Hort360 continues to develop. The Best Management Practice (BMP) program for horticulture provides support to growers interested in incentives, project deliverables (ie. mapping) and general benchmarking of farm performance internally and peer-to-peer.
Hort360 contains a significant amount of data which collectively, enables Growcom staff to target their delivery for greater on-farm outcomes, identify opportunities for further investment to address industry needs, and lobby government for better industry outcomes.
In the past five years growers located across Queensland, New South Wales, South Australia and Victoria have collectively completed 542 modules. We would like to congratulate the following growers for completing all the available Hort360 modules:
- Sweet Az Farm
- Mt Alma Farming
- Rugby Farm
- Yellow Silk
- Devaneys Bananas
- Les Williams
- Gudjuda Reference Group Aboriginal Corporation
- Crimson Fresh
- Zappala Tropicals
Growcom looks forward to showcasing activities these growers are implementing and working with them to improve business operations where required.
Whilst we strongly encourage you to participate in Hort360 if you are looking for information to assist with resolving an issue on farm the Hort360 website has collated an extensive knowledge resource: www.hort360.com.au
Recently industry group Passionfruit Australia utilised Hort360 to deliver their Learning About IPM field day’s across Queensland and New South Wales. During these events passionfruit growers completed the Hort360 Pesticide module. Through Hort360, the passionfruit industry was able to collate data specific to the crop and generate detailed reports. This information will assist Passionfruit Australia direct levy funding for improved industry outcomes. The top five issues to be address include:
- Spray drift buffers
- Spray nozzle maintenance
- Chemical storage
- Monitoring & determination of use
- Resistance management strategies
Growcom is also currently delivering Hort360 GBR across the Great Barrier Reef catchment. A key output of this project is to develop a Reef Certification for horticulture.
The purposes of a Hort360 Reef Certification is to provide a quality, credible certification pathway for horticulture growers to demonstrate their environmental stewardship and industry best practice standards in Great Barrier Reef catchments.
The intent to establishing a Hort360 Reef Certification is to not add too, but align and leverage current systems (ie. Freshcare) used by horticulture businesses which specifically provide a water quality outcome.
Growcom has consulted industry throughout the development of the certification enabling feedback and input into the process.
Hort360 currently recognises approximately 500 growers who have completed the required Hort360 Reef Certification module questions. Hort360 GBR will be seeking growers to update their Hort360 information to ensure individuals are meeting a minimum standard.
For more information about Hort360, contact Program Manager, Scott Wallace at swallace@growcom.com.au