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April 2018

Rum Jungle biosecurity a shining light to follow!

Story courtesy: http://www.farmbiosecurity.com.au/rum-jungle-biosecurity-shining-light-to-follow/

April 19, 2018

Last month, we announced the winners of Farm Biosecurity Producer of the Year Award, which are part of the Austral-ian Biosecurity Awards.

In the next two issues of Farm Biosecurity News, we will be profiling the winners and filling in some of the details.

The first profile is of Alan Petersen and Julie-Ann Murphy from Rum Jungle Organics, a 26 hectare property that they’ve run since 1999 in the Northern Territory, the principle crop being bananas.

While they are small players in the industry, their biosecurity practices can be a shining light for others to follow.

“At the awards, we were pretty proud to represent the NT, organic farming and the little guy. It’s always good to be recognised for your efforts,” said Julie Ann.

In 2013 when banana freckle was found on the property, all banana trees had to be destroyed and disposed of as part of the National Banana Freckle Eradication Program, resulting in virtually no farm income for the past four years.

Their experience of being caught up in the banana freckle eradication effort has been devastating and led to a thor-ough reassessment of their biosecurity measures and their personal motivation to stay in the business.

There were times when they wondered whether they should call it quits. But they have replanted a new crop of bana-nas, the trees are producing fruit and they have again started selling top quality fruit at the local markets.

With the worst now behind them, Alan and Julie-Ann are able to reflect on their experience and are optimistic about their future. They want to ensure they protect their investment from pests and diseases that could again impact their livelihood.

Prior to the detection of banana freckle they felt they had followed good biosecurity practices, but with the detection and subsequent destruction of their plants, they undertook a complete review of their biosecurity practices.

“We put a lot of effort into research and updating, finding out what was best practice for us as organic producers. To have that recognised as exemplary was pretty good feeling for us,” said Julie Ann.

Left: Despite the difference in the size of operations between Rum Jungle Or-

ganics and the Mackay Farming Group, they were both winners of the biosecu-

rity award category. (L-R) Gavin Mackay and Cameron Mackay from Mackay

Farming Group; Alan Peterson from Rum Jungle Organics; Greg Fraser from

Plant Health Australia; Julie Anne Murphy from Rum Jungle Organics; Jim

Pekin from Australian Banana Growers’ Council. Continued page 13

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In sickness and in health... As relationships go the tryst between NT Farmers and the Northern Territory DPIR reminds me of a marriage in need of a spark.

The lust of those early years has gone, the progeny raised and now self sufficient, so we look at each other across the table and wonder what next.

We both want more than the passive co-dependency that seems to have set in.

The new Minister also expects more and offered guidance and incentive - so how do we change it up? How does co-dependency become co-operation and co-innovation?

As in marriage it’s about communication and thankfully this is happening more and more. Not at all levels as yet, but the signs are positive and it may well be by taking advantage of some current sickness and health we can rekindle that spark.

To ‘sickness’ first.

The Department’s handling of emergency plant pest incursions (CGMMV and Banana Freckle) over recent years was the source of much frustration to growers. Many of the issues unsurprisingly related to communication and in particularly that growers felt their commercial interests weren’t given due prominence in discussions. Communication must work both ways.

Almost every grower in the NT respects and understands the importance of biosecurity, however very few of us understand the regulatory process DPIR staff are bound by once an outbreak occurs.

Likewise, few DPIR staff would be aware that when considering containment or management strategies, that two alternative approaches which produce the same outcome, may have profoundly different commercial ramifications for individual growers.

The recent Citrus Canker outbreak hopefully is a game changer for both parties.

Within hours of its tentative confirmation DPIR CEO Alister Trier rang me and Chief Plant Health Officer Sarah Corcoran was on the phone to both Greg and myself.

On our advice, Greg was immediately installed as the Industry Liaison Officer and both Greg and myself were involved with all subsequent teleconferences regarding the response plan.

Thankfully through NT Farmers, growers’ interests are now an integral part of planning the response and Sarah and her team have benefitted greatly from Greg’s knowledge of who grows what and where and for which markets.

We have also been able to influence the public messaging to minimise risk to growers in local and interstate mar-kets.

This transparent and consultative approach also enabled us to assemble an internal NT Farmers reference group including Vietnamese grower Chris Pham (who will pro-vide interpreter services and support to Vietnamese growers) before the outbreak was publicly announced.

We need to now play our part in communicating to grow-ers their responsibilities under the response plan to con-solidate this model of strong collaboration going forward.

And now to ‘in health’.

Our industry is in pretty good shape.

At the moment.

It’s no secret that our funding provider, the NT Govern-ment expects us to continue to grow and prosper and Minister Vowles has injected substantial project funding over the next few years to make that happen.

We can’t do that without an improved relationship with our partner.

In the immortal words of Roxy Music ”… the marriage vow is very sacred … come on, come on lets stick togeth-er“.

For two organisations like NT Farmers and DPIR to stick together we need strategic plans that sync. Alister Trier understands this and has committed $15,000 to enable NT Farmers to frame an industry strategic plan. This has been something Vice President Paul McLaughlin has championed for some time and it will be completed over three days in early May.

Then, like any successful marriage we need to sit together with our respective strategic plans and make sure we have a conversation about how best we move from the ‘what‘ and ‘why’s’ to the ‘whom’ and ‘when’ - for better not worse and for richer not poorer.

From the NT Farmers President

Simon Smith

NT Farmers

President

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The NT is facing another serious horticulture biosecurity incur-

sion. There is strong evidence that Citrus Canker has been found

in plants in retail outlets in Darwin and Palmerston. NT Biosecu-

rity has moved quickly into response mode and is consulting

with NT Farmers from the beginning. This was one of the major

things we learned through CGMMV, was to have industry in the

discussions as soon as possible. NT Farmers has set up a citrus

advisory group to put industry priorities directly to the govern-

ment and to feedback the effect the incursion and response is

having on industry. The response is currently tracing the connec-

tions to the infected plants and trying to identify the source and

any possible movements.

Our priority will be to resume market access for NT citrus fruit

and citrus products into interstate markets. Currently, all the

other states have placed restrictions on entry of citrus products

from the NT. Regaining access will involve putting together a set

of protocols of farm surveillance, on-farm and post-harvest

treatments to put to the other states that will give them confi-

dence that the NT produce is not putting the national Citrus in-

dustry at risk. It is then up to the other states to accept this

package and allow access under those conditions. The NT is for-

tunate in having the CEO of Citrus Australia, Nathan Hancock, in

Darwin to talk to citrus growers, the reference group and to as-

sist drafting this proposal. We will be able to use the experience

of the Emerald Qld outbreak of Citrus Canker and personnel that

have had previous experience with the disease in this response.

There will be a general meeting for citrus growers in the Top End

as soon as we have anything definite to relate to industry so

please check our e-news and facebook page. There is more in-

formation available on the departmental website, https://

dpir.nt.gov.au/citrus-canker, and if you have any concerns you

can ring the hotline on 1800 931 722. Commercial citrus growers

can contact NT Farmers on 8983 3233 about getting on the pri-

ority list for property inspections and for more information on

what NT farmers can do for them.

The North Australian Quarantine Survey program (NAQS) runs

regular survey runs across the north of Australia, which includes

looking for exotic diseases like Citrus Canker. It is coincidental

that NT Farmers is working with NAQS to increase their involve-

ment with our commercial producers especially Asian Vegeta-

bles producers. NT Farmers have employed, Chris Pham, a Mar-

rakai vegetable grower, as a part time liaison officer in this role.

Chris will now also be helping with this current incursion.

This incursion reminds us all again of the importance of on-farm

biosecurity. The Farm Biosecurity Producer of the Year award

won by Rum Jungle Organics is a product of those hard learnings

of the Banana Freckle incursion and response. Congratulations

to Alan and Julie for this Biosecurity Award. It also serves as a

great example of how to learn from biosecurity incursions so

that farms can protect themselves as much as possible when the

next incursion comes to the Top End.

Another challenge facing the wider horticulture industry is the

proposed changes to the Hort Award that have been proposed

through the Fair Work Commission. Changes to the casual em-

ployment conditions to include overtime and hours of work will

adversely affect all horticulture enterprises but especially the

mango industry with its intense short harvest period where the

fruit needs to come off in a hurry and working holiday makers

and Seasonal Workers are looking for longer hours for this

short period of work to make it economically viable for them.

NT Farmers will be representing its members through our state

membership of AUSVEG, in Canberra, 30 April, to put forward

the dire consequences of the proposed changes and discussing

what campaign can be run to oppose these unnecessary chang-

es.

On a more positive note, the NT Farmers Northern Food Fu-

tures roadshow in Kununurra was a great success with many

interstate farmers and peak R&D funding bodies attending.

Cotton may well be returning to the Ord in a big way and this

will have flow on effects for agriculture across Northern Aus-

tralia in the NT and Nth Qld. We intend to maintain the enthu-

siasm at our main Food Futures conference in Darwin on 2-4

July. Check out the list of speakers, activities and workshops on

page 8 in this newsletter.

Kununurra also saw our new Plant Industry Development

officer for Katherine, Andrew Philip, start at NT Farmers. An-

drew has been very active since then, contacting and meeting

existing growers from Douglas Daly to Alice Springs. Andrew

brings a wealth of horticultural and agricultural industry

knowledge to the position and specialises in developing market

opportunities. Andrew brings a business perspective to indus-

try development and a fresh perspective on what may be op-

portunities in Ag and Hort in the Katherine and Central regions.

Andrew is based in Katherine at the old NTAg building which is

in the same compound as Katherine Landmark, our Katherine

industry partners.

Camilla Philip starts with NT farmers in the first week of May

with another business focussed project. Camilla is tasked with

looking at the business opportunities in value adding our tropi-

cal fruit industries and looking for markets and marketing op-

portunities that are possible to increase the value of our NT

production.

With these new positions bringing expertise and capacity it is

fitting that NT Farmers is running a Strategic Planning Project

for the NT Plant Based Industries to guide their development

into the future. This planning project will bring together key

growers and industry members to develop a plan to take the

whole industry forward for the next 5-10 years. After an initial

workshop, the project will generate working groups to take the

concepts forward.

From the NT Farmers CEO

Continued page 19...

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I’d like to start by welcoming husband and wife team Andrew

and Camilla Philip into their new roles as Katherine Plant Industry

Development Officer (Andrew) and Mango Business

Development Officer (Camilla) with the NT Farmers Association.

Last year, the Territory Labor Government awarded the

organisation $1.55 million over three years to fund these roles

(along with a Workforce Planning Coordinator) to grow our

horticultural sector and create jobs. This was part of our election

promise to develop Katherine as a major agribusiness hub.

Andrew and Camilla have years of experience between them,

and it is fantastic to see such well-qualified people choosing to

call the Territory home. Andrew will help horticultural producers

access new markets, diversify and explore alternative crops, as

well as improve farm biosecurity and labour practices to increase

production and Camilla will help develop and expand our biggest

horticultural industry, opening new markets and cementing

Territory mangoes as the best in the world.

Speaking of mangoes, I came across the delicious fruits selling for

an incredible $200 each recently on a Ministerial visit to Japan.

They were lined up alongside rockmelons selling for more than

$100 each. The fruit come from Japan’s best farming area and

are exquisitely packaged and sold as gifts. Imagine if we could

sell Territory mangoes to Japan for even a fraction of that price!

While in Japan I signed a Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC)

Masterplan with the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry

and Fisheries. The Masterplan maps out the next few years with

regard to increasing Japanese involvement in agriculture and

aquaculture research, development and investment in the

Territory. Humpty Doo Barramundi has already seen some

success through the MoC, sending Territory barra to Tokyo to be

used in sashimi trials. This Masterplan paves the way for others

to follow suit.

Elsewhere in the sector, the NT Government recently updated

the 30-year-old Biological Control Act to protect our valuable

agricultural industry from pests and diseases. The changes mean

the Territory can now take part in national biological control

programs. Using biological control agents also means we can

reduce the use of costly chemicals. This legislative change shows

how important the NT Government views biosecurity, and

follows our investment of $4.5 million towards a new diagnostic

hub at Berrimah Farm.

Alan Petersen and Julie-Ann Murphy from Rum Jungle Organics

near Batchelor also take biosecurity seriously and I

congratulate them on being named the 2018 Farm Biosecurity

Producer of the Year at the Australian Biosecurity Awards in

Canberra. This is a huge achievement for a small Territory

producer, whose biosecurity measures are as comprehensive

as the highest quality farm producers nationwide.

Congratulations also to Linda Blackwood from Katherine, this

year’s NT AgriFutures Rural Women’s Award winner. I met

Linda and the other finalists, Amber Driver from Alice Springs

and Annette Howie from Douglas Daly, at a reception I held at

Parliament House last month. The NT Government supports

these awards because we recognise the huge impact rural

women have on their communities. Well done to you all.

From the Minister

Above: Minister Vowles signs the agreement with the MofC with the Jap-

anese Minister of Agriculture. Below Minister Vowles and NT Rural

Woman of the Year Recipient Linda Blackwell

Photos courtesy Minister Vowles Office

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Linda Blackwood was last night announced as the Northern Territory (NT) winner of the AgriFutures™ Rural Women’s Award for a project which would see station managers digitally access the records and accredita-tions of potential contractors.

Mrs Blackwood, who lives in Katherine, identified risk management of contractors and associated adminis-trative costs as a key issue affecting NT stations. She proposed a Station Site Access project which would allow contractors to lodge their accreditations online, and for station managers and employers to easily view them.

Mrs Blackwood receives a $10,000 bursary towards the development of the venture, and will represent the NT at the national awards ceremony in September.

The three NT finalists each identified projects which would improve rural industry practices; breaking down barriers and developing agricultural industry in the NT.

Amber Driver, from Alice Springs, identified the challenges faced by rural women living in the NT as a key focus area. Her initiative outlined workshops to equip women with the tools to generate positive pathways for self-prosperity, resilience and success and to encourage them to take on new roles to serve both the rural sector and community.

Annette Howie has established Country Connections NT, a network that provides rural, regional and re-mote women across the Territory with links to support services, community groups, government and pri-vate enterprise. She is working to further develop the project onto digital platforms that connect and in-form.

The AgriFutures™ Rural Women’s Award acknowledges and supports the essential role that women play in rural industries, businesses and communities. In addition to the bursary, State and Territory winners gain access to professional development opportunities and alumni networks. For over 20 years, the Awards have provided women with the opportunity to achieve positive change for rural and regional Australia through diverse and innovative projects in the rural industries and communities.

Northern Territory Rural Women’s Award winner announced 22 March 2018

2016 Winner Martina Matzner (NT Farmers Director), 2018 Winner Linda Blackwood and 2017 Winner Kate Peake (NT Farmers director)

Photo courtesy NT Farmers CEO Greg Owens

Northern Territory Rural Women's Award finalists (left to right)

Annette Howie, Linda Blackwood, Amber Driver

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Meet our Katherine Industry Development Officer:

Andrew Philip

Andrew joined NT Farmers in April this year. He is currently based in Katherine and is travelling up and down the Territory to meet with our growers and other industry participants to further develop horticulture across the NT.

He is a Market Linkage and Agricultural Development Business Specialist with a very strong management background founded on a deep commercial experience in agri-cultural agronomy, production, value chain and marketing.

Andrew has a wide marketing, agricultural development and agronomic knowledge across many crops, climatic conditions and regions from production right through to marketing and value adding; in running what was Australia’s largest tomato operation, with significant tree crops and more recently in in-ternational development.

Andrew has extensive supply chain contacts including farmers, retailers and major wholesalers in the Australasian, Middle East and Asian regions. He is determined in pursing excellence with value chain expertise in all agricultural and business un-dertakings; demonstrating strong business development and relationship management skills, proven commitment of targets and business objectives, sales and marketing skills and has a real passion for agricultural development

Meet our Mango Business Industry Development Officer:

Camilla Philip

Camilla’s employment with NT Farmers commences in early May.

Camilla has been involved in the horticultural industry for over 25 years as a horticultural business owner, market and busi-ness development specialist with a strong background in hor-ticultural supply chain management, sales and marketing for commercial and not for profit organizations. Camilla has been involved in many industry groups from local fruit and vegetable groups, women in horticulture, AMIA board member and recently working for the Produce Mar-keting Association for Australia and New Zealand. Camilla is looking forward to applying her knowledge, skills and bringing a commercial scope to the MIDO role.

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Department of Primary Industry and Resources

Territorians urged to check citrus plants 19 April 2018

The Department of Primary Industry and Resources is urging the public to check their citrus plants for the suspected Citrus Canker disease. A number of citrus plants showing signs of infection were removed from nurseries in Darwin and Palmer-ston. It is thought that three citrus plants were sold from a Darwin nursery and three sold from a Palmerston nursery.

DPIR’s Chief Plant Health Officer Sarah Corcoran said the department had strong evidence to suggest the plants were infect-ed with citrus canker.

“Early detection, reporting and not moving infected plants is vital, and will give the department the best chance of eradi-cating this disease,” she said. “Citrus canker does not affect human health or animals and infected fruit is safe to be con-sumed. “The disease is a serious disease of citrus and was detected on a species of West Indian lime and samples collected from grapefruit, Kaffir lime and Tahitian lime are also being tested.”

Citrus canker is a contagious disease caused by the bacteria Xanthomonas citri subsp. citri which can affect all citrus plants.

Plants that were purchased over the past 12 months are of particular concern. The symptoms of citrus canker include blister-like lesions on leaves, stems and fruit that are raised, tan to brown in colour, and are surrounded by an oily, water-soaked margin and a yellow ring or halo. Large or older lesions may have a crater-like appearance.

Ms Corcoran said it was unknown at this stage how the disease might have entered the Northern Territory, and all options were being investigated to determine its origin.

“We are currently asking all Territorians with citrus plants to please urgently check them for symptoms, not to move the plants and to contact the department if you think it may be infected with the disease.”

If you think you have a plant with citrus canker, or if you have recently bought citrus plants from a Darwin or Palmerston retail nursery, please contact the citrus canker hotline on 1800 931 722.

You should not collect a sample or move the suspect plant. When phoning the hotline you can arrange to submit a photo for preliminary diagnosis. The photo should be a clear image of the suspect plant and the plant’s label, if you still have it.

“Biosecurity is everyone’s business and we need to work together to manage the risk and eradicate citrus canker. Govern-ment and industry are taking this extremely seriously and are working together to manage this situation,” Ms Corcoran said.

Media contact: Lucy Buhr 0419 106 309

http://mediareleases.nt.gov.au/mediaRelease/25502

For a Vietnamese translation, please email

admin@ntfarmers.org.au

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Please familiarise yourself with

these pictures of Citrus Canker.

Supplied by DPIR

For more information please go to:

https://dpir.nt.gov.au/citrus-canker

Citrus canker - Sublime symptoms

Citrus canker - - Symptoms on branch

Citrus canker - - Symptoms on citrus plant

Citrus canker - - Symptoms on citrus leaf

Citrus canker - - Symptoms on citrus leaf

Citrus Canker Hotline:

1800 931 722

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From the desk of Workforce Planning Coordinator

Aisla Connolly

Thank you to those who completed the 2017 workforce survey, your participation is appreciated! This year I have coordinated several information sessions for Employers in Coolalinga, Katherine and Alice Springs on the following subjects; • Fair Work Compliance • Apprenticeships, VET, Work Experience & Structured Work Placement • Employment Programs including an update on the Seasonal Worker Program.

The feedback from the attendees has been positive. It is costly to access these specialists therefore the more people in attendance the better. NT Farmers are co-sharing resources with NT Cattleman’s Association. In late February, Brian Weiss from the Department of Jobs and Small Business provided an update to members on the streamlining of the Seasonal Worker Program commencing 1 July 2018. Some NT Approved Employers are trialling new forms including recruitment plans. Changes include the removal of Add-On Skills Training. I met with NT Vietnamese Horticulture Association whom were seeking assistance to access staff from South East Asian countries. The response from the Government was that this is “not in line with relevant migration regulations for the 403 visa.” The advocacy for a national agriculture visa continues with communication between the various as-sociations; National Farmers Federation, AUSVEG, Growcom, etc. NT Farmers has been engaging with various stakeholders communicating the requirements of industry and outlining the need for support of the national agriculture visa. Sharing knowledge with various parties to identify gaps and in-troduce concepts to improve industry access to staff. Within the last three months I have visited several growers to assist with various queries in Katherine and greater Dar-win. Meeting with various stakeholders has proven successful as we have momentum with a couple of projects and have identified gaps in career pathways. We would like to link students with Employers who are willing to host stu-dents, if this is something you would like to participate in please contact me. Are you willing to promote the industry? To interest people to work in the industry • Share your story • Voice your love of the industry via voice recording for radio • Video record your life on the farm (short videos) • Use social media Contact me to express your interest in being involved in the NT horticulture industry promotional program. If you are looking for workers there are several candidates available for horticulture work, including some who are willing to commit to an apprenticeship. Please support these future farmers. If you require further information please contact Aisla Connolly, Workforce Planning Coordinator 0400 416 558 or email

Growers attend a work-

shop hosted by NT Farmers

at at the Humpty Doo Golf

Club.

Pic courtesy Aisla Con-nolly, NT Farmers

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NTCA Conference & DrumMUSTER

I was very pleased to attend the 2018 NT Cattlemen’s Conference on behalf of NT Farmers, while also representing

drumMUSTER to help promote and coordinate the program in the Alice Springs and Ti Tree regions.

This was an extremely eventful trip with strong positive connection made both at the NTCA event and meetings held

for coordination plans of the drumMUSTER program to enable its continuation in these remote areas.

I would like to thank CEO Frank Wimmler and the team at Drum Muster for providing me with this experience.

Congratulations to the NTCA for an extremely successful conference and very memorable Gala Dinner held at the Al-

ice Springs race course

From the desk of Veggie Industry Development Officer & DrumMUSTER Coordinator

Minister Littleproud gives the opening address NT Farmers IDO, Laura Cunningham and NT Cattlemens Jo

Shearn enjoy the gala dinner.

Continued from page 1...

The plan developed by Alan and Julie-Ann is arranged around the biosecurity ‘essentials’, allowing them to identify all potential risks and ensuring nothing is being overlooked. Their plan is influenced by their desire to grow products organically, and by their first-hand experience from being part of an incursion response.

“The plan is treated as a living document, to evolve and keep it going for the future being reviewed and updated if and when needed,” said Alan.

While they are not a large enterprise, the biosecurity measures they are using are appropriate to the size of their business and their budget.

“We’ve got financial restraints, especially after our very low income for a few years. But we’re hoping that in the future we can tighten our plan and make it even better, and act on the things we’ve got in the plan,” said Alan.

Rum Jungle Organics deserve an award because they have gone to great lengths to ensure their property is kept as safe as possi-ble in terms of biosecurity. They understand that no plan can fully eliminate potential pests and diseases, but strictly adhering to the measures they have in place on their property reduces the risks.

It’s their willingness and ability to make simple changes to improve their biosecurity on-farm, when it suits their budget, that sets them apart.

While their farm operation is not large in terms of food production, Alan and Julie-Ann understand that such a small investment to ensure they have best management practices to minimise pest and disease risks goes towards protecting their livelihood, the broader industry and enhances the reputation of the Territory and Australia as a producer of fresh, high quality produce that is in demand.

Julie-Ann Murphy from Rum Jungle Organics - winner Biosecurity

Producer of the Year.

Story courtesy: http://www.farmbiosecurity.com.au/rum-jungle-biosecurity

-shining-light-to-follow/

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Continued over page

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Continued from page 15

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Kununurra Roadshow a Great success!

The Kununurra Food Futures roadshow, held 27 & 28 March, attracted over 70 participants including over 30 from outside of the Ord.

Food Futures roadshows are run in regional centres across the north by NT Farmers with assistance from Federal Office Northern Australia.

This event included:

• Farm tour of the Ord, including cotton planted and cotton research trials

• Evening BBQ Frank Wise Research Station WA DPIRD

• Workshop at Frank Wise Research Station WA DPIRD

For local Ord farmers it was an opportunity to interact with some of the leaders of Australian agriculture and an op-portunity to find out what is happening in NT and Queensland.

For those outside of the Ord it was an opportunity to see recent developments especially Ord Stage 2 and cotton pro-duction.

The Kununurra Food Futures Roadshow built linkages across the north, and linkages north - south with key agricultural organisations. Strong farmer to farmer linkages were invaluable.

The Roadshows are a great precursor for our Northern Australia Food Futures Conference to be held 2-4 July 2018

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We hope you enjoy these photos from our Kununurra Food Futures Roadshow!

Thanks to NT Farmers Andrew Philip for the photography

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You are invited to attend the NTMIA

Annual General Meeting

5pm, 24 May 2018

NT Farmers Association Meeting Room,

Coolalinga

To obtain agenda, previous minutes proxy forms

and nomination forms, please email NT Farmers on

admin@ntfarmers.org.au

Please RSVP by 21 May 2018 -

admin@ntfarmers.org.au

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FSQ4 Freshcare Courses

will be held

8.30am to 4pm

May 18 & 21

NT Farmers Meeting Room,

Coolalinga.

Training will be conducted by

James Gorrie from NT Trainsafe.

Please contact James to enrol

or for further information

Phone: 0435 182 042

Email: james.gorrie@trainsafe.net

Mango Research and Development Forums

9 and 10 May 2018

Mango growers, producers, consultants and agrono-mists in the horticulture sector are invited to two Mango Research and Development (R&D) Forums in May.

The Department of Primary Industry and Resources (DPIR) the Northern Territory Farmers Association (NTFA) and the NT Mango Industry Association will hold two forums – on Wednesday 9 May in Darwin and Thursday 10 May in Katherine – and invite your input to the future direction of our R&D.

These forums will benefit anyone involved in the mango industry and will discuss recent results with the researchers who are exploring mango produc-tion, including research, on:

• nutrition and fruit quality

• precision technologies such as remote sensing, sensor technologies and machine learning

• magpie geese

• flowering and market chain research

• insect pests, integrated pest management and chemical control

• export activities.

DPIR and NTFA will be introducing our new mango extension and industry development staff.

Representatives from the Australian Mango Industry Association and Hort Innovation will be attending to discuss the new mango industry research, develop-ment and extension project to build capacity in the Australian mango industry.

The locations and times of the two forums is still be-

ing confirmed, but further details will be shared

when they become available. Please contact Chelsea

Moore on 8999 2323

or chelsea.moore@nt.gov.au for more information.

It is a challenging but exciting time for Agriculture and Horti-

culture in the NT. NT Farmers would like to see more grow-

ers actively engaged in driving their own industry. The first

step is to get to the industry information meetings like the

Citrus grower’s response meeting, farm labour information

and focus group sessions, VegNet training workshops, the

NTDPIR mango R&D meetings, NTFA Food Futures Confer-

ence and the NT Mango Industry Association AGM. These

have all just happened or are happening in the next few

months. Which ones will you be going to?

Greg Owens

Chief Executive Officer

Continued from page 3

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Contact Laura Cunningham for further information

0405287344