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What is your name and age? Barbara Kerr – 62 years Where are you currently working? Dicky Bill Farms – Maffra What country are you from? Australia What were you doing before coming to Gippsland? I was working overseas as a teacher and Principal in Indonesia and Tanzania for the past 12 years. What made […]
Author Archives: Harvest Trail Information Service
There is a saying in business circles that every crisis provides an opportunity. Victoria Leov has never been one to sit at home wondering. When she lost her hospitality job as a qualified pastry chef from the first COVID lockdown she set about turning a negative situation into a positive experience. As border closures and […]
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Dec
Where blue is the new black Most Australians will know of the Big Banana sitting prominently beside the Pacific Highway at Coffs Harbour on the Northern NSW coast. Built in 1964 to attract attention to a grower’s roadside stall, it lays claim to being Australia’s first ‘big thing’ and was indicative of the dominance of […]
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Dec
Fair Work Commission – 1.75% increase to minimum wages The Fair Work Commission recently announced a 1.75% increase to minimum wages. This applies to all award wages. Increases to awards start on 3 different dates for different groups of awards. Essential services workers were the first to receive the increase, however, the Commission has staged […]
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Dec
Dec
Ryan McLeod & Hugh Reardon (Dicky Bill Australia) How did you get into the horticultural industry? From the humble beginnings of a small 40 acre market garden in Stanthorpe in the mid 1990’s, Dicky Bill Australia has enjoyed consistent stewardship from the current two families that own and operate the salad production company now for […]
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Dec
Dec
With summer coming, have you checked your WHS around heat-related illness? Working in hot and/or humid environments can cause heat-related illness and in some cases this can be fatal1. There is no recommended temperature limit at which work should cease. Setting a safe or unsafe limit just based on the air temperature is not adequate […]
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Dec
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Is your Induction Process robust enough? Does your on-boarding process with new workers meet the Fair Work standard? Does it provide your employees with the information they require to work on your farm? And conversely, have you collected the necessary information to ensure you are complying with laws and regulations? A robust induction process is […]
08
Dec
Dec
The luscious summer fruit you never knew you needed In Australia in the ‘early days’, lychees were purchased in cans and were considered a most exotic fruit, if they were even heard of. Nowadays, 12% of Australian households regularly purchase lychees from the supply chain. Total production in Australia is just over 2,700 tonnes. […]
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Dec
Dec
Image Source: Flickr / Alex Proimos There is a lot of negative media around pay and conditions for horticulture workers. Special attention is paid to the use of the piece-work provisions of the Horticulture Award. It is important to state upfront that paying wages based on productivity has been a part of horticulture since Eve […]
Sophia and Ethan are a young couple travelling the Harvest Trail together. Ethan is Australian travelling up from Victoria, while Sophia is from Germany on a working holiday visa. They started their journey together in Victoria with clear plans, but They left Victoria before COVID took a hold to go holidaying in NSW. However, with […]