With Tropical Cyclone Alfred having blown by we’ve been handling a range of queries on how to treat employee absences during times of natural disasters. So, we’ve put together a breakdown of important considerations. 

A recent High Court ruling has emphasised the importance of employment contracts but for reasons quite different to why we generally encourage clients to ensure they have clear, comprehensive contracts for compliance purposes.

We often receive enquiries through the QFVG HR/IR support line about how to handle accommodation which is offered to employees as part of their employment/remuneration package.

The C14 determination came into effect for the Horticulture Award this week on 1 April 2025, so if you are not already set up for this, now is your time to act.

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.  

QFVG has welcomed the release of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s (ACCC) final report of the supermarket inquiry, as well as the Government’s in principle support of its recommendations.

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.

Skybury is a FNQ institution and Candy plays a significant role in her family’s operations of the papaya and coffee farm and their value-add ventures. 

Deb Nucifora became a mango grower after marrying her beloved John 34 years ago, but you’d swear she’d been doing it all her life.

Love and laughter filled the shed as we spoke with mother and daughter Debbie and Tina Caamano about their family and their farms.

Continuously searching for knowledge and an even better cup of coffee, Lucy is at the beginning of a horticulture revolution on the Atherton Tablelands.

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.