Queensland horticulture body Growcom, says it intends to assess opportunities for Australian fruit and vegetable growers to generate credits under the Australian Government’s Carbon Farming Initiative (CFI) scheme. The scheme allows landowners to generate carbon credits, and ultimately income streams, by conducting projects that reduce emissions or sequester carbon in the environment. Growcom’s David Putland said the scheme involved around a set of ‘approved methodologies’ that determined... ...Read more »

Reports of vegetables from China entering Australia via New Zealand without being labelled as Chinese have sparked calls from a major farming organization in Queensland to demand the New Zealanders cooperate on tighter Country of Origin Labelling (‘CoOL’) to comply with the mandatory Australian CoOL requirements. According to some reports, vegetables grown with food chemicals that are banned in other countries are gaining access to Australian markets through New Zealand. It has been alleged that... ...Read more »

Peak horticulture body Growcom has called for the urgent integration of food policy and programs by the federal government to plan for future food security. Chief Executive Officer Alex Livingstone said the call follows the release of several federal government reports in recent days, which he said indicate an insular and complacent approach to national food security. Livingstone said the government continued to take a ‘she’ll be right’ approach to food policy issues, spruiking figures showing... ...Read more »

Supermarket giants Coles and Woolworths have been taken to task over dodgy origin labelling, after an investigation by the NSW Food Authority revealed that two stores were selling mislabelled fruit The incident marks the first time Coles and Woolworths have been fined for Country of Origin labelling breaches, and both have been placed on the NSW Food Authority’s Name and Shame register. Woolworths at Newington in Sydney has been fined $1540 for advertising lemons for sale as being the “Product... ...Read more »

Peak horticulture organisation Growcom has released a new report warning of the increasing magnitude of Australia’s net fresh fruit and vegetable importation, and called for an end to complacency regarding domestic food security. The organisation’s Chief Executive Officer, Alex Livingstone, said that the general public was largely unaware that up to 34% of fruit and 19% of vegetables consumed in Australia are imported. “In dollar terms, Australia imports a greater value of processed... ...Read more »

Australia’s peak horticulture industry body, Growcom, today said it was time for governments to get down to tin tacks and provide the practical assistance needed by horticultural growers to get back to the business of growing fruit and vegetables. Chief Executive Officer Alex Livingstone said the organisation put the total damage bill from the Queensland floods and Cyclone Yasi to Queensland horticulture at well in excess of $500 million. That was made up of $225 million in lost fruit and vegetable... ...Read more »

Research undertaken by the federal Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) is a wake-up call on the issue of Australia’s future food security, according to Rachel Mackenzie, policy spokesperson for the peak horticulture body Growcom today. “Research conducted by the National Institute of Labour Studies (NILS) for DIAC has found that if the Australian population continues to grow at current levels, 430 000 hectares of land surrounding Sydney and Melbourne will be taken up by housing in... ...Read more »

Peak horticulture organisation Growcom today reminded Queenslanders and the state government that repercussions of Queensland’s floods will echo beyond the immediate losses, with disastrous weather since November seriously hitting a number of other horticultural growing regions in the state, and that urgent action was needed to assist all growers who had lost their livelihoods. “Growcom offers our deepest condolences to families who have lost loved ones, homes and livelihoods in Queensland... ...Read more »

Peak horticulture body Growcom today welcomed the announcement of a state-federal grant of up to $25 000 for small business and agricultural producers for clean-up and recovery in flood affected areas of Queensland, in addition to concessional interest rate loans and freight subsidies. However Chief Executive Officer Alex Livingstone called for wider assistance for horticultural businesses destroyed in the floods in recognition of the severity of the situation for many growers. Growcom has been... ...Read more »

Coalition’s agriculture policy meets with approval The Coalition’s new Agriculture Policy, released today, offers $150 million for increased research and development in agriculture and $8 million to map the carbon footprint of Australia’s agriculture and food production. The policy has been welcomed by the food and farming sector, including the National Farmer’s Federation, the Australian Food and Grocery Council and Growcom. Announced today at a property outside Orange, NSW, by Shadow... ...Read more »