The 2019 Hort Masterclass is fast approaching the halfway mark!

Described as a mini-MBA, the course is an intensive 10-month professional development program for those looking to accelerate their careers within horticulture.

The course is delivered by the University of Tasmania, with input from international research providers. Every years, it brings together more than 30 individuals across Australian horticulture, including five from the nursery industry in 2019.

This year’s cohort will complete Term 2 on June 30, followed by a short break before their next face-to-face workshop in Brisbane on Friday, 12 July. Here, the group will tour Rocklea Brisbane Markets, before travelling to the Sunshine Coast to visit several horticultural businesses. The tour will finish with a workshop at the SurfAir Conference facilities, where selected students will present on their chosen assignments

One of the students selected was production supervisor at Yarralumla Nursery, Nathan Wells, who will present on his nursery gross margins assignment.

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Growers in the Australian nursery industry are set to benefit from a number of projects aimed at enhancing on-farm crop monitoring, plant protection skills and pest identification and surveillance.

This includes a newly contracted initiative by the Australian Department of Agriculture and Water Resources (DAWR), as well as a suite of levy-funded projects commissioned by Hort Innovation.

Together, the projects will strengthen the industry’s plant protection and biosecurity efforts and provide growers with the latest tools to protect against, and prepare for, plant pests and diseases. More

Australian production and retail nurseries are invited to attend a special industry event in their local capital city, as part of the national ‘Growing Together’ tour.

Run by 202020 Vision, the team will present new research on community attitudes towards green space, and provide an update on marketing initiatives, Plant Life Balance and the next era of 202020 Vision.

The first event of the industry series will be held in Adelaide next Thursday, 30 May. Starting at 5pm, the event is free for growers, retailers and interested staff to attend, with light refreshments provided.

Industry will hear insights from 202020 Vision’s workshop held with developers and councils earlier that day in Adelaide, which aims to equip these groups with the latest research and resources to help communicate the benefits of green space to their respective audiences.

The Growing Together Tour will be making its way around Australia, with the upcoming industry events across the remaining states to be announced in the near future. More

A new tool for Australian growers to benchmark their business performance against other production nurseries, will be unveiled at an interactive webinar on Tuesday, 28 May 2019.

The tool aims to improve productivity by assessing core aspects of production businesses, such as turnover, wages and input costs, against those operating in similar segments across the industry.

It forms part of the Nursery Industry Statistics 2017-18 survey, which gathered data and insights from 292 greenlife producers and validated by an inaugural greenlife purchasers survey.

Free for levy payers, the tool enables growers to compare how their business is performing against the current national average, determine the market it primarily operates in through types of plants sold, and compares views on the future of our industry against peers.

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