This is part 2 of a two part Vegalogue Episode, where we talk to the US Western Growers Association about their research and development of on farm innovation to address issues like labour costs, harvesting automation and weed control, just to name some.

In Part one we focussed on autonomous harvesting aimed at cutting labour costs. In part two we’ll look at their work with weeding technology and also their partnership with Hort Innovation and the VegMech project (Project Code VG 23003) funded by Hort Innovation using the vegetable research and development levy and contributions from the Australian Government.’ which is working to boost the adoption of advanced mechanisation technology in the Australian vegetable industry, and is being run by the Queensland Department of Primary Industries.

Now, in part two they talk about their work in developing weed control solutions and the US Australia partnership.

Guests:

• Ben Palone, WGA’s Senior Commercialization Director.
• Walt Duflock, WGA’s Senior Vice President of Innovation. 

You can find out more about the Western Growers Association here: https://www.wga.com/

To learn more about Reservoir Farms please follow this link: https://reservoir.co/

You can watch the VegMech presentation at AVIS here: https://ausveg.com.au/knowledge-hub/avis-2026-harvest-automation-where-its-at-and-where-its-going/

Vegalogue is the podcast from AUSVEG, the peak body for Australia’s vegetable, potato, and onion industries, where we examine the pressing issues and latest developments in our sector.

Thanks for listening! You can find out more about AUSVEG and the Australian vegetable industry at ausveg.com.au. Subscribe to our newsletter, or follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, Instagram, or Tik Tok.

At this year’s Annual Vegetable Industry Seminar, (Project Code VG24003), funded by Hort Innovation using the vegetable research and development levy and contributions from the Australian Government, growers got an update on the VegMech project (Project Code VG 23003), which is working to boost the adoption of advanced mechanisation technology in the Australian vegetable industry, and is being run by the Queensland Department of Primary Industries.

 This year’s update was looking at the research into the automation of harvesting of crops which currently rely on manual labour, like lettuce and broccoli and the work being done in the USA, and the projects which are being led by the Western Growers Association’s Innovations Team.

The WGA is also heavily involved in the research and trialling of a range of automated and autonomous machinery, including spot sprayers and laser weeders which are utilising AI, and which are also being introduced in Australia and being used on some farms. They have also formed a partnership with Hort Innovation.

 In this two part Vegalogue episode we’ll hear from Ben Palone who’s the WGA’s Senior Commercialization Director, and Walt Duflock, who’s the WGA’s Senior Vice President of Innovation. 

In Part one we’ll hear about their research into autonomous harvesting technology and Reservoir Farms, where much of their research is now being done. In part Two we’ll talk about their work in targeted weed control and also how they are working with Hort Innovation.

You can find out more about the Western Growers Association here: https://www.wga.com/

To learn more about Reservoir Farms please follow this link: https://reservoir.co/

You can watch the VegMech presentation at AVIS here: https://ausveg.com.au/knowledge-hub/avis-2026-harvest-automation-where-its-at-and-where-its-going/

Vegalogue is the podcast from AUSVEG, the peak body for Australia’s vegetable, potato, and onion industries, where we examine the pressing issues and latest developments in our sector.

Thanks for listening! You can find out more about AUSVEG and the Australian vegetable industry at ausveg.com.au. Subscribe to our newsletter, or follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, Instagram, or Tik Tok.

Earlier this year, an Australian vegetable grower-led delegation travelled to India to investigate opportunities to connect Australian growers with skilled and semi-skilled horticulture industry workers from the nation, as part of a pilot program supported by Hort Innovation.

During the week-long visit, the delegation met with key partners to get an in-depth understanding of Indian training pathways, and skill levels, and how they may translate into Australian conditions to help address skills and workforce shortages.

In this R&D edition of Vegalogue, we speak to two of the participating growers – Harvest Supervisor at Fragapane Farms in Victoria, Sammy Singh and Human Resources Manager for Zerella Fresh in South Australia Jessica Paterson about what they learned.

The Pilot program for recruiting and integrating skilled and semi-skilled workers into Australian horticultural enterprises (VG25003), is funded by Hort Innovation using the vegetable research and development levy and contributions from the Australian Government.

Vegalogue is the podcast from AUSVEG, the peak body for Australia’s vegetable, potato, and onion industries, where we examine the pressing issues and latest developments in our sector.

Thanks for listening! You can find out more about AUSVEG and the Australian vegetable industry at ausveg.com.au. Subscribe to our newsletter, or follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, Instagram, or Tik Tok.

Every year lives are lost and families are changed forever by incidents on farm.

Felicity Richards, Chair of Farmsafe Australia and a beef farmer from Northern Tasmania, brings both lived experience and a national perspective to farm safety.

In this episode we dig into some key considerations around farm safety, major contributors to safety incidents, and look at some practical steps that can be taken to keep people safe.

Vegalogue is the podcast from AUSVEG, the peak body for Australia’s vegetable, potato, and onion industries, where we examine the pressing issues and latest developments in our sector.

Thanks for listening! You can find out more about AUSVEG and the Australian vegetable industry at ausveg.com.au. Subscribe to our newsletter, or follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, Instagram, or Tik Tok.

Earlier this year AUSVEG released it’s updated Biosecurity Handbook, which provides a guide to how vegetable growers can ensure they’re up to date with the latest industry standards.

The Farm Biosecurity Manual has been produced as part of the vegetable industry biosecurity and business continuity strategy, known as VegWatch. (Project code: VG22004) which is managed by AUSVEG. Support for it was also provided by Hort Innovation’s Vegetable Fund and Plant Health Australia.

You can download a digital copy of it at ausveg.com.au.

Guests:

Rose Daniel: Rose has had oversight of AUSVEG’s Biosecurity programs including the vegetable industry biosecurity and business continuity strategy, which is known as VegWatch.

Zara Burney: Zara is AUSVEG’s Farm Biosecurity Officer.

Vegalogue is the podcast from AUSVEG, the peak body for Australia’s vegetable, potato, and onion industries, where we examine the pressing issues and latest developments in our sector.

Thanks for listening! You can find out more about AUSVEG and the Australian vegetable industry at ausveg.com.au. Subscribe to our newsletter, or follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, Instagram, or Tik Tok.

In February 2026 a group of 13 Australian vegetable growers spent a fortnight in Europe on the first study tour of the year.

Led by AUSVEG and supported by Hort Innovation the tour spent the first week in Berlin attending Fruit Logistica, widely regarded as the biggest horticulture trade show and conference in the world.

From there they moved onto Spain, attending a series of farm field days, and taking a special look at that country’s protected cropping operations.

Three of the tour group were, Lynley Van Latham, the Executive Officer for Marketing with Rugby Farm, headquartered in Queensland’s Lockyer Valley and a grower of a variety of vegetables; Bryce Lamb, the Process Engineer with Wickham Farms based in Killarney in Queensland where they grow Potatoes, Sweet Potatoes and Onions; and Andrew Braham from Braham Produce near Adelaide in South Australia a family run operation who are specialist capsicum growers.

Lynley, Bryce and Andrew joined the Vegalogue Podcast to talk about the tour.

Vegalogue is the podcast from AUSVEG, the peak body for Australia’s vegetable, potato, and onion industries, where we examine the pressing issues and latest developments in our sector.

Thanks for listening! You can find out more about AUSVEG and the Australian vegetable industry at ausveg.com.au. Subscribe to our newsletter, or follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, Instagram, or Tik Tok.

Carbon reporting and Scope 3 are becoming big topics in the fresh produce supply chain. Claire McClelland and Chris Cosgrove unpack what emissions reporting actually means for horticulture growers and what they need to focus on.

Growers can learn more in the Common Greenhouse Gas Accounting Framework for the Australian Fresh Produce Industry available here: https://freshproduce.org.au/__static/4b16af9cc00e2a952f4921a7772093fb/afpa-ghg-framework.pdf 

Vegalogue is the podcast from AUSVEG, the peak body for Australia’s vegetable, potato, and onion industries, where we examine the pressing issues and latest developments in our sector.

Thanks for listening! You can find out more about AUSVEG and the Australian vegetable industry at ausveg.com.au. Subscribe to our newsletter, or follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, Instagram, or Tik Tok.

In March 2025 a group of Western Australian vegetable growers, based in the south west of the state began work on developing a low cost, do it yourself, open source weed detection and management tool.

Once the growers decided on what they wanted to develop, they began looking for support, and the grower-led OWL Project in Manjimup was born.

This initiative is being driven by the Warren Cauliflower Group, supported by vegetables WA and seed funding through the VegNET innovation program.

VegNET 3.0, project code VG21000, is the national extension program for the vegetable and onion industry, coordinated by AUSVEG, and funded by Hort Innovation, using vegetable and onion levy funds, as well as contributions from the Australian Government.

The Chairman of the Warren Cauliflower Group Jake Ryan and the groups Executive Officer Jen Riseley spoke to the Vegalogue Podcast.

If you want to find out more about the OWL, or Open Weed Locator, you can find it here.

On the 26th February 2026 the Warren Cauliflower Group, supported by VegNET and alongside Vegetables WA will hold a live demonstration of the project on the Ryans Farm at Manjimup. You can find out more and register to attend here.

Vegalogue is the podcast from AUSVEG, the peak body for Australia’s vegetable, potato, and onion industries, where we examine the pressing issues and latest developments in our sector.

Thanks for listening! You can find out more about AUSVEG and the Australian vegetable industry at ausveg.com.au. Subscribe to our newsletter, or follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, Instagram, or Tik Tok.

Yumeng Chen is one of the 2026 Nuffield Scholars who has been sponsored by Hort Innovation.

Her project will explore how virtual modelling can optimise production systems and decision-making in vegetable growing. As she describes it the project will look at ways of using a virtual model of part of a farm, or part of an operation’s supply chain, combined with historical sales and production data, to forecast what will be needed in the year ahead.

Yumeng is a Senior Account Manager with Fragapane Farms, which grows lettuce, broccoli, cauliflower, celery and other green vegetable crops near Werribee in Victoria.

She’s responsible for the  domestic retailers and the export markets, but is also involved in projects related to supply planning, demand forecasting and data analytics. 

Vegalogue is the podcast from AUSVEG, the peak body for Australia’s vegetable, potato, and onion industries, where we examine the pressing issues and latest developments in our sector.

Thanks for listening! You can find out more about AUSVEG and the Australian vegetable industry at ausveg.com.au. Subscribe to our newsletter, or follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, Instagram, or Tik Tok.

From lifting vegetable consumption to grower confidence, this episode reflects on a defining 12 months for AUSVEG advocacy. AUSVEG Chair Bill Bulmer unpacks key advocacy initiatives, sentiment survey insights, and the evidence shaping change in 2026.

Vegalogue is the podcast from AUSVEG, the peak body for Australia’s vegetable, potato, and onion industries. 

Join us for insights from growers, industry leaders, and researchers on the latest challenges and opportunities in Australian horticulture. 

Learn more at ausveg.com.au and follow us on social media.

Vegalogue is the podcast from AUSVEG, the peak body for Australia’s vegetable, potato, and onion industries, where we examine the pressing issues and latest developments in our sector.

Thanks for listening! You can find out more about AUSVEG and the Australian vegetable industry at ausveg.com.au. Subscribe to our newsletter, or follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, Instagram, or Tik Tok.