VegNET Regional Development Officer Bree Grima provides a snapshot of the Wide Bay-Burnett region, and explains the reasons behind the project’s four key focus areas that are helping to shape its five-year vegetable extension strategy.

Bundaberg Fruit and Vegetable Growers (BFVG) represents fruit, vegetable, herb and nut producers in Queensland’s Wide Bay Burnett region, which enjoys a sub-tropical climate and rainfalls between 850mm to 1,150mm across the 48,598 km2 region. It encompasses five local government areas: Bundaberg, North Burnett, South Burnett, Gympie and Fraser Coast.

Population for the Wide Bay Area in 2018/19 was 299,465, with the region’s gross regional product estimated at $13.30 billion and representing 3.78 per cent of the state’s gross state product. Agriculture, forestry and fishing employed 8,990 full-time equivalent people in 2018/19, with 8,025 in agriculture alone, representing eight per cent of employment in the region. The state average is just 2.71 per cent for agriculture, highlighting the importance of the sector to the Wide Bay region.

Even with a slight transition for some producers from ground crops to macadamia and avocado plantations, the vegetable Industry in Bundaberg alone is valued in excess of $237 million. It covers approximately 6,000 hectares and produces a diverse range of vegetable crops including capsicum, corn, beans, pumpkin, zucchini, Brussels sprouts and chilli, by more than 100 growers across the region.

The Wide Bay is one of the few cropping regions in Australia that provides year-round growing conditions. Experiencing fewer cyclones and summer storms than northern Queensland, higher rainfall than southern Queensland and fewer damaging frosts than western Queensland, the Wide Bay provides opportunities for producers to expand their cropping and agribusiness portfolio.

Value-adding is common practice, and several large producers provide a range of products and ingredients that support national and international consumers. Utilising a combination of ground and surface water allocations that are highly regulated, our producers generally experience medium- to high-reliability- ensuring consistent cropping results.

Bridging the gap

The opportunities for the region are endless – and with such a diverse range of commodities, the VegNET Wide Bay-Burnett project was interested in understanding the gaps in knowledge and support to ensure the program provides value to producers as they work towards more productive and profitable operations.

While there can be many key focus areas for a region, they cannot all be addressed. Following extensive consultation with producers and industry, the VegNET Regional Development Officer worked with a Regional Extension Advisory Group to establish four key focus areas to develop a five-year vegetable extension strategy.

Key areas identified include management of plastic waste in addition to organic waste management; developing a coordinated approach to pest management; and options for addressing uptake of AgTech products on vegetable farms in the Wide Bay Burnett. We are excited to commence delivery of a program with a focus on these key areas as well as continuing to connect with the wider VegNET project.

Find out more

Please contact Bree Grima at bree.grima@bfvg.com.au or phone the BFVG office on 07 4153 3007.

VegNET – Wide Bay-Burnett 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: VG19009

Cover image courtesy of Austchilli.

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