ALMOND growers will head to Melbourne next month for the 17th Australian Almond Conference.
The program’s line-up of speakers includes Rabobank (USA) food and agribusiness research and advisory senior vice president and senior analyst Vernon Crowder; Netafim (Israel) research and development department project manager and chief agronomist Dr Itamar Nadav; and Wonderful Orchards (USA) director of pollination operations, Dr Gordon Wardell.
These international speakers will join a list of industry experts from Australia such as La Trobe University’s head of School of Allied Health Professor Catherine Itsiopolous, and Australian Centre for Field Robotics at the Sydney University senior research fellow Dr James Underwood, to present at the conference which will take place between November 8 and 10.
This year’s conference will include presentations by respected researchers and experts focusing on the entire supply chain from both a domestic and an international perspective.
Speakers will address issues of industry interest; from pollination to promotion and product quality to price prediction.
The conference is an event attended by many involved in the almond industry covering the majority of orchard acreage planted in the Murray Valley and Western Australia, the processors, marketers and other industry stakeholders.
Now held every two years, the Australian Almond Conference will be attended by more than 350 delegates including international visitors.
Delegates will receive a briefing on improved on-farm and post-harvest practices as well as an understanding of the broad range of activities to further develop the domestic and export markets for the record 2015 crop and this season's crop, harvested in early 2016.
Almond Board of Australia's conference and communications manager Jo Pippos said the conference has been extremely well attended in the past.
“It attracts growers and others in the industry from across Australia and internationally,” Ms Pippos said.
