Message from the CEOThe past few weeks has seen PHA keeping up the trend of increased face-to-face engagements with our Member meetings in Sydney and Hort Connections in Brisbane - with both events providing us with valuable opportunities to reconnect with our members. At our May Member meetings we welcomed Susan Petrellis to the PHA Board. Susan has international experience in industry, research, government, and education, building capability in organisations, industries, and economies across the agrifood, manufacturing and tech verticals. Her executive business experience spans senior roles in strategy, marketing, R&D, and innovation and she is a founder/founding member of 5 start-ups including innovation and sustainable leadership consultancy, Bounce Partners. Member meetingsHybrid Member meetings were held 24-25 May in Sydney and online. Biosecurity Training HubThe Biosecurity Training Hub will be a national web-based platform bringing together all online biosecurity training and resources from across Australia to help improve accessibility, reduce duplication, and streamline resources for A focus on Bee biosecurityFollowing the buzz of World Bee Day celebrations last month, we continued our bee focus with PHA’s Kathryn Pagler, Bee Biosecurity Project Officer, attending the 4th Honey Bee Congress and the 3rd Native Bee Conference that both took place in Sydney, New South Wales. Connecting with QLD producersOn day one of Hort Connections, PHA’s Karin Steenkamp, Communications Manager, and Kyra Murray, Project Officer: Partnerships and Innovation, attended the Northern Farm Bus Tour sponsored by the Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries (QLD DAF). 'Snailed it'...nailed it!Operation Snailed It was conducted as a hybrid training exercise and surveillance collaboration between New South Wales (NSW) Department of Primary Industries (DPI) Plant Biosecurity and Murray and Riverina Local Land Services (LLS) at Barooga NSW on New and revised Phytosanitary measuresAt a recent meeting, the Commission on Phytosanitary Measures (CPM), the governing body of the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC), adopted four new and revised International Standards on Phytosanitary Measures (ISPMs) and 5 new phytosanitary treatments (Annexes to ISPM 28). Ground-breaking multi-industry export programHort Innovation has contracted AUSVEG to deliver the industry export development program for the vegetable, onion and melon industries. The Multi-Industry Export Program (Vegetables, Onions, Melons) is a first for the horticulture industry with a collaborative approach to export development for growers under a single holistic export program. $2.7M injection for Australian Mango industryAustralian mango growers are set to benefit from a $2.7M injection into extension and communication to help improve grower productivity and profitability. Banana freckle detected in the NTBanana freckle has been detected in the Batchelor–Rum Jungle region and the Department of Industry, Tourism and Trade is asking for help to determine how widespread the disease is in the Top End. Banana freckle is a plant disease caused by the fungus Phyllosticta cavendishii. New cotton industry podcast launchedThe ‘From The Field’ podcast, produced by Cotton Australia, was launched last month. The podcast shares the journey of cotton farmers, and the challenges and the opportunities they face out on the land. It shares the industry’s story through five raw and honest conversations, each covering a different topic relating to the industry. Varroa mite detected in NSWA statewide emergency order has been issued to control the movement of bees across NSW and stop the spread of varroa mite. Minister for Agriculture Dugald Saunders says the order has taken effect from 6pm Sunday 26 June. Latest from Prevent Fruit FlyNFFC fruit fly webinars attract worldwide interestThe National Fruit Fly Council recently hosted three online webinars with a total of more than 360 attendees from Australia, Bangladesh, China, Tbilisi, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Italy, Malaysia, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Punjab, Selangor, Sénégal, South Africa and Taiwan. Fruit fly efforts recognised |