Cover story New faces look to the future

New faces look to the future

A “healthy industry from the ground up”.

It might sound like an advertising slogan, but they’re much more than words to the Australian Table Grape Association’s (ATGA) new industry development team, who are determined to foster just that.

They care about industry challenges, and – with their diverse range of skills – bring the “brain, heart and soul” (in no particular order!) to their roles.

Team lead Alison MacGregor, industry development manager Jenny Treeby and industry development officer Karen Connolly are leading the charge for Australian table grape industry development, after commencing their roles in March.

The ATGA appointed the team after securing its first national extension project – Extension of technologies and best management practices to the Australian table grape industry – which is funded by Hort Innovation using the table grape research and development levy and funds from the Australian government (see Vine magazine volume 16, issue 3).

While the project was initially contracted in August last year, it was postponed for six months due to COVID-19 restrictions, but after a year of market challenges, seasonal workforce shortages and environmental impacts, the team’s appointment has been timely.

“The extension project is one that has been in the development phase for a while now and I am really pleased and excited about the team the ATGA has been able to recruit,” ATGA CEO Jeff Scott said. “This team will commence a new chapter for the ATGA which will have strong flow-on impact benefiting all table grape growers throughout Australia. This project demonstrates how the levy payment can be used to support table grape growers.”

Grape expectations

The shift in table grape production and business responsibilities over the past 40 years has seen much higher demands of the grower, and the function of an extension officer has, some would say, never been more integral.

“You also have to be a plant nutritionist, a chemist, an engineer, a marketer, a human resources manager and a health and safety officer,” Jenny said. “How many people can you possibly be?”

Karen agreed that growers now faced much more pressure in production and business.

“We are here to help make it easier from the bottom up and relieve some of the stressors growers face, by exploring new concepts, methods and innovative technologies for table grape production,” Karen said.

There are many areas of focus that would, the team said, be important in coming years, including: mechanisation, production programs that are adoptive and adaptive, biosecurity, social licence, the burden of business and the future of blockchain.

Alison said that in the short term it would be important to adapt production programs to be more prescriptive to suit contemporary varieties, and also look at opportunities for softer production in keeping with the expectations of markets and also other external forces, for example companies withdrawing chemicals.

The team’s enthusiasm is evident as they speak about what they hope to achieve within industry.

They all want to be proud of the industry they represent, are prepared to face challenges head on, and, perhaps most importantly, are determined to make the job of the grower easier and improve grower wellbeing – to promote a “healthy industry from the ground up”.

The team has already visited growers in Queensland and Western Australia, is working on producing a best practice framework, and is squirreling information on new technologies and how they may be adapted to suit industry.

The right root system

Alison, Jenny and Karen have more than 80 years’ combined experience in horticulture, and their skills range from expertise in agrichemicals and biosecurity, to strategy and networking powers, to modern production and technical knowledge in not only table grapes but other crops.

But just who is this new extension team line-up, and how did they get here?

Alison has always “danced around the edges of the industry”, being involved in multiple table grape extension projects.

“I’ve spent so long involved in grape projects, in research or in consultancy, that – in a sense – it’s part of my biology and thinking,” Alison said. A well-respected consultant and research scientist, Alison will oversee the team one day per week, backed by 30 years’ experience in viticulture and irrigated horticulture.

She also works as Citrus Australia’s agrichemical manager, and said crossindustry knowledge was crucial to industry growth. “We’re all family – all the horticultural industries,” Alison said. “We’re all trying to export, we’ve all got common issues, regarding water, resources, withdrawal of chemicals, biosecurity, and labour. They’re common issues right across every industry.” Alison said she felt passionate about developing grower solutions with growers – at grass roots level.

“While some issues are industry wide, each region also has priority issues,” she said. “We are listening – to hear your concerns but also because collectively as growers you have such a vast knowledge base. We hope to facilitate ways for growers to learn from each other.”

Jenny has worked for more than 25 years in horticulture and viticulture research and extension projects, starting her working life at CSIRO’s former horticulture research station in Merbein. Until 2021 she managed the Horticulture Industry Network (HIN) project for Agriculture Victoria. “I thrive on challenges and problems,” Jenny said.

“I started off as a researcher and then went into industry development for the Murray Valley Wine Industry before I joined government in development and extension, always keeping my finger on the pulse in regards to research across horticulture. During my time in government I acquired a lot of skills and through the Horticulture Industry Network have gained a really good overview of what other industries, researchers and innovative businesses do, do well or don’t do well.”

Jenny – who has also been a working partner in a commercial dried grape (and for some time wine) vineyard since 1989 and just completed her final harvest – is driven. Her strategic umbrella thinking and phenomenal networks – according to Alison – are crucial to the team, which will give ATGA valuable extra industry representation.

Rounding off the team, Karen has more than 25 years’ experience working in viticulture, citrus and almond research with CSIRO, NSW and Vic Department of Primary Industries along with table grape and stone fruit breeding, production and varietal registration, in the commercial sector.

Her extensive knowledge in production, research and development and

extension roles, led her to consider the world of the grower holistically to ensure they maximised safety while making it easier for their hip pocket.

“I come from a horticultural background that’s been quite physical over the years, in all crops,” Karen said. “With my degrees in horticulture and occupational health and safety, I have always gone into research and development trying to find better ways to improve what growers could have.”

Karen said her extensive production knowledge led her in research and development and extension roles, considering the world of the grower holistically to ensure they maximised safety while also making it easier for the hip pocket.

Their combined range of skills and experience is vast, determination fierce and solutions-driven focus impressive, giving growers confidence in the team tasked with working alongside and for the table grape industry.

A conduit for information

Throughout the three-year project, the ATGA will continue its work across the R&D sphere for the table grape industry, as well as improve its reach.

The project will see improved industry capabilities for adoption of best practice management, as well as innovation, through levy-funded R&D outputs and other technological developments. The team will also help facilitate a feedback loop between industry and researchers to ensure that R&D outputs are relevant and accessible to end users, and that industry R&D gaps and needs are reported back to Hort Innovation.

Table grape producers can expect to see more regional grower forums and workshops in each of the major grape-growing regions in Australia, communication on research, development, extension and innovation through ATGA’s communication channels, creation of best practice content, tools and much more.

“Our job is to make the industry as agile as possible, so that we are able to pick helpful information or technologies up from other industries,” Jenny said. “To go out hunting for new ideas, and filter through the rubbish.” v

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