AUSVEG Board

Lindenow grower Bill Bulmer was elected to the AUSVEG Board on 27 November 2014, and elected as AUSVEG Chair on 13 November 2017.

Bill is a third generation Victorian vegetable farmer running the family business Bulmer Farms Pty Ltd.

Bulmer Farms supplies the processing industry in Bairnsdale, Melbourne and Sydney and the Fresh Markets all down the eastern sea board.

Bill is an active member of the vegetable industry and the local community, currently serving on the Vegetable Growers Association of Victoria Executive Committee, a member of the AUSVEG board, VFF Hort Committee, Board member of the East Gippsland Water Catchment Authority, Chair of the Mitchell River Catchment Agricultural Business Association, Chair of the Lindenow irrigators advisory committee, former Chair of the East Gippsland Food Cluster and previously as the President and Life Member of the Lindenow Football and Netball clubs, bringing a range of skills and insights to the AUSVEG Board.

Renee Pye is Marketing Manager for leading potato, carrot and onion packhouse Zerella Fresh. Renee is involved in a number of key areas of the business, including new product development and marketing, and is an emerging leader in the South Australian industry. She has overseen the development of Zerella Fresh’s Spud Lite range, which has contributed significantly to the company’s recent growth.

Renee is a committed industry representative, sitting on a number of Boards, including AUSVEG SA, the Murraylands Food Alliance and Hort Innovation potato marketing consultation committees.

She regularly works with politicians at the state level and has been the spokesperson for a number of key AUSVEG SA campaigns in labour attraction and securing key infrastructure investments for industry.

Andrew Moon from Moonrocks, farms alongside his brother David in the South -West Queensland town of St George. In the early 90s the brothers started growing rockmelons. Today they specialise in onions, garlic, and pumpkins.

Andrew’s key role in the business is post-farm production, marketing, and logistics. Their key customer base is broad, specialising in fresh and process product for both domestic and international markets.

Being involved with industry groups has always been important to Andrew. He served as Chair of Onions Australia from 2013 – 2016. Prior to that he was on the Onions Industry Advisory Committee for five years. He is now in an advisory role on the Hort Innovation Post-Farmgate Vegetable SIAP. Andrew was appointed as a Grower Director on the AUSVEG Board in November 2022.

Mark Kable is the co-owner of Harvest Moon, which is one of the largest vegetable growing businesses in Australia that operates across Tasmania, Victoria and Queensland. Harvest Moon Tasmania grows onions, carrots, beans, broccoli and cauliflower on a yearly basis, while its mainland branches in Victoria and Queensland source additional produce from more than 80 growers, giving the business nation-wide exposure through markets and retail networks.

Mark has held many positions within the industry, including currently serving as the Chair of the Tasmanian Agricultural Productivity Group, which brings together primary producers, the food and non food agricultural manufacturing sector, plantation forestry, agribusiness (services to agriculture) and Government.

Mark was nominated to join the AUSVEG Board as a Grower Director in November 2022.

Elected to the AUSVEG Board in September 2020, Mitchael Curtis is the owner-operator of Kings Farms, a third-generation family farm based just south of Katherine in the Northern Territory. Established as the first commercial mango plantation in the Venn area, Mitchael now runs the farm with his family after taking over operations from his father. Under Mitch’s management, the farm has seen significant growth and expansion and now harvests pumpkins, eggplants, watermelons, cassava, bush honey and over five million mangoes each year.

Mitchael is a past board member of the Northern Territory Mango Industry Association. He is passionate about education and training as well as philanthropy projects in countries such as India, Papua New Guinea and Vanuatu.

Elected to the AUSVEG Board in January 2020, Pennie has a background in banking, and she married into the horticulture sector. Pennie and her husband Michael established their vegetable growing business in 1999, commencing with potatoes and moving into carrots, onions and broccoli. Their vertically integrated business supplies the retail sector, export markets and their own wholesale market floor.

Pennie has been a past committee member of the Potato Growers Association of Western Australia, and she is currently a member of the Potato Strategic Investment Advisory Panel as well as Chair of the Myalup Coast Growers. Additionally, Pennie is a member of the Harvey Agricultural College Advisory Panel. Pennie’s key interest is how we can get more youth interested in horticulture as a career.

Theodora is an experienced Non-Executive Director and Chair of Audit, Risk and Finance with extensive governance and business advisory experience. She is an active Chartered Accountant and former Senior Partner at Ernst and Young. She holds a Bachelor of Commerce and Master of Taxation from the University of Melbourne, and is a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and a graduate of the Women on Boards WOBSX program.

Cowra, NSW grower Ed Fagan was elected to the AUSVEG Board in 2023.

Ed is a fifth generation NSW vegetable farmer running the family farming business Mulyan Pty Ltd. Mulyan comprises of three main enterprises – livestock, broadacre farming and intensive horticulture. The main vegetable crops grown are beetroot, corn and asparagus. The business has been growing vegetables since 1943 and processing vegetables since 2014.

Ed is an active member of the vegetable and irrigation industries, currently serving on the board of Lachlan Valley Water, and served from 2011 to 2022 on the Hort Innovation Pre-Farm Gate SIAP and Advanced Cropping Systems EAP. Ed is currently the Chair of the Water NSW Lachlan Customer Advisory Pannel and is a member of the Spark Labs Cultiv8 start up accelerator mentor panel.  He has a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Sydney.

Ed has been nominated for the Horticulture Awards for Excellence Vegetable Grower of the Year five times, and was the NSW Farmer of the Year in 2015.