A pioneer in leadership, education and communication has been lost to the Australian horticulture industry, with the unexpected death of Tony Biggs on 17 July 2021. Produce Marketing Australia Chief Operating Officer John Baker reflects on Tony’s life, and his extensive service and contribution to Australian horticulture.

In his 40 years in Australia, Tony Biggs made a significant difference across a range of organisations and industries.

He and family moved from Kent in the United Kingdom – where Tony had been lecturing at Wye College – to Hawkesbury Agricultural College (now Western Sydney University’s Hawkesbury campus) in 1980. He was appointed Head of the Department of Horticulture, before becoming Principal Horticulturist Vegetables with the New South Wales Department of Agriculture in the mid-1980s. He had a big impact at both organisations and their staff.

Upon his arrival in Australia, Tony had observed there was no dedicated national magazine for commercial production horticulture. In 1990, he helped establish and was founding editor of Good Fruit & Vegetables. Supported by his wife Frances, Tony produced over 200 issues in the next 13 years.

A communications trailblazer

Tony was an excellent communicator and had a particular flair in translating and editing scientific research and results into everyday language.

In a recent interview with the current editor of Good Fruit & Vegetables, he said the technical content of the magazine was based around news and stories on current research from around Australia and overseas. There was a major detailed monthly business article entitled ‘Enterprise of the Month’, along with interviews with national and international horticultural personalities, new product information and much, much more.

“I saw the technical content in being of paramount importance,” Tony said.

He travelled extensively across Australia, seeking out stories and profiles in many diverse areas, building a wide network of colleagues and friends in the process. An annual highlight in the magazine were special features covering presentations from the Australian Horticultural Corporation’s ‘Marketing Edge’ conferences, reaching a much wider audience and generating greater interest in marketing. This led to covering the Asiafruit Congress in Hong Kong and the United States’ Produce Marketing Association Convention and Exposition on a number of occasions.

Concurrently, in 1991 Tony was appointed a Director of the Horticultural Research & Development Corporation – one of the forerunners of Hort Innovation. This was a position he held for nine years. Such was his contribution, Tony was asked to stay on the Board after completing the maximum allowable period of six years.

Industry impact

Through his family company Cardinal Horticultural Services, Tony undertook a range of other activities, usually in collaboration with Frances. He was the mushroom industry’s R&D coordinator, including managing the new purpose-built facility at Sydney University. As well as seeing the need and being responsible for establishing the Australian Potato Industry Council, he and Frances provided the initial Secretariat.

His knowledge and experience of greenhouse horticulture and hydroponics in the UK – combined with collaborative research he undertook with Rick Donnan in Australia on the use of rockwool – led to major advances in the technology and its application. Tony was largely responsible for establishing the Australian Hydroponics Association (now Protected Cropping Australia) and providing the foundation Secretariat.

His experience and attention to detail made Tony a natural choice to review a range of horticultural programs. In addition, he was a significant co-contributor to a number of production and marketing projects in different parts of Australia and across industries.

Further achievements

Prior to arriving in Australia, Tony had written Vegetables – a practical reference book for gardeners that was published by the Royal Horticultural Society. Its ongoing popularity resulted in regular updates over succeeding decades.

His prolific writing continued in 1985, when he co-authored Principles of Vegetable Crop Production, published in the UK and distributed internationally.

Volunteering was in Tony’s DNA. He was a strong believer in the Australian Society for Horticultural Science, as a founding member and president/co-president from 2000 to 2004. For many years, Cardinal Horticultural Services provided the Secretariat for the Australian Plant Propagation Association.

Tony would regularly address industry meetings and field days. He also undertook a number of volunteer projects in the Pacific and Asia, associated with communication and education.

Tony’s service and contribution to Australian horticulture was justly recognised in 2004, when he was awarded the prestigious Graham Gregory Medal.

Cover photo: Tony Biggs. Image courtesy of Kelvin Tsui, Rabbit Photo (Richmond, New South Wales).