Pomewest Annual Grower Engagement Dinners a Success!

We thank everyone involved in this week's Annual Grower Engagement Dinners and Biosecurity Readiness Workshops. Special thanks go to Helen Spafford, Dave Cousins of DPIRD, and our own Susie Murphy White for the Biosecurity presentations. These people did a great job! The workshops, designed to empower growers and protect their orchards against incursions, certainly did that! Ann Lyster, who attended our Manjimup Workshop, praised the ease of using the MyPestGuide app for her orchard's pest management. Everyone who attended learned something new and valuable, including their take-home souvenir of free biosecurity farm signage. Thank you to everyone who attended.

Pomewest would also like to thank Sam and the Liccardello family at Orchard 1Sixty, and Michael Della Pollina, and his family in Pickering Brook for hosting and supporting the Donnybrook and the Perth Hills workshops.

We also thank all the growers and special guests who joined us for our three-night grower roadshow dinners in Donnybrook, Manjimup, and the Perth Hills. These gatherings ignited dynamic conversations and encouraged active participation within the industry. Gillian Reilly from Hort Innovation delivered a remarkable presentation on the work surrounding Grower National Levies for developing apple and pear marketing programs founded on strong consumer data-based principles. Many growers heard for the first time about the impact of the national strategies to improve merchandising, quality, and excitement-based advertising to entice light-buying consumers back to the category.

Attendees were privy to some exciting new developments in the R&D space for WA apple growers; more information and details will be shared as the project sign-offs are finalised in the next few weeks.

The evaluation survey results show that most growers were impressed with the dinner program and the delivery of services from the Pomewest Committee. Our communication streams have significantly improved in delivery this year, which has been recognised as one of the most improved aspects of our service, along with the consistent delivery and commitment to our quality program.

Of course, if anyone has any further thoughts or suggestions after some reflection on the dinner program, please email them to the Committee or myself. We hope you all enjoyed our annual engagement events and networking opportunities. Again, we are grateful to our partners, Hort Innovation, DPIRD, APAL, and the APC, for supporting our success.

We look forward to seeing all our growers at the WA Horticulture Update (WAHU), where we hope to continue industry engagement across the horticultural sector.