2008 National and Queensland Winner - Ros Smerdon

2008 National Winner and Winner for Queensland - Ros Smerdon

 “Adding Value to the Australian Avocado Industry” 

Ros Smerdon is an avocado, macadamia and custard apple grower from Queensland’s Glasshouse Mountains and Chairman of Nature’s Fruit Company, a grower owned cooperative company which accounts for around 10 percent of the national avocado crop. Ros is also Vice President of the Australian Custard Apple Growers Association and a member of numerous other horticultural organizations. 

Ros’s Award ambition was to undertake a study tour of South Africa to benchmark the Westfalia Agribusiness avocado operations and value adding processing plant with the Australian industry and to investigate methods and markets for value adding. The Westfalia group is held up as one of the most efficient and innovative agribusiness company’s worldwide. 

With the dramatic increase in avocado production and corresponding increase in lower grade fruits domestically and with the increased pressure from exports from New Zealand, Mexico and Chile, Ros recognized the need to develop a value adding business to relieve that pressure and to ensure Australian growers sustainable returns. She identified the food service sector as the greatest opportunity for value adding and diversification. 

The study tour incorporated Westfalia as a successful value adding company who manufactured a range of avocado products and with similar growing conditions to Australia along inspection of South African operations on a holistic basis, including nursery propagation, orchard production, packing of fresh fruit and value adding, at numerous successful nurseries, orchards and packing facilities in the Tzaneen region. 

Ros met with a number of key South African industry players, including the CEO of the South African Avocado Growers Association (SAAGA), the General Manager of Westfalia along with key personnel from Letaba Packers and Afrupro Exporters. 

New learnings Ros acquired as a result of the study tour included a greater understanding of the South African avocado industry and how it has evolved, improved upon its grower communication and cooperation, value adding and diversification and export marketing effort. The trip also provided her with the opportunity to compare packing facility operations and orchard management with Australian practice and to discuss value adding activities and past and present processing trials. The development of new business relationships with personal from Westfalia has also come from the trip. 

Ros believes there have been a number of significant benefits from the trip both at a personal and a business level.

At a business level the knowledge gained has supported the further development of the fresh cut product. Trials have continued throughout 2008 and 2009, to ensure the most efficient and consistent process and to ensure that the taste and texture characteristics of the whole fruit are retained. From these trials other products have evolved. Trial product has been provided to markets with commercial release expected in the near future. Development of further avocado value added products are now in project development stage. While business relationships and contacts that have been developed over the past 12 month have led to further business opportunities. 

On a personal level the Award has given Ros greater confidence it her own capacity as a leader, in her presentation and public speaking skills and in her ability to share her knowledge and experiences. Highlights have included the opportunity to represent her industry on a Federal Minister Review Committee and the opportunity to speak to various groups including Leadership Conferences and Business Women’s Awards. 

2008 National Runner-Up and Winner for Western Australia - Maggie Edmonds

“Creating Produce:- Value Adding and Selling Your Product” 

Maggie Edmonds is a passionfruit and olive grower from Gingin with a long history of involvement in Western Australia’s agricultural industries and vast experience in value adding and marketing. She is also President of the Moore River Olive Association. 

Maggie’s Award ambition was to provide an information centre and retail outlet where small to medium producers could get practical advice and contacts on developing all aspects of their products and an outlet to promote and sell their products. 

Maggie in achieving her Award ambition undertook three core activities. 

She participated in the Curtin University of Technology Growth Program. The program is a business development program for business owners who are seriously committed to realizing the potential of their operations and building enterprises of real value. The program included such topics as Work Smarter Not Harder, Leadership and Management, Finance Basics and Profitability, Marketing for Sustainable Competitive Advantage, Achieving the Vision and Picking the Right People. The program sharpened Maggie’s business approach and gave her pointers in leadership skills, life and leaving a legacy. 

Maggie also undertook a study tour of the Cape in South Africa to study their traditional farmstall outlets. The farmstalls are a very important market outlet for local farmers to sell their produce and very important to the tourist business in the country in offering visitors a tasty snapshot of rural activities in the relevant region. The study tour took place over three weeks and took in farmers markets as well as traditional farmstalls and vineyards. 

Maggie’s third and most important core activity was the establishment of the retail outlet Maggie’s Place @ Edgecombe Bros in the Swan Valley. The Swan Valley is the closet vineyard region to any CBD in the world. Maggie’s Place officially commenced trading in October 2008. The farmstall is a base where overseas, interstate and local visitors can get a sense of what rural and regional women can produce. The farmstall showcases, promotes and sells produce from small to medium growers and producers. Customers can buy fresh produce in season and a variety of value added products such as Cheetaning Park verjuice, fresh Gingin Heritage Estate olive oil, wholefruit jams and pastes and bunches of wildflowers. 

The Award has confirmed Maggie’s belief in value adding and its importance to farmer sustainability. The study tour to South Africa confirmed Maggie’s Place as a farm stall has a niche in marketing and selling of products from rural and regional women. 
In addition her website www.TasteWA.com.au will provide a valuable tool for women in small business especially those in rural and regional areas who do not have easy opportunities to promote their produce. The website has been set up as the one site for Western Australian small producers to assist them promote and market their product to wholesalers, retailers and the general public. 

The Award has also provided Maggie the opportunity to advocate on rural women’s behalf and to speak at many forums about the contribution women make to primary industries and rural Australia.

2008 New South Wales Winner  - Tracey Knowland

“Study of Advanced Containerised Tree Production and the Potential for New Australian Tree Selections” 

Tracey Knowland owns and operates, in partnership with her husband Stuart, the Bangalow Wholesale Nursery in the Byron Bay hinterland. The nursery’s main production is premium advanced Australian native trees and shrubs for the Australian landscape and development industry. 

Tracey is passionate about the Australian nursery industry and the challenges and opportunities it holds in mitigating against climate change. She sees major challenges in water restrictions due to more frequent and prolonged drought, projected shifts in climate zones and increasingly severe weather events but huge opportunities and responsibilities in industry producing native species that are attractive and sustainable and demand less water. 

Her Award ambition included attending the National Nursery and Garden Industry Association Conference in Adelaide in February and a study tour of major advanced tree production nurseries in Victoria in November. 

The objectives of attending conference was to make contact with key industry players while the objectives of the tour was to study innovations and best practice methodology in growing techniques in nurseries that produce advanced containerized tree.

The tour took in three of greater Melbourne’s growing regions, the Mt Macedon, Dandenong Ranges and Mornington Peninsula regions and included visits to three botanical gardens, five private gardens and 12 nurseries. 

The conference reinforced for Tracey the nursery industry’s key role in tackling climate change issues and in particular the importance of planting and maintaining trees to reduce energy use and consequential carbon and chemical emissions. 

While the tour, in studying the growing methodology of others, proved important in providing new information on mitigation techniques and infrastructure, including wind screening and trellises, to achieve best practice for her nursery and in sharing information with industry. 

Tracey’s Award tenure has delivered a number of benefits. It has improved her knowledge of the advanced tree growing industry which has benefited her business and her knowledge of Plant Breeding Rights which has resulted in the release of two new plants from their business onto the market. The Award has also enhanced her capacity to share her knowledge with industry and with rural women, and it has giving her a ‘voice’ in industry and the confidence to become a member of the Executive of the Nursery and Garden Industry Association Northern Rivers.

Northern Territory - Norma Higgins

2008 Northern Territory Winner  - Norma Higgins

“The Successful Establishment of a Weekly Market in Katherine to Provide a Venue to Showcase Local Produce and Products.”

Norma Higgins boasts some 30 years experience in the Northern Territory pastoral and horticultural industries and currently owns and operates, with her husband, two horticultural blocks outside Katherine comprising of a total of 6,000 mango trees, 1,000 timber plantation trees and 200 exotic fruit trees. 

Norma is very active within her industry, having been involved in the Katherine Horticultural Association, since its inauguration and the Primary Industry Training Advisory Council. She, as part of a group of local rural women, involved in the Primary Industries Leadership Action Group, established the Katherine branch of NT Women in Agriculture. The group, was vitally concerned about the future of the region’s horticultural growers, with the majority of medium sized farmers forced to seek off farm income and a number of smaller farmers simply walking away from their farms. They formed the Katherine Region Food Processing Group and were successful in securing funding to establish a community commercial kitchen. 

Norma’s Award ambition was to establish a weekly producers’ market in Katherine’s as a venue for showcasing and selling the region’s products and produce. Norma is passionate about future viability of the region’s farmers and the quality of their produce and products and about the future welfare of the town of Katherine and its community. She believes the markets will not only provide a new avenue to improve the viability of the region’s farmers, but also an opportunity for the local indigenous people to showcase and sell their products and an opportunity to reinvigorate the township of Katherine. 

Norma’s efforts over her 12 month Award tenure included the development of a business plan to establish the viability of the market, the development of a business structure to support the market on an ongoing basis, the recruitment of local producer stall holders, effort into developing the event’s website and advertising both locally and nationally.

Considerable effort was put into choosing the right location and gaining local council permission to use the site for a weekly market which required undergoing a full Development Consent Authority procedure. 

The Katherine weekly produce markets were officially launched with the first market held on 20th June 2009 proving to be extremely successful. All 13 stallholders ran out of product, with an estimated 5,000 people attending the event. 

Six additional stall holders joined in Week 2 and another five stallholders in Week 3 with more new stall holders booked for Week 4.  The range of produce sold is also growing each week and now includes locally grown fruit and vegetables, plants and flowers, honey, home-made ice cream, chutneys, jams, crafts and cakes. 

Norma’s Award effort in establishing the markets has delivered a number of benefits to the Katherine community, including provision of a low cost method for locals to showcase and sell their produce and wares, increased employment and tourism opportunities, and a sense of pride in the community and better use of community commercial kitchen and other facilities. 

At a personal level the Award has afforded Norma the opportunity to step up her leadership, managements and organizational skills, it has improved the profitability of her own enterprise and given her the opportunity to give back to her community.
 

Domenica Latorre has close to two decades experience in horticultural and agribusiness management and over 14 years experience working in rural counseling and training. 
She sits on the Regional Advisory Board to the SA Multicultural and Ethnic Affairs Commission, on the National Association of Rural Counseling Services and on the Rural Financial Counseling Service SA. 

Domenica specialises in working with people from diverse cultural backgrounds and has undertaken a number of research projects to raise awareness of rural and regional workforce development issues.

She is concerned with the significant shortage of skilled workers in rural and regional communities, with the CALD group being the worst affected. Her ambition is to focus on exploring educational programs and practices that will benefit rural women, particularly those from CALD backgrounds, their communities and agriculture in general. 

Her project involves travel both within Australia and to Europe, to research successful rural business training models. She hopes her research will result in training programs that best meet the needs of rural women, and that will contribute to the future profitability of their businesses and agriculture. 

2008 Victorian Winner  - Lisa Mahon

“Harvesting Equipment for Small Scale Dried Herb Production”

Lisa Mahon owns and operates with her partner Bromley Organics, a certified organic herb farm specializing in the production of value added dried herbs. Bromley Organics produces six dried herb crops and is one of the largest producers of dried and processed stinging nettles in Australia. 

Bromley Organics has been producing dried herbs for the herbal tea market for the past decade and in 2006 won the Most Outstanding Dedication and Innovation in Production Management Grower Award against a field of 80 other commercial certified organic herb growers. 

Lisa identified technology and in particular harvesting equipment as one of the major impediments to the development of the organic herb industry. 

Her Award ambition involved travelling throughout Australia and to New Zealand to investigate harvesting technology used by other growers and to research soil fertility and weed control methods in other certified organic farming systems. 

Industry estimated suggest that 95% of new growers fail within the first few years, due Lisa believes, in a large part, to growers inability to managing harvesting their crops with a scythe. 

Lisa had the opportunity to interview growers and agricultural machinery manufacturers face to face and to inspect a number of different harvesting machines including homemade machines farmers had manufactured in Australia along with four harvesters manufactured by Jonquip whilst in New Zealand. 

The New Zealand HT Kuma P harvester, a smaller self propelled harvester which the operator walks behind, proved the most suitable for Bromley Organics operations and was purchased in time for this season’s harvest. 

The most obvious advantage has been in labour saving during harvest, with the machine resulting in harvesting time cut to 10 percent of previous harvests. The HT Kuma P has been demonstrated to 30 herb growers and so far three have indicated their intent in purchasing a harvester for their operations. 

2008 Tasmanian Winner  - Jeanette Fisher

“Extending My Knowledge of the Management of Replacement Dairy Heifers and the Training of Those Who Care for Them” 

Jeanette Fisher is the Principal of international heifer management business HEIFERMAX and current and inaugural President of the Professional Calf Rearers Association of Australia. 

Jeanette has over one decade of experience in the dairy industry and in calf rearing and established her own consultancy in an effort to encourage dairy farmers to adopt more up to date, financially profitable and animal welfare friendly methods of calf and heifer management. 

Jeanette’s Award ambition was driven by her conviction that the management of replacement dairy heifers, particularly in the first 8 weeks of life, has a profound influence on the productivity of heifers when they enter the dairy. She believes that the Australian industry has the capacity to life per cow production significantly just by improving heifer care. 

Her goals were and remain to raise industry awareness of the economic importance of good heifer management, improve the quality of education information and access to learning opportunities and elevate the status of women involved in calf management roles. 

Jeanette attended the USA Dairy Calf and Heifer Association Annual Conference 2008, followed by five weeks of on-farm consultations with a well respected US heifer management consultant, in an effort to enhance her skills and capacity to contribute to the Australian industry. 

The specific purpose of the study tour was to gather the latest research findings and to update technical information on calf management and to study the various ways professionals interact with clients, particularly in the area of encouraging implementation of advice given. The tour highlighted for Jeanette a number of issues relevant to the Australian industry. These include the need for greater understanding of the motivation for change from entrenched practices, the importance of presenting scientific research findings in a manner practical and compelling to dairy farmers, the importance of up to date information and consistency of information by advisors and the importance of regular monitoring of protocol compliance by external farm advisors.

The trip allowed Jeanette to develop a better understanding of the factors contributing to the stasis of heifer management on Australian dairies and strategies to influence the Australian industry to improve heifer care by adopting US best practice management. 

The knowledge and insights Jeanette has brought home have already been applied to her own business –HEIFERMAX and have been disseminated through her position as PCRAA President. She is currently working with a marketing specialist to find the best way of encouraging industry advisory bodies to alter their recommendations to better reflect recent research findings from other countries. 
Home