A project under the Hort Frontiers Leadership Fund is engaging graduate students with the horticulture industry. It involves a Graduate Engagement Program with a two-phase approach designed to attract the right people, retain them and support their ongoing leadership development.

An industry program is connecting university students and horticultural businesses to build capacity and develop future leaders.

The Graduate Engagement Program, delivered by Rimfire Resources, Australian Rural Leadership Foundation and Hort Innovation, involves a 10-week internship during a student’s final year of study. After they have graduated, the business can invite participants to complete a one-year graduate program.

Now in its third year, the program’s participants have increased. There are a further 22 positions available in 2020.

Attracting new entrants into Australian horticulture – promoting careers in horticulture (LP15006) involves levy funding from the apple and pear, nursery and vegetable industries, in addition to other funding sources, and is funded through the Hort Frontiers Leadership Fund.

Case study: Darcy Holmes

Darcy Holmes was among the first intake of students. He learned a lot during his internship and graduate year at Perfection Fresh. And while completing the program, Darcy could focus 100 per cent on his research, knowing he had a job to go into after completing his Honours degree in biotechnology.

“Other classmates were frantically sending resumes and travelling around the country for interviews, but I could devote all my time to my Honours, which was really good. Plus, it was a very good internship program,” he said.

Darcy started the internship working in Perfection Fresh’s quality assurance (QA) programs at the Brisbane Markets. Rimfire Resources guided him through the selection process and supported his placement.

“While doing my QA work, I worked on a new project developing standard operating procedures for a new disinfestation plant Perfection Fresh was building,” Darcy said.

The project saw Darcy work on the thermal mapping of a heat treatment chamber before fruit is sent to markets including China, Korea and Japan.

“If we can get post-harvest right, we can reduce waste and get a lot higher quality, especially when fruit is going overseas. There are big opportunities there because the higher quality the product, the higher the value,” Darcy said.

While undertaking his Honours in plant pathogens, Darcy worked part-time with Perfection Fresh to prepare the standard operating procedures.

After completing his studies, Darcy started working at the vapour heat treatment facility, which included supervising labour hire staff, training QA officers and conducting research. His research supported the Cooperative Research Centre for Developing Northern Australia project entitled Sustainable Export of Calypsos into China.

Darcy also had the opportunity to work at a Perfection Fresh tissue culture lab in Caboolture, Queensland. He developed new systems there, including procedures to limit contamination.

Perfection Fresh Chief Commercial Officer John Simonetta said Darcy was enthusiastic and quick to learn.

“We’re pleased we’ve been able to support Darcy as a graduate and give him a head start in his career. It’s a great way for us to give back to the industry, and the community more broadly, through giving our young people the chance to grow,” John said.

Darcy highly valued the Australian Rural Leadership Foundation course that is part of the Graduate Engagement Program.

“The course was amazing, very eye-opening. I learned so much and met a lot of people in the industry,” he said.

Establishing a career

Darcy is now in his second year of working full-time at Perfection Fresh. This year, he’s doing more work in the company’s mango export division. He sees enormous opportunities for Australian mango growers to work together and, with government support, dramatically increase exports in coming years.

In fact, he sees great prospects for growth across the horticulture industry, particularly in northern Australia, and plans to build his career in the industry.

Darcy would not hesitate to recommend the horticulture industry to students.

“Horticulture has everything and there’s a role for you,” he said.

“For people who are tech-minded, we always need more. If you’re really good at sales or marketing, you get to travel the world. Even for me, as a research-based scientist, I visited China to collect data in my first year.”

Ultimately, Darcy enjoys getting out onto people’s farms and making connections throughout the industry.

“It’s rewarding working around fresh produce,” he said.

Find out more

For more information or to register your interest as a student or host company, please contact Gemma Burger on 1300 380 701.

Attracting new entrants into Australian horticulture – promoting careers in horticulture is funded by the Hort Frontiers Leadership Fund, part of the Hort Frontiers strategic partnership initiative developed by Hort Innovation, with co-investment from Rimfire Resources and contributions from the Australian Government.

Project Number: LP15006

This article first appeared in the winter 2020 edition of  Vegetables Australia. Click here to read the full publication. 

Darcy Holmes from Perfection Fresh.