CEO’s Report

vegetablesWA

CEO’s Report

BY JOHN SHANNON CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, VEGETABLESWA

It has been an unprecedented few months, with the coronavirus pandemic presenting a multitude of serious challenges to the horticulture industry.

I’ve spent quite a lot of time in discussions with a number of working groups and government forums, at state and federal levels, that have been working toward solutions to address anticipated impacts. This is a period where we have been forced to adapt to changes at a rapid rate and I expect we will continue to do so for some time to come. Access to labour remains one of the key challenges to growers in the foreseeable future, while the status of border, travel and export restrictions continue to change and pose new problems. While the vegetablesWA team has had to place its on farm visits on hold, I am pleased with the way the team has adapted and using technology to maintain contact with growers and industry. Workshops are being delivered as webinars, audits and meetings are being conducted using Zoom and social media has become a valuable tool to disseminate time sensitive information.

PHOTO © Craig Kinder

Access to labour remains one of the key challenges to growers.

I am pleased to report that vegetablesWA, together with partner Planfarm, has completed its third-year vegetable of Financial and Production benchmarks across the vegetable industry in WA. This year’s results are significant in that not only have we produced single year results for FY 2018–19, we have also published three-year averages for key business profitability and performance metrics within vegetable businesses — something that to date has not be available to vegetable growers and will greatly support the resilience and growth in the aftermath of the COVID-19 environment. Major findings of results indicate the key to driving profitability in a vegetable business lie more with successful business and financial management within the structure of the business than any direct relationship to size, area or specific crop.

With a three-year average Return on Capital of 9% (and 12% for the Top 25% performing businesses) owning a vegetable business is highly competitive when compared with other asset investment classes. Also, with a three-year average vegetable operating efficiency of 72%, there is still room for improvement which would return greater profits into the pockets of vegetable business owners. For further information see page 84 or go to https://vegetableswa.

com.au/benchmarking/

MORE INFORMATION

John Shannon, phone 0488 111 526 or email john.shannon@vegetableswa.com.au