The Wagner family’s massive vote of confidence in the southern Queensland and northern New South Wales agricultural industries will be showcased next month during the Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC) Grains Research Update in Toowoomba.
The Update will be held at the family’s Wellcamp Airport on Tuesday June 21 from 8:30am to 3:30pm and comes on the back of last November’s historic inaugural international cargo flight which saw chilled beef, grains and horticultural produce from regional Queensland flown direct to Hong Kong.
Hailed as a resounding success, the flight opened the door for direct-access export opportunities to Asia and offered an indication of the potential industry returns generated by investment in supply chain infrastructure.
The strategic role played by the $200-million-dollar project in driving future agricultural export opportunities will be the focus of a keynote presentation to the GRDC Update by Wellcamp Airport’s communications and business development manager Sara Hales.
Ms Hales’ presentation will set the scene for the day’s program which is firmly focused on the potential industry benefits of advancements in logistics, machinery and information technology, well planned agronomic management practices in mungbeans and chickpeas, optimising sorghum genetics and management, weed seed management and soil nitrogen research.
Update coordinator John Cameron urged growers and industry representatives to invest a day of their time to attend and keep abreast of the latest industry news, supply chain opportunities, agronomic advice and research data.
“Enormous scope exists for growers to increase both production and profitability by tweaking their existing practices,” Mr Cameron said.
“Taking even one practice change home from the Update - whether that’s a revised approach to disease management, a rethink of time of sowing or row spacing configurations or new ideas on fertiliser application - can have a substantial impact on a business’ bottom line.”
The speaker line-up includes Peter Birch from B&W Rural/Satamap; DAF identities Kerry McKenzie, Hugh Brier, Liz Williams, Lisa Kelly and Michael Widderick; USQ senior pathologist Sue Thompson; Mike Bell, David Jordan and Daniel Rodriguez from Qld Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation; NSW DPI senior plant pathologist Kevin Moore and local growers Dave Peters and Dale Jeude.
