New season, new opportunities

By Ry Collins, General Manager, Bowen Gumlu Growers Association

We are firmly back in the swing of our production season, the humidity is easing a little, we’ve had excellent rains that have filled the dams and many growers are anticipating what the year will bring.

Challenges and opportunities can often be the same thing, depending on perspective. How well you plan, promote, and how you play your cards can often determine whether the year will be a good one or not.

Labour force

There are some signs in our region that labour access is improving, at least on the recent post-pandemic years with a growing number of producers adopting established relations with Pacific Island labour as the backbone of their operations.

There are also signs that seasonal workers are returning to our regional areas looking for farm work as international travel resumes. Accommodation is still the biggest issue but recent wins such as the Queensland rural worker accommodation initiative are a step in the right direction for our industry in being proactive and looking outside of the square to address an issue that is affecting the whole country and all industries.

Digital innovation

We’re also seeing some strong signs that the industry is starting to really embrace the digital age.

More and more producers are becoming interested in what new technology can do for their business in terms of reducing labour for low-skilled or repetitive tasks and improving input and output efficiency.

Bowen Gumlu Growers Association (BGGA) recently held our first Innovation Day to bring some of this new technology to our region and demonstrate it in a local farming environment. Attendance exceeded our expectations with guests demonstrating their keen interest in advancing their understanding and capability with agtech.

Mental support

Farmers face tremendous pressure as they work to balance farm and off-farm life, which is often hard to escape given they generally occur at the same place. Over recent years we’ve seen the challenge of the pandemic, labour shortages, natural disaster, soaring input costs, increasing debt, biosecurity outbreaks and fluctuating market conditions leading longer working hours and lower work-life balance for farmers. Many farmers are suffering from burnout, stress and other mental health pressure that is leaving a distressing toll on not only them but also their families, colleagues and the communities in which they live.

As we move into our peak production season, BGGA is supporting national farmer support group, Thankful for Farmers, and the Rural Flying Doctor Service Queensland with the launch of their new program ‘Mental Health on the Land’.

The new program provides resources designed specifically to improve the health and wellbeing of regional and rural Queenslanders navigating the growing pressures in their work and home life.

Quality exchange

After completing their work placement program, our Japanese agriculture exchange students joined BGGA President, Carl Walker, and myself in Brisbane in March for a number of events and excursions.

The students had an early morning tour of the Brisbane Produce Market to see where much of the fruits of their labour go after being picked in Bowen. This was followed by a formal farewell lunch with the Japanese Consul-General, Masuo Ono.

To end the activities, the students were privileged to receive a guided tour of Queensland Parliament House by Minister Mark Furner MP, who was kind enough to share his expert knowledge with the students.

DID YOU KNOW? Brisbane Markets Limited and Brismark have proudly supported Bowen Gumlu Growers Association for 15 years.