Prune news Leading the way

Leading the way

The Australian Prune Industry Association is looking to invest in new training opportunities for its members thanks to an extension of the industry’s leadership project.

APIA was awarded $159,000 in late 2017 to help reinvigorate the Australian prune industry to ensure its viability and sustainability.

The grant was funded under the Commonwealth Government’s Leadership in Agricultural Industries Fund with the objective of assisting agricultural industry bodies to develop leadership capacity and capability within their organisations and across their industries.

However, with COVID-19 bringing the nation to a standstill, and social gathering and travel restrictions still in place in some areas, APIA and other grant recipients have been unable to complete key components of the approved leadership activities.

A welcome extension of the completion date for all leadership grant projects, to 30 June 2021, was announced by the Minister for Agriculture in April this year.

APIA secretary Phil Chidgzey said the extension would enable APIA to arrange a domestic field trip for up to 10 young producers to travel and learn from other industry role models.

Phil said funds had also been approved for two young growers to participate in business training, and invited interested growers to contact him with details of the course they would like to complete.

“APIA has been very fortunate to secure these funds and it’s important that we use them wisely,” he said.

“APIA is keen to identify additional training activities that would interest all members and we would like to hear your ideas.

“How can APIA improve the proposed activities for young growers, and what other activities should we be considering for the benefit of all members?”

APIA deputy chair Michael Zalunardo said it was vital that APIA continued to develop leadership capability to facilitate further growth of the industry and assist growers to maximise profitability, ensuring the industry’s sustainability into the future.

Michael said while a couple of the funded activities hadn’t yet been completed, many of the opportunities had been embraced by the industry.

APIA’s approved leadership training activities included:

- Training through the Australian

Institute of Company Directors (AICD) for up to nine executive members focusing on director roles and responsibilities, leadership, governance, risk and strategy, finance and management relations

- Two scholarships for young prune growers to undertake a Masterclass in Horticultural Business at the

University of Tasmania

- A domestic field trip for up to 10 young producers to learn from industry role models

- Business training and field trip opportunities for two young growers

- Engaging local and international speakers to address industry members at APIA annual conferences on business management and related matters

- Women in Leadership Australia’s

Executive Ready course.

Director training

One of the first activities undertaken was a Foundations of Directorship training course. In late May 2019, 12 executive and ordinary members completed the three-day course conducted by the AICD.

Michael said the training looked at three main areas – governance, finance and strategy, and risk for directors.

“I found it really interesting, and while the course was tailored towards directors, a lot of the information will be of value in my own farm operations,” he said.

“For example, the course covered learning how to interpret financial statements, identifying key causes of strategic risk and how those risks can best be treated, and using that knowledge to make more effective decisions.”

Masterclass in Horticultural Business

The Masterclass in Horticultural Business at the University of Tasmania is specifically designed so participants gain leadership and management skills that will enable them to take their business to the next level. The course is offered through flexible online delivery and normally involves three two-day face-to-face intensives, although this hasn’t been possible in 2020 due to COVID-19 restrictions.

Craig Tropeano received the first of two APIA scholarships.

“The course was interesting, covering a wide range of subjects related to

running a horticultural business and providing access to a wide network of growers in industries that I wouldn’t normally interact with,” Craig said.

“The course was well organised and flexible enough to deal with farm workload commitments.

“I have gained skills which have been very useful in weighing the viability of changes to our farming operation and for fine-tuning existing business practices. The business plan I developed during the course has been a great help when dealing with financial providers and gives us a clear path for the future of the business.”

APIA’s most recent scholarship recipient, Samuel Raciti, has found it difficult juggling three jobs and studying at the same time but has enjoyed learning about horticultural business.

Unfortunately, COVID-19 has meant Samuel’s cohort couldn’t travel to the Sunshine Coast for face-to-face meetings and on-farm tours this year, but he is still revelling in the knowledge and skillset he is gaining.

“It has taught me how to better manage our family business in relation to producing and marketing our products,” he said. “The potential benefits could involve expanding our business through new land, contracting, new equipment or creating our own product.”

Women leaders

The Executive Ready course run by Women & leadership Australia ran for seven months from September 2019 to March 2020.

Jane McCorkell, APIA’s industry development officer at the time, used leadership funds to complete the course. “The course was delivered through a sophisticated blend of face-to-face workshops, interactive webinars, peer coaching and self-directed learning,” Jane said. “It was really well-run and I would highly recommend it to other women in the industry.”

Conference guest speakers

Michael said the leadership funds had enabled APIA to engage international and local guest speakers to address industry members at the 2018 and 2019 APIA Annual Conferences.

“In 2018, Donn Zea – the executive director of the California Dried Prune Board – spoke about the world prune market outlook and CDPB’s strategic approach to raising prune consumption,” he said.

“Donn also addressed leadership matters and provided this advice to up and coming leaders in the prune industry: ‘Be generous with your time and resources with employees, customers, partnerships and associations; provide opportunities for people to grow; listen and strive to understand; never stop learning and applying knowledge; make your mission customer driven rather than company driven; get out of your own comfort zone and nurture the next generation of leaders’.”

Michael said APIA chose local speakers in 2019, inviting Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries principal horticulturist John Wilkie to talk about his research with the Australian macadamia industry.

Other speakers included Sabrands CEO Michael Bartholomew and senior brand manager Andre Estrella, who spoke about their branded products and approach in different markets. v

Phil Chidgzey APIA national secretariat secretary@ausprunes.org.au

Above: Donn Zea from the California Dried Prune Board was a guest speaker at APIA’s 2018 Annual Conference