Vegetables Australia January-February_2017

Geoff Moar

Chairman

AUSVEG

James Whiteside

CEO

AUSVEG

It is with great pleasure that we welcome James Whiteside as

AUSVEG CEO.

James brings a vast level of local and global agribusiness

expertise to the industry, having worked for 23 years for Incitec

Pivot, most recently as Chief Operating Officer of Incitec Pivot

Fertilisers. He was also the Chief Executive Officer of Quantum

Fertilisers, a Hong Kong-based international fertiliser trading

company, and is currently Chairman of Verdant Minerals

Limited and a director for Agribusiness Australia.

I am confident that James will lead AUSVEG into the future

and ensure we continue to effectively fulfill our role as the

national representative for vegetable and potato growers.

I would like to pay tribute to former Interim CEO Simon

Bolles, who has acted with astute diligence and professionalism

during his time in the role. Simon will return to the AUSVEG

Board as a Skills-Based Director on 1 February 2017, and we are

grateful that he will continue to bring his extensive knowledge

of business and corporate finance to the table.

Both the AUSVEG Board and staff are looking forward to a

productive and successful year for the industry in 2017.

AUSVEG continues to facilitate the Crisis Management Team,

which is funded and trained to effectively respond to a crisis

of any nature within the vegetable industry. This includes food

safety incidences or workforce issues that could damage the

reputation of the industry.

This team can provide support and effective collaboration

between growers, distributors, retailers and relevant

government departments in the event of a potential crisis.

We strongly encourage any grower or industry member

who suspects a potential crisis to contact the Crisis Hotline

on 1300 855 170 or AUSVEG on 03 9882 0277. More details

can be found on page 10.

Finally, the Australian horticulture industry is continuing

to strengthen its ties with overseas industries, making it easier

to share information and innovations that can help our

growers succeed.

AUSVEG is proud to have signed a strategic partnership

with Dutch company Rijk Zwaan, one of the world’s leading

producers of vegetable seed, and we look forward to working

with them for the benefit of the Australian vegetable industry.

Meanwhile, Horticulture Innovation Australia recently joined

the University of Tasmania and Lincoln University in the signing

of a Memorandum of Understanding with the world-leading

agricultural institution, the Wageningen University of the

Netherlands. The ceremony was attended by Their Majesties

King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima of the Netherlands,

reflecting the important role that horticulture plays in the

Australian and Dutch economies and the significant value of

this international collaboration.

AUSVEG looks forward to continuing to build on these

relationships with the global horticulture industry into

the future.

I would like to introduce myself as the Chief Executive Officer

of AUSVEG in what is an exciting time for the Australian

vegetable and potato industry.

I have always worked in the agricultural industry, since

graduating from the University of Melbourne with a Bachelor

of Agricultural Science. My career has been in the corporate

sector, the last 23 years with fertiliser manufacturer and

distributor Incitec Pivot Limited. I was Chief Operating Officer

of Incitec Pivot Fertilisers until December 2015. I accepted the

role of AUSVEG CEO in December 2016, and am really looking

forward to working with Australia’s innovative and committed

vegetable and potato growers to create a successful and

profitable future for the industry.

In particular, I am pleased to be stepping into this role prior

to Hort Connections 2017, a joint initiative between AUSVEG

and PMA Australia New-Zealand Limited (PMA A-NZ), which will

be held from 15-17 May at the Adelaide Convention Centre.

A vast array of horticulture industry bodies have joined as

co-hosts. This cross-sector collaboration will benefit all

delegates, as all sectors of the industry come together to

exchange ideas, network and learn from the wide variety of

local and international speakers and exhibitors.

This is the premier event for the Australian horticulture

industry and I am particularly looking forward to meeting

growers and industry members over the three days of this

conference and trade show.

As we move into the new year, I am keen to hear about the

key issues affecting Australian vegetable and potato growers. I

will make every effort to visit as many growers as possible over

the coming months, to become more familiar with the industry

and the key areas of investment and policy development that

need to be addressed to ensure the industry remains a leader

on the world stage.

This is particularly important as we put a cap on the

long-running debate over the “backpacker tax”. Upon

reflection, it is clear that we must take on every opportunity

to emphasise that Australian growers must be actively involved

in policy-making. We at AUSVEG hope that future decisions

that affect our industry follow appropriate consultation and,

importantly, reflect the results of in-depth modelling of the

potential impacts of such a decision.

Finally, I would like to thank Simon Bolles for his role as

Interim CEO for the last six months, and for ensuring the

organisation and its staff have been well supported and led.

I would also like to sincerely thank the AUSVEG Board for their

support and confidence in me. I believe we have the right team

to lead this organisation, and the vegetable and potato industry

more broadly, through a period of growth and prosperity in the

years ahead.

| MESSAGES FROM THE CHAIRMAN AND CEO |

Growing immaculate looking and tasting vegetables takes hard work and

know-how. Equally so is the job of protecting them against nasty caterpillar

pests such as Diamondback moth, Heliothis and Cabbage white butterfly.

DuPont™ Coragen® acts very quickly to stop these pests feeding and damaging

your crops, but is friendly to key beneficial bugs making it an ideal partner for

any integrated pest management strategy. Coragen® can now be used in aerial,

as well as ground applications giving you more ways to protect your crops.

Visit

www.cropprotection.dupont.com.au

for more information

Realise a better selection in pest management.

ACN 000 716 469. The DuPont Oval Logo, DuPont

™

, Rynaxypyr

and Coragen

are registered trademarks or trademarks of DuPont or its affiliates.

DUPONT0035.