, which has lovely natural sweetness. Alternatively there’s some excellent heirloom pumpkins available in the region with more earthy flavours, which would also work a treat.