This is a final research report from Hort Innovation’s historical archives. Please note that as these reports may date back as far as the 1990s, the content and recommendations within them may be superseded by more recent research.

What was it all about?

The turf industry national conferences, field days and state based forums provide turf growers with the latest industry research, development and marketing information enabling them to increase their professionalism and profitability. These events also create awareness of current industry issues, encourage personal development, enable professional networking, identify new business opportunities and provide access to better business management tools.

In 2016, Turf Australia’s  series state based forums held in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne and Perth attracted almost 150 participants in total. They provided a range of informative presentations and interactive workshops covering social media, accounting for profit, precision turf farming, levy investments and identifying different personality styles to help improve turf grower communication. The feedback received was overwhelmingly positive and the forums received a considerable amount of media coverage which further extended the reach of the valuable information provided.

In 2017, the 13th national Turf Australia conference & field day was held in the NSW Hunter Valley and was a huge success. The 130 delegates were able to take home considerable information and insights into future opportunities for the turf industry. The conference theme “The future is in your hands” was timely given the recent advances into precision turf farming. The program provided a large variety of useful, tangible and relevant information for growers to take back and use in their own businesses. Again, the feedback received was very positive and demonstrated a considerable amount of valuable learning took place. Media coverage of this event was also extensive and helped to reinforce the key messages throughout the entire industry.