Table grape news

Workshops and workers

Fresh from the nimble industry development team

The team has been busy during the past few months dodging Covid-19 lockdowns and travel restrictions to connect with growers in four different states.

Introductory one-on-one visits as well as get togethers in the growing regions of Emerald, Mundubbera and St George in Queensland, and the Swan Valley and Carnarvon areas of Western Australia were completed during April and May. On both trips we tried to see as many growers as possible – however, we missed some and would love to catch up with you on our next visits interstate. The more local visits to Sunraysia, Euston and Robinvale growers are continuing after our stop/starts throughout June, July and August. Based on the feedback you provided in our introductory visits, we're facilitating some online maturity workshops in August for growers in Emerald, Mundubbera and St George.

Plant health workshops are also planned for Western Australia and Queensland (Covid-19 permitting), in September and October respectively, covering current pest and disease issues.

Additionally, in conjunction with Citrus Australia, Dried Fruits Australia and SuniTAFE, we organised a “Frost, Farm Technology & Fruit Fly” workshop for 31 August 2021. Industry speakers will present on frost mapping, return on investment and control basics as well as fruit fly updates on predatory wasps, trapping, spraying and monitoring. A number of innovative business and production agtech exhibitors will introduce themselves in initial two-minute speed presentations, with growers able to further investigate individual exhibitors, of specific interest to them, during the remainder of the event.

Behind the scenes

The team has also had input into the new edition of the Biosecurity Manual for Viticulture to ensure relevance to the table grape industry, the next five-year Strategic Investment Plan (SIP) for Hort Innovation, and is currently investigating chemical application timing scenarios through an Agriculture Victoria project with Summerfruit Australia and Cherry Growers Australia.

As seasonal worker issues are not going to go away, we are working on some fact sheet material to help growers untangle some of the issues

around labour sourcing, labour hire and the processes involved in becoming an approved employer. If you want to know more, come to one of our cross industry workshops to be held in Mildura, Robinvale and Swan Hill during September to be better prepared for the next picking season.

Speaking of seasonal workforce, ATGA procured a grant from the Victorian Government to attract, educate, train and retain a seasonal labour force for the Victorian table grape industry. If you read the Vine’s May 2021 edition you would’ve learnt a bit about these!

The ATGA produced three short 360o films portraying a typical table grape property, to give potential seasonal workers an idea of what to expect during a picking season. To date two of the films have been completed. Over the past fortnight we’ve rolled these out across our networks. You can check them out on our website, YouTube channel, social media, and they’ll also be distributed to labour hire providers to assist with worker uptake this season. Hopefully these films will be useful to attract overseas workers and entice workers already in Australia to try their hand at table grapes! You can also read more about the videos, including tips for using them on your devices, on p. 32. v

Alison, Jenny & Karen Industry development team

amacgregor@atga.net.au jtreeby@atga.net.au kconnolly@atga.net.au

Biosecurity Manual for the Viticulture Industry

Reducing the risk of new pests impacting your vineyard

Version 1.0

Table grape

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