Facilitated by Food & Fibre Gippsland, VegNET – Gippsland has been actively engaging vegetable growers in the region to develop a five-year strategy. Four focus areas have been identified, and VegNET – Gippsland plans to work with local and national programs to deliver accessible grower resources. Regional Development Officer Bonnie Dawson reports.

The focus for VegNET – Gippsland over the past six months has been the development of a five-year Regional Extension Strategy. Despite the challenge of in-person engagement due to COVID-19, the project has given growers across the region opportunity to shape the focus of vegetable extension activities over the coming five years.

All growers have been invited to contribute at various stages, and a Regional Extension Advisory Group (REAG) has been established to guide development and implementation of the plan, comprised of four growers from across the Gippsland, two agronomists and the project team.

This phase has also given VegNET – Gippsland the opportunity to seek and plan collaboration activities with other Food & Fibre Gippsland projects as well as external projects, particularly other levy-funded projects.

So far, there are four projects that VegNET plans to deliver to meet the needs of vegetable growers which focus on:

• On-farm Biosecurity.
• Minimising Vegetable Industry Impact on Gippsland’s Waterways.
• Smarter Growing with Ag Tech (precision agriculture and other digital technologies).
• Building Business Capacity and a Sustainable Workforce.

Over the coming few months, as growers are busy harvesting their crops, the focus of VegNET will be on locally relevant and accessible resources.

Grower resources

To stay on-theme for 2020, there will be a series of ‘bite-sized videos’ on local biosecurity concerns produced with support from AUSVEG biosecurity team and other subject matter experts.

By the time this article goes to print, Gippsland’s vegetable growers will hopefully be better prepared for potential fall armyworm incursions over summer, as well as other priority pests and diseases.

Although Gippsland growers recognise biosecurity as a top priority, many also report they can always ‘do better’ with their biosecurity awareness and planning. VegNET – Gippsland is inviting interested growers and service providers to join a local discussion group to develop shared knowledge of the most prevalent pests, weeds or diseases across Gippsland, and share ideas for preventative actions and skills at a farm and regional level.

Cross-industry engagement

By collaborating with the industry-led EnviroVeg Program and supporting more growers through the framework, VegNET – Gippsland aims to gain a better understanding of the efforts growers are already making across the region in environmental stewardship, and develop our capacity to tell the story of Gippsland’s clean, green, and trusted produce. Pride in the produce of our region will be further supported and promoted through Food & Fibre Gippsland’s development of a ‘Trusted Provenance’ token.

A pilot workshop was delivered in September that focused on taking a small group through the soils and nutrition components of the EnviroVeg self-assessment and discussing some of the practices.

It is hoped by supporting growers to complete these self-assessments in advance, the EnviroVeg framework will paint a picture of practice across the region, ensuring future training and workshops are relevant, timely and useful to growers.

The EnviroVeg Program 2017-2022 is a strategic levy investment under the Hort Innovation Vegetable Fund.

Supporting local industry

Growing conditions are a remarkable improvement on last year and crops are growing bountifully; however, the region has not been immune to the challenges that COVID-19 has exposed.

There is building apprehension toward sourcing sufficient harvest and packhouse workers for the impending season. Again, VegNET – Gippsland is fortunate to be closely connected with other regional projects through Food & Fibre Gippsland, such as the Gippsland Regional Agrifood Employment Programme (GRAEP). GRAEP provides support to both employers and unemployed workers interested in entering the industry.

Going forward, VegNET Gippsland will have an ongoing focus on supporting growers to attract and retain new workers, contributing to industry-wide efforts in developing a more sustainable workforce.

Find out more

Please contact VegNET Regional Development Officer Bonnie Dawson from Food and Fibre Gippsland on 0407 683 938 or email bonnie.dawson@foodandfibregippsland.com.au.

VegNET – Gippsland is a strategic levy investment under the Hort Innovation Vegetable Fund.

This project has been funded by Hort Innovation using the vegetable research and development levy and contributions from the Australian Government.

Project Number: VG19001

This article first appeared in Vegetables Australia – Summer 2020/21. To read the full publication, please click here.