What was it all about?

The Annual Vegetable Industry Seminar strengthened access to practical, up‑to‑date R&D information for vegetable growers by delivering three in‑person seminars and a series of online webinars between 2022 and 2024.

Each event brought together more than 100 levy‑paying growers along with researchers, government representatives and supply‑chain partners. The program gave growers direct exposure to innovations, technologies and insights designed to support more productive and profitable vegetable businesses.

Across the project, seminars and webinars featured a wide range of topics, from soil health and integrated crop protection to ag‑tech, protected cropping, consumer insights and global production trends. Presentations were recorded and made available online, ensuring growers who could not attend still had access to the material. A dedicated funding stream also supported young, new and financially constrained growers to participate in person, broadening access to professional development opportunities.

Evaluation showed that growers valued the sessions highly, regularly applied the information on‑farm, and saw the seminars as an important source of new ideas.