Vegetable growers in Victoria and New South Wales have seized the opportunity to participate in recent meetings held by AUSVEG and Horticulture Australia Limited, as part of a national Regional Roadshow to communicate recent research funded by the National Vegetable Levy.

Meetings were held in Werribee, Victoria on Monday 17 March and in Rossmore, New South Wales on Tuesday 18 March, with the overall response positive.
“Australian vegetable growers are very excited by the nature of the research their levy is funding, particularly projects investigating promising technologies such as automation and robotics,” said AUSVEG Communications Manager, William Churchill.
AUSVEG is the leading horticultural body representing Australia’s 9,000 vegetable and potato growers.
“Research and development is working towards a future where farm robots will do all the dirty work so growers will be able to sit back and focus on running their businesses. Laborious, resource-intensive tasks will instead be performed without the need for minimal human intervention.” 
“This is just one of many thought-provoking areas of research that growers are contributing to with their levy,” said Mr Churchill.
Over 30 industry members attended the event to hear from presenters including Applied Horticultural Research’s Mr Mike Titley, as well as Dr Denise Hamblin and Ms Megan Ferguson from market research consultancy Colmar Brunton. AUSVEG and HAL representatives were also on hand to provide industry updates and answer audience questions.
East Wardell vegetable grower Carlo Pippo said that he had benefited greatly from the seminar and that it was a good opportunity to contribute directly to broad industry discussion and influence the direction of investments.
“It can be difficult for growers to take time out from our schedules to attend industry events, especially during busier times of the year, however, when events such as the AUSVEG and HAL meetings occur, they are too worthwhile to pass up.”
“Being able to contribute to the bigger picture makes it especially worthwhile for growers, as it means we have the potential to create tangible benefits for our businesses,” said Mr Pippo.
Events in Victoria (Cranbourne), Tasmania (Devonport), South Australia (Hahndorf), Western Australia (Joondalup, Carnarvon) and Queensland (Gatton, Bundaberg, Bowen) are to follow, the details of which can be found on the AUSVEG website. Those interested in attending should RSVP to AUSVEG on (03) 9882 0277 or e-mail info@ausveg.com.au. Food and refreshments will be provided free to all vegetable levy payers.
This communication is funded by HAL using the National Vegetable Levy and matched funds from the Australian Government. 
ENDS
MEDIA CONTACT: William Churchill, Communications Manager, AUSVEG.
Phone: (03) 9882 0277 Mobile: 0411 166 748 E-mail: william.churchill@ausveg.com.au.