Business costs and environmental consideration were recurring themes at both the annual APAL conference and Hort Connections 2024. Jen Riseley attended the event, along with great representation from WA.

Words Jennifer Riseley, Project Officer, Pomewest

APAL Annual Forum 2024

Demographer Simon Kuestenmacher described the changing demographic of both Australian consumers and workers. Workforce shortages are predicted to worsen for both agriculture and the health sector as 26% of mixed cropping workers are aged 55–64 and 27% are 65+, indicating a real industry vulnerability as these workers retire and their knowledge and skills may be lost. Younger consumers increasingly see apples and pears as snacks rather than cooking ingredients, narrowing the appealing traits of a variety to appearance, shelf life and taste when fresh.

NAB Agribusiness insights showed debt in agriculture increased by 9% last year, second only to the transport sector. Banks consider Character, Collateral and Capacity when assessing a loan, and climate change mitigation practices by individual businesses is emerging as a key transitional risk for banks before they consider lending.

Agfirst presented the national Orchard Business Analysis project, comparing apple businesses from all states. Apple returns from 2010–23 have increased far slower than input costs, which have risen 24% over that period. Labour and post-harvest costs were the two largest expenses growers had control over and the areas to focus on. In 2023, producers averaged 45.6 T/ha of saleable product nationally with 69% premium packout.

Care is taken to ensure products meet market demand, being the right size, variety, and flavour profile. The highest-performing businesses achieve consistent yields above 50T/ha.

A panel discussion included apple growers Sue Finger and Ross Wilson with Sarah de Bruin of AgFirst.

• Consider what you do well. Are you a specialist at growing or packing fruit? How quickly can you act with new information, such as expenses or a different packout to expectation? Know how your costs and efficiencies impact your business.

• Consider when it is best to change varieties. At what point do you change to something else? If rejections are high and returns are low, even a high-yielding variety may not be in your interests. A new variety is a 20-year commitment, so give careful thought to what a potential market is looking for.

• Industry-wide there has been a pattern to replace club varieties with Pink Lady. The APAL orchard census aims to monitor risk in real time if very high quantities of one variety have been planted.

Pomewest Chair Jason Jarvis, Award recipient Joy Jarvis and Nardia Stacy

Stephen Burdette of Approved Employers Australia gave a fantastic overview of issues in the PALM scheme for growers to be aware of. Increasing the program’s compliance burden means that accurate record-keeping is essential in businesses. New changes to the PALM agreement mean employers must offer 120 hours of work per month and record evidence of hours offered in the event a worker turns down a shift. Definitions of overtime are being updated; up to 10 days of domestic violence leave will be mandatory, and there will be enhanced access rights for union representatives. A worker deal is being worked on with Vietnam; this will allow up to 1,000 workers only, capped at 50 workers per approved employer.

Stephen underscores the risk of overreliance on the Pacific and says recruiting in-country is the best way to have a reliable returning workforce. Workers with pre-existing health conditions may have different management needs while in Australia.

Justin Smith of APAL spoke on the APAL quality program, which focuses on the eastern retail markets of Melbourne, Brisbane, and Sydney with a constant testing program throughout the year. Information on passes/fails is kept within the significant industry packing sheds, with fail data only released after consecutive fails. Feedback from the retailers has been favourable to the program, where growers and packhouses had initially been wary of unintended impacts. Nardia Stacy gave an overview of the WA experience using a systematic quality process. The project began with a similar 30% failure rate; throughout the program, quality has steadily improved to a 3% failure rate.

Stuart Gregor, co-founder of Four Pillars Gin gave a thoroughly entertaining and motivating presentation on the journey of Four Pillars Gin. Stuart’s talk underscored the importance of communication and integrity when sustaining a brand.

Stuart talks about the 7 Ps and 6 Rs for a successful business:

• Product, Promotion, Place, Price, People, Process, Purpose.

• Research, Relationships, Resilience, Relentless, Repetition, Reputation.

Hort Connections 2024

Hort Connections was once again a dynamic whirlwind of new technology, new connections and new services in Australian and New Zealand horticulture. Topics varied from soil health, sustainable packaging, status of the supermarket competition inquiry, efficient labour and changes to the PALM program, food waste and environmental sustainability. A recurring theme is the expectation from consumers of an environmentally sustainable product (but not a price premium), and the continuing decline in consumption of fresh fruit and vegetables among Australians, especially children.