ONIONS Australia hosted a series of successful industry events during the Hort Connections conference.
Onion growers and industry representatives from across Australia attended the onion stream of events, which spanned two days.
The onion sessions kicked off with informative presentations by international speakers Dr Bill Dean and Jacob Wiskerke.
More than 60 people listened to Dr Dean from River Point Farms, the largest onion farm in the US, and Mr Wiskerke from The Netherland’s Wiskerke Onions, the largest exporter of onions in the world.
Dr Dean’s presentation drew on his extensive experience in the onion industry, looking at 45 years in the soil and in the plant, while Mr Wiskerke delivered his “Powerhouse Holland” presentation outlining his business success and the Dutch onion market.
The following day started with a Growers’ Breakfast at the Stamford Plaza, sponsored by Monsanto Seminis.
Forty people attended to learn about new varieties and industry developments.
The breakfast led into an onion Levy Payers’ Meeting, which featured a range of presentations, including research and development project updates, a segment about the Secret Serve onion marketing campaign, and the latest news from key strategic partners DuPont, Bayer, Dobmac and Terranova.
Those attending then travelled to RinPra Produce near Murray Bridge, for a tour of the onion facility and a question and answer session with Dr Bill Dean.
We had growers from most states of Australia in attendance, it was a great turnout.
- Peter Shadbolt, Onions Aust
Onions Australia chairman, Peter Shadbolt, said he was pleased with the strong turnout for the onion industry information sessions.
“We had growers from most states of Australia in attendance, it was a great turnout,” he said.
“I think our growers really made the most of the opportunity to learn about not only new developments in the Australian industry, but what the rest of the world is doing.
“It was also a real honour to be able to bring Bill and Jacob to Australia so that they could speak about their decades of experience in the international onion game.
“It was so informative to sit and listen to what they had to say.”
Mr Shadbolt said as always the levy payer meeting was filled with quality speakers and the latest information in research and development.
“Onions Australia prides itself on keeping our growers up to date with what is happening in the world of onions, so the meeting was well attended. The trip to RinPra Produce was a great tour,” Mr Shadbolt said.
