BY JOHN SHANNON
CHIEF EXECUTIVE
OFFICER,
VEGETABLESWA

Communicating with growers is extremely important, now more than ever due to the pandemic, and finding a way to deliver key messaging is something that vegetablesWA is taking very seriously.

Recently the team recorded two webinars covering labour issues and food safety. Industry bodies within horticulture are seriously concerned that labour sources are going to be an issue in the near future. With even stricter regimes being put in place and restricted movements across our borders due to COVID-19, we feel this discussion is critically important to ensure production and business continuity. Our Labour Scheme Facilitator, Melissa Denning, was joined by growers and industry to have a candid conversation about the current situation, discuss the issues and look for workable solutions. We had around 45 people jump on this webinar and ask some really valuable questions. If you’re a grower concerned about getting workers, there are resources available like the Studium website that are free and available to connect you with the workers you need.

The other webinar we delivered looked at melon safety. Any grower that washes and packs fresh produce for market is recommended to take a look at this webinar on the vegetablesWA YouTube channel. We had growers from all over Australia, and as far as New Zealand, contribute to this webinar and the feedback has been extremely positive.

I am pleased to report that vegetablesWA was granted funding by the Agricultural Produce Commission and

Vegetable Producers Committee to offer its members support with Business Extension, Human Resources and Industrial Relations.

The analysis of data collated from the vegetablesWA Benchmarking project identified a gap in accessible specialist knowledge available to growers to help them identify risks and resource gaps to their businesses.

The other webinar we delivered looked at melon safety. Any grower that washes and packs fresh produce for market is recommended to take a look at this webinar on the vegetablesWA YouTube channel. We had growers from all over Australia, and as far as New Zealand, contribute to this webinar and the feedback has been extremely positive.

I am extremely pleased to announce that Stephen Farrell has been appointed to this position.
Stephen has extensive experience representing clients in both the Fair Work and Western Australian industrial commissions, before both single commissioners and full benches.
Stephen will be able to provide the following services to growers:

• HR Consultancy
• Mediation of employee conflict
• Representation in tribunals and commissions
• Workplace Investigations
• Review and drafting of employment contracts
• Workplace compliance audits
• Facilitation of Training Courses
• Mentoring managers
• General Industrial Relations advice
• Occupational Health and Safety.

BY DAN KUZMICICH
PRESIDENT
VEGETABLESWA

In the growing game we are no strangers to the constant succession of challenges. If it is not pests, it’s disease, if it’s not the weather, it’s the prices. Now, it seems that it is our workforce that is under threat.  

This subject should be at the forefront of our growers’ minds, as this situation emerges as our number one issue. It looks pretty certain there will be shortages of Working Holiday Makers (WHM) in WA due to border closures. All Hort industries will be in same boat here and potentially will be competing for workers. It would be great to see a collaborative approach in navigating through this issue.

With our business, I am now
actively utilising Jobs in WA
Food and Ag, via the Studium
website, which is providing a
service to match employers with
willing workers.

Studium is one of the State Government funded platforms, which has been specially formulated to assist industry at this time. Facebook and Gumtree are the other traditional channels we usually use to find people.

This active form of searching for workers is new for us in Carnarvon, for at this time of year I usually have an abundance of backpackers dropping into the farm searching for work.

Noticeably, these enquiries are few and far between. Hort industries did identify this as an issue earlier in the COVID-19 pandemic, but we were fortunate that there were backpackers still in WA — now they have moved on or gone home.

Growers in the south will be harder hit if this issue is not addressed urgently. If you have any concerns about your

labour for the coming season,you need to be registering on the online platforms or getting in contact with vegetablesWA Labour Services Liaison Melissa Denning on 0477 477 044, as soon as possible for assistance. You should be well-aware of the situation as vegetablesWA have been very active in highlighting the issue and sending out constant information via newsletters to your email. vegetablesWA have had little feedback from vegetable growers so far; I urge you to prioritise labour as a discussion item in your business and register so we can understand your requirements and push towards getting you solutions.

To the good news (I guess because of the COVID-19 scenario of border control), is that prices of produce have been good, in fact exceptionally good across the board. We can all appreciate this type of news is excellent, as we all need to have a win from time to time. In speaking to a good cross-section of growers from our sector — they are all saying the same thing. That will always give us a pep in our step!

On the local social scene, the Gascoyne Food Festival has begun. The first event was ‘Canapes on the Gascoyne’ on August 7. This was set in the heart of the lush, sub-tropical aspect of Bentwaters Plantation — a beautiful spot.

This was a stand-up cocktail style event, and hosted a swag of local growers and residents, including our Ag Minister Alannah MacTiernan. It was an opportunity to showcase our local produce and enabled growers to network with the Minister in an informal setting. It was another huge success for our region.

If you have any concerns about your labour for the coming season, contact Melissa Denning on 0477 477 044.

It’s all systems go at the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development’s (DPIRD) Carnarvon Research Facility, with science facility upgrades underway, new horticulture researcher recruitments being finalised, existing trials revamped and fresh trial research being conducted.

CARNARVON

Community College student Jake Kuzmicich, who is undertaing qualification in Rural Operations, and Plant Productions Systems at Central Regional TAFE, assists with the pest monitoring trial in a sweet corn crop at DPIRD's Carnaryon Research Facility. 

Fall armyworm, which was first confirmed in Western Australia in early April 2020, was detected in a sweet corn crop in Carnarvon in late April. Researchers proposed a multi-purpose sweet corn trial at the facility to ‘feed two birds with one seed’ and examine bio-mineral versus conventional fertiliser systems, and pest monitoring focused on the new insect pest.

Corn is among the more favoured host plants for fall armyworm, as is sorghum, which has been planted as a windbreak in the trial.

The pest monitoring will focus on establishment, thresholds, beneficial insect interactions and damage, which will be assessed on the sweet corn and sorghum under the four fertiliser treatments which have been randomised in the paddock.

The simple fertiliser trial will allow some preliminary work to be conducted on the benefits of bio-mineral fertilisers on plant health and look into potassium usage rates in horticultural production. Research staff will compare the treatments by measuring yield, leaf nutrient ratios, cob quality and resistance to pests.

The team at Carnarvon invited senior school and TAFE students to participate in the trial and work beside DPIRD staff to gain first-hand knowledge of horticultural production systems and areas of research that benefit local and State-wide food production industries.

The broader aim under the PRIMED initiative is to engage school students to expand their knowledge about careers in primary industries and encourage students to consider career-path options in primary production.

Careers in the primary industries are varied and cover areas such as production, design and communications, technology, business management, mechanics, science, marketing and sales, accounting, compliance and machinery operation, among others.

Interactions have begun with Year 11 Carnarvon Community College students studying Plant Production Systems and Central Regional TAFE students undertaking Rural Operations. The students have been out in the paddock gaining experience in phenological documentation, weed and insect monitoring and identification, and crop nutrition monitoring, as well
as comparative assessment of the different treatments.

In coming weeks, the students  will be introduced to horticultural auditing systems, such as Freshcare and Worksafe, selective herbicide options, crop harvesting and the collation of research data and results.

They have also been asked to investigate mass trapping options/prototypes for fall armyworm, which could include light and pheromone attractants.

The sweet corn trial was seeded in early June 2020 and is expected to be harvested during September.

MORE INFORMATION

Annie van Blommestein, (08) 9956 3336, anastasia.vanblommestein@agric.wa.gov
.au, or go to dpird.wa.gov.au.

BY ALISON MATHEWS
RESEARCH SCIENTIST,
DPIRD

Western Australia’s growing avocado industry is being supported to confidently protect its orchards by managing the pest six-spotted mite (Eotetranychus sexmaculatus) through the provision of science, advice and protocols.

A new three-year project, Management of six-spotted mite in WA avocado orchards — Phase 2, commenced late last year to identify and develop effective six-spotted mite management options for avocado orchards incorporating cultural, biological and chemical practices. It is building on the work of the previous six-spotted mite project that finished in 2019.

Knowledge gained from the current, six-spotted mite project will lead to the development of integrated pest management guidelines for the WA avocado industry intended to improve marketable yield, promote the uptake of established on-farm best practice, and help ensure increased competitiveness in the global marketplace.

The guidelines will include information on when and how to monitor for pest and predatory mites, and the role of both natural and mass reared predatory mites in six-spotted mite management. The relationship between tree health, mite numbers and leaf fall, and miticide application recommendations incorporating resistance management, the impact of chemical control on beneficial species, and the effect of timing and application method on control, will also be covered.

Avocado industry stakeholders will be advised of field walks and workshops to be held during the project.

Current and future activities

Monitoring of six-spotted mite in avocado orchards commenced in January 2020 and for the past six months,

the project team has visited 12 trial orchards every fortnight to survey six-spotted mite, predatory mites and other beneficial insects.

This surveillance program helps confirm seasonal trends, identify sites suitable for coming trials, and determine the impact of various management strategies on pest and predatory mite populations.

Mite numbers are generally low in summer and winter, with the most rapid increase and highest numbers experienced in spring, when trees are under stress from holding near mature fruit and supporting new vegetative growth, flowers and newly setting fruit.

Spring is therefore the most critical time for mite monitoring and management, and leaf fall resulting from mite damage.

Planned activities for the first spring season of the project include:

• Releasing mass reared predatory mites that are yet to be tested in a field situation and measuring their impact on pest mite numbers;
• Applying prey/pollen treatments in an effort to increase the number of predatory mites already present in orchards and measuring their impact on pest mite numbers;

Monitoring of six-spotted mite in avocado orchards commenced in January 2020.