Following disruptions caused by COVID-19 over the past couple of years, the Victorian Vegetable Innovation Days (VicVID) are back in full force for 2023.
The two-day vegetable demonstration event will be held on 27 and 28 April at the Butler Market Gardens in Catani. Attendees can expect seed and crop protection demonstration sites, a live spinach masterclass, and over 25 exhibitors from across the whole supply chain. A vegetable industry networking event will also take place on the Thursday evening, sponsored by Elders.
Elders Agronomist Connor Steel has been one of the committee members working hard to bring the event to life. Connor has been a main point of contact for the event’s site holders, which he said has been a great experience.
“I have had a lot of people contacting me for advice on how to treat issues that had popped up,” he explained.
“Things like sclerotinia, downy mildew, bacterial blight, damping off, club root, onion maggot, white blister, botrytis and collar rot.
“It has been a fair bit of work, but it’s been a fantastic way to get my name out there, and I've met a lot of new people in the industry.”
In his usual day-to-day, Connor works as a Horticultural Agronomist at Elders Pakenham in Victoria. He says the days are long, but his work is rewarding and varied, as he deals with a huge range of crops, including lettuce, broccolini, herbs, corn, tree nurseries and tomatoes among many others.
“I like to start early, so I generally get to the branch at around 7:00 am, to take care of anything in-branch like my clients’ programs, plans, soil or tissue tests and quotes, among other things,” Connor said.
“From there, I head out on farm and I spend the rest of the day visiting clients, either just catching up, doing crop checks on issue crops or doing full farm scouts.
“There's always something new to learn and always a new challenge to overcome and I love that about my job.”
Connor started with Elders just after graduating from university, when he took up a place in the Graduate Agronomy Program.
“I went through the program in 2017 where I did a six month broadacre rotation with Craig Prior at the Roseworthy branch. From there, I transferred to the Bairnsdale branch, and worked with Noel Jansz for just over a year.
“I then took on the full-time role at Pakenham as a Horticultural Agronomist, where I have been for the last five years.”
Looking to the future of the vegetable industry, Connor is keen for the ag tech sector to play a greater part.
“I'm looking forward to seeing how technology can advance in the industry to avoid things like hand harvesting and packing,” Connor said.
“The vegetable industry’s biggest challenge at the moment is labour, so this would be sure to save growers a significant amount of time and money in managing teams of people for these roles.”
Connor explained events like VicVID are integral for the advancement of these aspects of the industry.
“I am really looking forward to everyone in the industry being together for VicVID.
“With all the current technologies, varieties and products available to growers in one place, it will be pretty special.”
There is no cost for growers attending VicVID. To find out more, and to register your interest for the Elders Vegetable Industry Networking Event, please visit the VicVID Facebook page.
Meet the team
