Edition 9 14 May 2012 Top
PHA Member Meetings The next Plant Health Australia (PHA) Member Meeting is being held in Sydney on Tuesday 22 May 2012.
Meetings include the 13th Plant Industry Forum, an EPPRD signatories meeting and the 11th General Meeting.
A timetable and registration form are available from the PHA website.
For more information email Angela Ditton or call 02 6215 7722. Members are requested to email or fax completed registration forms to PHA as soon as possible. Top
Biosecurity and the budget DAFF has produced a Biosecurity Q&A that explains what the budget means for biosecurity, new legislation, post-entry quarantine arrangements, ICT and eradication programs.
More Future post-entry quarantine arrangements
On 8 May 2012, the Australian Government announced that $379.9 million would be committed over the next seven
years to fund the construction of a new DAFF post entry quarantine facility in Melbourne.
This government owned and operated facility will consolidate all of the functions from
DAFF’s five existing post entry quarantine stations at a single site, in modern and specialist facilities.
More Top
Member survey: Tell us what you think of PHA All Members are invited to take part in PHA's biennial Member Survey which is being conducted by research consultants Kaliber Group.
It is important for PHA to get a range of views on the effectiveness and performance of the company.
Members have been sent an email providing more information and will soon be sent a link to the online questionnaire,
which should take no more than 15 minutes to complete. If you have any concerns about the study, please contact PHA General Manager, Partnerships, Melissa Coggan, on 02 6215 7733.
Nominations for Australian Farmer of the Year Award Once again PHA is sponsoring the awards through our Farm Biosecurity program in partnership with Animal Health Australia.
As in previous years the success of the awards depends on the support we get from you, our Members. We are seeking your support to identify worthy nominees and put them forward for the award.
Finalists in 2011 hailed from Queensland, NSW, Victoria and Tasmania, representing the nursery and garden industry, mixed farming
enterprises, bee keepers, and growers of pyrethrum daisies.
This year we’d love to see an even greater diversity of industries and growing regions. Nominations close on Friday, 3 August 2012.
For more information, to nominate yourself or someone else, visit the Kondinin website, email events@kondinin.com.au or call (08) 6263 9111. Nominations close 3 August 2012. Top
Meeting of Grains Biosecurity Officers The Grains Biosecurity Officers (GBOs) from Queensland, NSW, Victoria, SA and WA met in the Canberra offices of PHA on 1 to 3 May to discuss the national Grains Farm
Biosecurity Program.
Launched in 2007, the program is a partnership between the grains industry, state and territory governments and PHA.
The activities of GBOs are coordinated by Jo Slattery of PHA, and funded by Grains Producers Australia. Each officer provided an update on surveillance activities and emergency responses in their state, and summarised the findings of a national survey of grains producers on biosecurity awareness and practices.
They also received updates from PHA staff on programs and resources that could be used by the GBOs in the course of their work.
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Farm survey results 2009-10 to 2010-11 A report released by the Australian Government Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry
provides a profile of the financial performance of farm businesses in the grains, livestock and dairy industries in the years 2009-10 to 2011-12.
The report also includes analysis of changes in farm business debt and farm investment together with analysis of productivity trends in the
grains, livestock and dairy industries over the past 30 years.
The report is available from the DAFF website. Top
Farm Biosecurity website postings Tendrils readers may be interested to know about recent postings on the Farm Biosecurity website, a joint project between PHA and Animal Health Australia. HLB and the Asian citrus psyllid
The citrus industry in California is now on high alert for Huanglongbing (HLB or citrus greening) and the citrus psyllid that can transmit the disease. Biosecurity basics: Vehicle biosecurity kit
A vehicle biosecurity kit is a simple and useful tool to help limit the spread of unwanted weed seeds, pests and diseases on-farm or between farms. Top
Welcome to new staff member Alison Cleary has recently joined PHA. Alison was born and raised in Dublin, Ireland, and moved to Canberra in February of this year.
She has a joint honours degree in geography and sociology from University College Dublin and a Masters in Leadership for Sustainable Development from Queens University, Belfast.
Alison will be working on Deed related matters. Top
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