YOUR INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION
vegetablesWA
CEO’s Report
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BY MANUS STOCKDALE ACTING CEO, VEGETABLESWA
021 has been a challenging year for most sectors of the Australian economy and the WA vegetable industry has certainly had its fair share. While we all look forward to interstate and international borders reopening and emerging from a COVID management environment, some of the related challenges look likely to remain into the new year.
Access to labour continues to be a key issue for growers in WA, as reflected across rest of Australia.
of any significant numbers of workers into Australia is not likely to occur until mid-2022. Growers should also check any claims being made by labour and immigration providers against the official Australian Government information to ensure that what is being offered can actually be delivered. vegetablesWA will continue to work with industry and government so WA growers can take advantage of the Ag visa and other opportunities to source the labour they need. Sea freight access and costs in WA are ongoing issues for the industry. While exporters are experiencing the direct impact of increasing costs of shipping containers, freight and handling charges most growers are reporting increases in prices and supply issues for farm inputs. These price increases are largely attributed to international freight disruptions, so this is an issue for the whole industry. vegetablesWA is working with the WA government to look at ways to address some of the local port and logistical issues that are adding to the global freight disruption.
The announcement of the Agriculture Visa (Ag Visa) has been welcome news.
The announcement of the Agriculture Visa (Ag Visa) has been welcome news however growers need to be aware of the timelines for the development of the visa and understand that the arrival
vegetablesWA held its AGM in October with all the Committee of Management members continuing in their roles f SEA freight access and costs in WA are ongoing issues for the industry. Exporters are experiencing the direct impact of increasing costs of shipping containers.
for the next 12 months apart from Lauren East who has stepped down. Lauren has served on the committee for the past 3 years and we thank her for her contribution during her tenure and wish her well. We are pleased to welcome Renae Adams from Twin Lakes in Manjimup. Renae brings great skills, experience and networks to the committee through her work with Twin Lakes as Chief Financial Officer and other horticultural businesses in the south of WA. 2021 has been a busy year for vegetablesWA with some significant successes and achievements including; • Facilitating the arrival of more than 1300 seasonal workers through the DPIRD funded Labour Scheme Facilitator project. • Securing funding for the Building Horticulture Business Capacity project which builds on the success of the Vegetable Benchmarking project and expands it to other WA horticulture industries including Pome. • Partnering with AUSVEG to deliver the WA component of the Hort Innovation funded VegNet3.0 extension project for the next 5 years. We have employed a new Regional Development Officer Michael Bartholomew for the project and look forward to working with the other delivery partners to extend R&D within the vegetable industry. • Building a mobile app ‘VegetablesDirect’ to allow us to communicate and provide services directly to our members. The app will provide a number of features including tailored information and industry news, a channel for growers to regularly engage with their existing buyers and suppliers and sell their produce to new export markets. From all of the staff here at vegetablesWA, we wish all our members and stakeholders a happy and safe festive season and look forward to working with you in the new year. MORE INFORMATION Manus Stockdale, phone 0448 897 652 or manus.stockdale@vegetableswa.com.au
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WA Grower SUMMER 2021
