Last Friday, after a year of intense work, many in our industry received the validation they needed with the release of the ACCC’s final supermarket inquiry report.  

Earlier this month the annual ABARES Outlook Conference was held in Canberra. 

With Queensland in the throes of yet another natural disaster we thought we’d do something a little different this week.

In February, AgriFutures Australia’s flagship agrifood technology and innovation event – evokeAG - came to Brisbane for the first time.

Since commencing as Food Farmers’ Commissioner late last year, I’ve travelled across Queensland, listening to farmers in regions like Atherton, Bundaberg, Mareeba, Bowen, and Fassifern Valleys, the Scenic Rim and the Granite Belt.

One question that keeps coming up time and time again in our work is how do we make the invisible, visible?  

Let’s make something abundantly clear: growers are a tough bunch. Given the choice between asking for help and pushing through alone, they’ll almost always choose the latter.

For over a century, agricultural extension has been the invisible force ensuring that research and new technology makes its way into the hands of farmers working with them to adapt to an ever-changing landscape.

The relationship between growers and traders is more than just a transactional exchange; it is the foundation of livelihoods for many in the horticulture industry.

At QFVG we constantly measure industry outcomes. We work hard to understand what approaches work in horticulture and what approaches should be left alone and we think we’ve found the magic formula for achieving shared goals for individual growers and wider industry. It’s about doing it with purpose… or in this case ‘PURPPOCE’.

Turn on our listening ears – this was the key lesson from our time with international disaster recovery expert Elizabeth McNaughton.