TR4 transition, benchmarking discussed at ABGC Board Meeting

Rising cost of production, benchmarking and the TR4 Transition to Industry Management were high on the agenda for an Australian Banana Growers’ Council board meeting last week.

Directors, along with senior staff, met in Far North Queensland on June 15-16. Key outcomes included:

Benchmarking

A new banana benchmarking project will begin coming months, and we’ll need your help to ensure it’s both effective and accurate.

The ABGC Board heard that work is already under way on the Hort Innovation-funded project, with the contract awarded to benchmarking experts Aglytica. In a presentation to the Board, Aglytica’s Glenn Briggs explained that they’re developing a banana-specific benchmarking tool from their suite of technologies and products which are used to collect farm data through a secure, online platform. The data is used to provide personalised farm enterprise-level benchmarks, as well as de-identified industry snapshots. Webinars and meetings will take place to ensure growers know exactly how they can be part of this project, as well as the benefits both to businesses and to the industry more broadly.

If enough growers jump on and participate, data is expected to be available by the end of the year. Keep an eye on ABGC Communications for more!

TR4 Transition

The Board heard ABGC’s TR4 team are full steam ahead to transition to industry management in early July.

Biosecurity Queensland, in collaboration with growers, the ABGC and researchers, has led the Panama TR4 Program since the first detection in Tully in 2015.

As of July 3, ABGC will manage the new TR4 Control Program, ensuring efforts to contain the potentially devastating disease remain top priority.

The transition has been in the works for the past three years and is the result of the close working relationship between industry and government.

Growers wanting to know more about the disease can visit PanamaTR4Protect or contact TR4 Control Program Leader Geoff Wilson for details about management: geoff@abgc.org.au

Share your thoughts on Banana Congress

Keep an eye on your inbox for your opportunity to tell us what you think about Banana Congress and how it should look in coming years. We’ll be asking you about timeframes, locations, content and more! Your assistance in helping us shape an event that best meets your needs is greatly appreciated. You can also contact communications@abgc.org.au at anytime.

Cost of Production

While the benchmarking project (mentioned above) is fast approaching, the need for a better understanding of Cost of Production is critical. For this reason, the ABGC Board has approved:

• A cost-of-production spreadsheet to be provided to Grower Members, to help calculate current data. This will be solely a tool for growers, to be used at their own discretion.
• A voluntary, anonymous survey to be sent to those growers, asking to share only a final cost-of-production figure as well as some basic information (for example, farm size and growing region). More details will be provided in coming weeks.