The Board of Queensland Fruit and Vegetable Growers (QFVG) hereby notify Members that the Board resolved to change auditors from BDO Audit Pty Ltd of Level 10, 12 Creek Street Brisbane QLD 4000 to HLB Mann Judd (SE QLD Partnership) of Level 15, 66 Eagle Street, Brisbane QLD 4000.

This is the way it goes does it not? Someone asks how you are – and you answer, “I’m good.” I mean your life might be falling apart at the seams, but the answer you give will still be a ‘I’m good’ wont it?

Ahead of storm season, growers in Mareeba and surrounds are invited to Forewarned is Forearmed, a workshop at the Mareeba International Club on Tuesday 3 October exploring the use of climate forecasting tools to support on-farm decision-making.

Queenslander was the war cry booming from the recent Granite Belt Growers Gala Dinner, with former State of Origin stalwart and fellow Stanthorpian (his words) Billy Moore at the helm of the microphone leading the charge on the night.

‘Acts of God’ as they are commonly known, including hailstorms, flooding, cyclones, earthquakes, and lightning are considered by every grower in their seasonal planning. ‘Acts of men’ however should be equally considered as we enter a new season.

What a wonderful, eye opening, colourful, crazy, and grounding nine days at the Ekka. Touted as the event where city meets country, it was also the event where growers met consumers, politicians met anyone and everyone they could, and we met tens of thousands of advocates of fresh produce.

Two years ago, the Queensland fresh produce sector and supply chain came together with an active and collaborative mindset. The result was Future Fields, the strategic vision for where the industry wanted to be in 10 years.

As part of the next stage of the Future Fields strategy, Queensland Fruit & Vegetable Growers (QFVG) has released a seed funding opportunity for any projects across Queensland which align to any one of the four key fields or the fundamental fields.

After spending the past couple of weeks in North and Far North Queensland listening to growers, we heard the issues loud and clear. Fair margins were rightfully at the top of the list, as were workforce issues including the new deed and guidelines with the PALM scheme, however the main theme we heard was around compliance burden and auditors.

I know we are all busy and there’s always a million things to prioritise but if you’re a Sunwater allocation holder, or would like to be one in the future, I would urge you to prioritise understanding the current consultation occurring across Queensland before it’s too late to have your say.

Last week I was asked to be on a panel to discuss what the G in ESG means to the horticultural sector.

Yeppoon in Central Queensland will host Australia’s pineapple industry this week for their annual Pineapple Field Days.

The Regional Migration Forum held last week in beautiful Bowen was another amazing example of North Queensland kicking goals and not just the ‘Cowboys’ kind.

I was incredibly humbled to represent Queensland fruit, vegetable, and nuts growers recently at the Food Security Parliamentary Inquiry Committee. I know there would have been many growers who would have loved to be there to tell their own story. We were given five minutes to tell the story of all horticulture in Queensland – not an easy ask. Here’s the gist of what we said.

The world’s first macadamia marketer; food security in remote communities; a sit down with farmer and author of The Dark Emu, Bruce Pascoe; and the work of science in native food and Indigenous agribusinesses are just some of the stories we shared during NAIDOC Week as we continued to celebrate the Year of Horticulture.

The recent Hort Connections Conference held in Adelaide this year was a cracking event with a big thumbs up to both the organisers and sponsors.

North Queensland horticultural growers are set to be better supported to achieve their business and financial goals following the announcement of a new partnership between Queensland Fruit & Vegetable Growers (QFVG) and the Rural Financial Counselling Service North Queensland (RFCSNQ) today. 

Queensland horticultural growers will be able to create, innovate and accelerate their ideas thanks to a new collaboration announced today between Queensland Fruit & Vegetable Growers (QFVG) and the FNQ Food Incubator.

Last week’s State Budget, while heavily focused on measures to alleviate cost of living pressures, also delivered investment in biosecurity, drought preparedness, water and energy infrastructure and planning.

Last week over 3,000 people in the national horticultural supply chain came together in Adelaide to celebrate, educate, collaborate, innovate, and advocate for an industry which supports umpteen hundreds of thousands of jobs across the nation. I say umpteen as unfortunately no one really knows how many jobs indirectly rely on horticulture, a noticeable lack of data which really inhibits our advocacy efforts.