“Never in my 35 years have we seen crop loses of 70-80 per cent over a five-month period.”
Shannon Verhagen
Data obtained from a new $800,000 program is set to help WA growers understand their “true cost of production” to bolster negotiations with marketers over their products’ value.
A whopping 31 per cent of shoppers believe they have been misled by organic labelling on products, prompting calls for mandatory certification on all organic products.
Adam Poulsen
WA’s peak vegetable advocacy group will embark on a national search for a new chief executive following the resignation of John Shannon.
Jenne Brammer
Australia’s top scientists and biosecurity experts are joining forces with growers to fight one of the country’s “most prolific” pests capable of “devouring” a wide range of crops.
Australia’s peak horticultural body will fight for farmers’ access to piece rates and workers to earn “better than a fair day’s pay” after a major workers’ union took aim at the system this week.
Fruitco has vines in the south west, will pick its first crop at Broome this year, and is planning a big development at Carnarvon, enabling it to pick and supply markets all year round.
Avocados — delicious, nutritious and now costing just $1 each in some shops. But while a price crash on the versatile health food is great for consumers, farmers fear they could be toast.
The recent findings provide hope its march south can be slowed and follow a mammoth effort testing the resistance of 158 samples collected from maize crops in the Ord River Irrigation Area and Broome.
Pacific workers could swap picking oranges for driving chaser bins to relieve pressure on farmers this harvest if the State Government’s bold idea to train them on heavy machinery gains traction.
Australia’s peak vegetable growers body has thrown its support behind a new agricultural worker visa for South-East Asian workers but is calling for “timely action” to get it up and running.
The historic free trade deal being finalised between the UK and Australia has been dubbed a “significant leap forward” in Australia’s market access.
Damning findings released today reveal the modelling behind a controversial $80 million dollar irrigation scheme in the State’s South West was “incapable” and not “fit for purpose”.
Rather than seeing up to 60 per cent of mangos go to waste, two Curtin University graduates have teamed up to launch The Mango Project, making skin care products from the oil of seeds.
A new agricultural visa has come as welcome news to WA’s embattled horticultural industry, but has been slammed by the grains industry for “failing” its needs.
WA is winning the war against one of the world’s worst pests and threats to primary industries, with detections of European Wasp nests across the State dropping to the lowest levels in 12 years.
Cally Dupe
The most significant records broken this year were in the State’s South West, Great Southern and Wheatbelt, with the Mid West not far behind.
EXCLUSIVE Shannon Verhagen
While prices for this millennial breakfast staple once soared close to $5, a combination of factors has seen its value plunge.
More than 4 million pieces are anticipated to come off the vines at Pemberton’s Delroy Orchards — which Russell Delroy established in 1988 — this harvest.
Some workers picking grapes and zucchinis on Australian farms are earning less than $1 per hour, with unions labelling worker exploitation near ubiquitous.
Angelo Risso
“We’re really picky in what we put out there... we make sure that they’re premium quality apples.”
Although declaring in 2019 he was retiring from farming, John Nicoletti has continued his buying spree and is now one of WA’s biggest private landholders.
A WA farmer’s made the tough decision to destroy $2.7 million worth of his banana crop due to the coronavirus-driven worker shortage crippling the industry, sparking fears food prices could soon soar.
Sarah Steger
Farmers are warning the nation could be facing a fresh fruit shortage if Australia doesn’t work to secure a worker quarantine facility in the NT.
Natasha Emeck
© West Australian Newspapers Limited 2020
