THE line up of speakers included Henry Tan (WA Health Food Unit), Josh Tedjasaputra from WA Hub of AI, Dr SP Singh (NSW DPI), David Daniels (AUSVEG), Jane Siebum (Freshcare) and Jackie Grayson (DPIRD), who presented on a wide range of current and emerging industry topics.

There were also several industry stakeholders who attended the event to provide support. Thanks to Rural West, Croplands, the Shire of Gingin, WorkSafe, DPIRD and others who took the time to attend.

To start the Roadshow, Dylan Panizza from Platinum Tiger gave a quick breakdown on the world of insurance. He encouraged producers to reach out if they have any questions in relation to insurance.

Henry Tan followed with an update on the activities that are being conducted by local government environmental health officers to address the Food Standards Primary Production and Processing (Melon, Leafy Vegetables and Berries) and other aspects of the Food Standards Code.

Included in Henry's presentation was an update on the surveillance testing conducted by the Food Unit, an activity that has been conducted for the past 41 years. The key message was that the regulations remain focused on ensuring food produced is safe for consumption. Regulatory compliance activities are risk based, graduated and proportional.

Josh Tedjasaputra from the newly established WA Hub of AI then showed off a suite of AI tricks. He demonstrated several real, on farm scenarios and showed off the best AI platforms to use depending on the problem you need to solve. It turns out that having multiple different AI options (ChatGPT, Gemini and Claude) can lead to better problem solving depending on the nature of the problem being addressed.

We encourage all growers to take the time to learn the basics of the different AI platforms so they can use this tool in their business.

Dr SP Singh was up next, providing an update on the Safe Leafy Vegetables project, which now includes 25 participating businesses from WA. He announced the launch of the new Safe Leafy Vegetables Guide, providing knowledge and support to leafy vegetable producers.

His presentation highlighted data showing that water is perhaps the biggest source of microbial contamination.

The presentation also touched on "Mind the W's", which has previously featured in the WA Grower magazine. As Dr Singh reminded us "food safety is more than just an audit" — it should be ingrained in the culture of the business.

Shifting from microbial risks to agricultural chemicals, AusVeg's David Daniels (National Strategic Agrichemical Program Manager) was the next engaging presenter. David outlined the current statistics and likely future outlook, given the number of chemicals currently under review or flagged for review. He also explained how, through his role, he can work with producers to help secure permits while new chemistry is gradually developed by the major R&D players.

However, access to this chemistry depends on three key criteria:
• Is it safe?
• Is it effective?
• Is there a genuine need?

David emphasised that ongoing producer engagement is critical to the success of his project.

Shifting the Roadshow from presentations to conversation, I led a Q&A Panel featuring Henry and SP. The panel also featured Jane Siebum, the CEO of Freshcare. Jane provided insights into the Freshcare assurance programs including Food Safety & Quality Version 5 (which will be released later this year).

Freshcare also led a Hort Innovation funded project to investigate the regulatory burden facing producers in horticulture. Jane provided an update on the project outcomes and possible pathways forward.

Henry, SP and Jane then answered several audience questions but due to the limited time, not all were addressed. These questions have now been put to the relevant panellists, and we will provide the written responses to those who attended the event.

Our final speaker was DPIRD's Jackie Grayson, who provided information on stable fly and legislative compliance. Recent changes mean it is important for vegetable producers to stay informed and remain active in efforts to control stable fly.