Ed Chatwin's Blog

Notes of a Meeting with the Gembrook Potato Growers Group, T. Lobato, and the Minister for Agriculture, Joe Helper.

Venue Gembrook Hall on the 29^th May 2009 at 915am.

Subject-Potato Cyst Nematode [PCN]

Approx. 36 people present.

Points made to the Minister,

• Only 40% of the productive land in the Gembrook quarantine area is under cultivation.
• The quarantine area is c20km zone [diameter or square?]
• Many farms in the area are free of PCN
• PCN originated in the Silvan area in 1991.
• The controlled area was reaffirmed in an order in Council [State] in February 2009, Schedule 1 and 2 apply to Cardinia Shire.
• Market access is the key problem for growers and particularly interstate markets. Cannot be access in brown bags of 10kg and below.
• Treatment in the recent outbreak of PCN in Thorpedale Victoria would seem to have been different to Gembrook area. The Ministers’ answer did not satisfy the group.
• A discussion about seed, unwashed, washed, brushed but not washed, their saleability, and the merit of each type for interstate sale.
• The soil type limits the production of other plants in the zone.
• The Green Wedge Planning stopped any economic rationalization of titles to produce a property suitable for intensive farming.

The Minister said,

• That he was subject to the judgment/opinions of NSW, QLD and SA Ministries of Agriculture when dealing with the subject of PCN. 
• That the consideration must be scientific and risk based.
  • Meaningful
  • 5Kg paper bags in SA
  • [?] 20Kg bag is not risk based [?]
• A protocol has been established
• The policy must be logical
  • And the Thorpedale treatment is a step forward and seen as a position outcome for the future.
• Restrictions apply to Seed potato growers. [? but not paddock grown?].
• He had not read the Gembrook Rural review [Cardinia Shire].

The Minister [Joe Helper] was asked these questions,

• What can he do to help the Gembrook Growers in the short term and whether a review could be undertaken to lift part of the 20Km quarantine area?
  • The Minister said that was under restraints for others [it was indicated that others were other Australian States].
• Why cannot the Gembrook Growers avail themselves of subsidized testing costs?
  • The Minister dismissed the request saying that the Thorpedale testing costs were unique and a once-off to establish the extent of the outbreak.
• The questions for Green Wedge Planning restrictions and the designation of the Cardinia Shire Council as Metro instead of Rural [85% of the shires’ land area is rural thereby the Shire is penalized from many State grants applicable to other rural shires]
  • The Minister said little of consequence for his powers were limited on these two questions.
• The Minister will take steps for the DPI to be involved in discussing other crops for the Gembrook area with the affected parties.

The meeting finished at 10.32am

Following the Meeting,  I asked a series of questions of the AgriBusiness Officer Cardinda Shire, Vincent Morris.  He supplied me with answers and an update on the recommendations contained in the Gembrook Rural Review. 

1.        What were the recommendations and have we progressed and the results? 

This has been actioned on several occasions with no successful outcomes for the Gembrook potato growers.

 1.8 Take up the offer from DPI (Box Hill, Ellenbank and Wangaratta) of advice and assistance for property owners wanting to use dieldrin-affected properties for grazing. Could involve a ‘refresher’ seminar on DPI property management plans for interested landowners

Property owners are now aware of the grazing requirements.

1.9 Recommend to the Minister for Planning a review by DSE of the planning framework for Gembrook so that investment in new, more intensive agricultural enterprises can be encouraged, and innovations in land management (such as the share farm model) can be trialled

No formal response has been received by the growers from the DPCD. The Green Wedge Zones and minimum lot sizes remain the same. The DPI has been non-responsive and refers stakeholders to the DPCD and Minister for Planning

What is outstanding and why? 

Apart from the recommendations above that have been progressed, all of the other recommendations are outstanding. Many of the outstanding actions require a collaborated approach between State and local government, which requires substantial resources. Furthermore it was hoped that the Green Wedge Management Planning Process would enable implementation of the outstanding actions but to date this has not occurred.

2. Have we had any progress with the State bodies on the subject and when was the last contact?

The DPI has been approached on several occasions to provide expert advice and a coordinated production and marketing project to help industry stakeholders implement more of the agribusiness development and alternative potato industry actions. The DPI has been unresponsive to date, apart from some limited research around varietal resistance to PCN.

The DPCD and the Green Wedge Team have initiated some work on the Green Wedge Management Plans, but this is in its infancy stages and does not focus on specific areas or implementing actions for the GWZ’s.

 The last contact was when I hosted a tour and workshop of the DPCD’s Future Farming Strategy – Rural Planning Group on the 14th May 2009. As part of their visit they were given a tour of Gembrook stopping at two farms, including a commercial potato farm and were presented with the GRR information and documents.

3. Sessions with DPI about other crops and how are we to implement the suggestion from Joe Helper? 

The DPI has undertaken many projects of similar type to the actions in the GRR. They have particularly provided leadership and expertise in the research of alternative markets and the development of marketing strategies.  

Realistically, current potato growers do not have the resources to invest in alternatives or even the investigation of many of these alternatives. DPI has been non-committal to date, in taking the lead in the development of much need programs for the sustainability of agriculture in the GWZ.

DPI could help by supplying an expert project team to lead in the facilitation of change needed for the Gembrook region. This may involve a range of initiatives including co-ordinating a whole of supply chain driven project for current potato growers, the development of exit strategies or packages for farmers leaving the potato industry, collaboration with markets and feasibility analysis for alternative industry development.