How levies work, more efficient glasshouses, on-farm food waste

Vegalogue is a podcast from Australian vegetable peak industry body AUSVEG. Each month we take a look at issues affecting the Australian vegetable, potato and onion sectors, unpacking levy-funded research and meeting some of the incredible people who make up the vegetable industry.

This month, we discuss:

• How the Australian horticulture levy system works, and how it gives Australian growers an edge.
• New glasshouse films that could reduce energy consumption and increase productivity in protected cropping.
• A new plan that's finding ways to reduce the horticulture sector's on-farm food waste for the benefit of growers’ bottom line, as well as the environment and food security. Read the plan here: https://endfoodwaste.com.au/horticulture/

Guests:

• Andrew Francey, General Manager of Industry Service and Delivery, Hort Innovation Australia.
• Associate Professor Chris Cazzonelli, Professor Zhong-Hua Chen, Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment, Western Sydney University.
• Melissa Smith, End Food Waste Australia.

Thanks for listening to Vegalogue! You can find out more about AUSVEG and the Australian vegetable industry at ausveg.com.au. Subscribe to our newsletter, or follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, Tik Tok, or Twitter/X.

Chapters

• 1:04 How the horticulture levy system works
• 12:06 New films for more efficient glasshouses
• 19:45 Reducing on-farm food waste

Transcript

So Australia has about 7.6 million times of food that goes to waste every year.

That's enough to fill the MCG to the brim 10 times.

But 22%, so the second highest area is on farms.

And the consequences of that is a huge economic cost, $36.6 billion a year.

Yeah.

Thanks Welcome back to the Vegalogue podcast, a dialogue about the Australian vegetable industry from Ausveg.

I'm Tom Bicknell.

This episode, we'll be taking a tour through a technicolor glass house at Western Sydney University that's trialling special films that could reduce energy consumption and increase productivity in protected cropping.

We'll also be having a chat with Melissa Smith of End Food Waste Australia about a new plan that's finding ways to reduce on-farm horticulture waste for the benefit of growers' bottom line, as well as the environment and food security.

Kicking us off, though, we'll unpack Australia's unique primary production levy system with Andrew Francey, Hort Innovation's General Manager of Industry Service and Delivery.

If you've ever wondered how grower levy funds are invested and the edge they give Australian producers, listen on.

The levy system set up in many Australian primary production industries is one of the key drivers of R&D in those sectors.

The horticultural levy system has been around for some time now.

The potato levy, for instance, was introduced in 1991, the onion levy in 94, and the vegetable levy in 96.

The outcomes of those levies are pretty apparent, certainly to regular listeners of this podcast, but how the levy is collected and managed is sometimes not well understood.

With me today to talk through the system is Andrew Francey, Hort Innovation's General Manager of Industry Service and Delivery.

Andrew, thanks very much for joining me.

Thanks, Tom.

Pleasure to be here.

Andrew, you're from Hort Innovation, so let's start there.

What does Hort Innovation do?

Well, first of all, we're a grower-owned organization with growers across 37 horticulture industries across 12,000 growers.

In the vegetable industry, we cover around 4,000 growers nationally.

Our role is to invest in research and development, marketing and trade to build a prosperous and sustainable future for growers.

And so, Tom, we recognize in particular how tough vegetable growers have been doing over the last few years.

So as an organization, we're focused on ensuring we invest wisely based on growers' advice.

Our key goal is grow our sustainability into the future, which means financial sustainability as much as it does land and people.

So, for example, the annual investment in the vegetable industry is close to $15 million annually.

And we invest in areas like pests and disease, soil wealth, trade and productivity, such as mechanization.

And so within Hort Innovation, your role is general manager for industry services and delivery.

What does that entail?

My role at Hort is to ensure we are focused on listening to growers.

Having spent 20 years in the vegetable industry myself, I'm acutely aware of the challenges and opportunities out there.

Our team is 100% focused on understanding what the priorities are for growers now and into the future.

So for example, we recently announced a $10 million investment in biosecurity for the vegetable industry, investing in the latest monitoring tools and technologies and developing new protocols to support movement of produce across borders.

Our key role is to do this in partnership with growers and Ausveg to ensure we're delivering research and development to make a difference.

So looking at levies, how does the agricultural levy system work?

Well, at the request of each primary industry and indeed each horticulture industry, the Commonwealth Government collects levies on agricultural products to facilitate industry investment in strategic activities.

These levies are held and collected by the Commonwealth Government and then they're entrusted to Hort Innovation for investment.

Is there legislation underpinning that process?

There is time.

Hort Innovation has a statutory funding agreement with the Commonwealth.

Our agreement outlines how we should conduct ourselves as a grow around body and set some expectations as to how we invest funds.

Most importantly, the key underlying principle of the legislation is for us to gain advice from growers and for the advice to be representative across all growers.

So how does Hort Innovation manage those funds and determine where they should be spent?

Talking to growers about where to spend their funds is a critical function within Hort Innovation.

So we take this responsibility very seriously and we're intent on listening and understanding the issues from talking to growers.

We do this in partnership with Ausveg by bringing together growers to gain advice and develop annual investment plans which have been prioritised by growers.

This tells us where to invest, what to invest in based on the needs of growers.

And I would like to call out our two managers, Mark Spees and Jameson Hinkston, who work with vegetable growers and Ausveg in managing the levy.

For example, last year we worked with Ausveg to call an expression of interest for growers who wanted to provide us with advice.

As a result, we have a new and representative group of growers working with us on what and where to invest in.

What this means is our investments makes the needs and priorities of the horticulture industry and growers.

And you have a similar structure set up for all crops covered by levy, so new.

Yeah, we do.

There's 37 horticulture industries.

And each industry has a fit-for-purpose structural advice mechanism.

So we've worked with every industry over the last 12 months to ensure that we're meeting their needs in gaining that advice and managing their levy.

And how do you track that the funds are being invested wisely and the projects are running well?

That's a good question.

So we have an internal team of R&D experts who review the projects are running well and hitting their milestones.

Many projects are also advised through a project reference group, which is made up of industry representatives and growers.

And also many have midterm reviews, which are independently assessed.

The Commonwealth also took an independent performance review of Hort Innovation last year, with noted improvements being made, particularly in the area of grower consultation.

And finally, a recent study by ABEARS concluded that every $1 spent in agricultural research, $8 is returned in benefit.

So there are many ways that we track our research and ensure that their money is spent wisely.

That's a fantastic ROI.

So what are some of the gains that you've seen in the vegetable industry as a result of levy investment?

Yeah, we've seen some great gains.

An example is the Soil Wealth Program, which has been running now for the last seven years.

The program's success is evidenced by growers who are changing their practices over that time.

So with reducing tillage and introducing cover cropping, growers have seen increases in yield of 26% in some crops, lower labour and fuel costs, and better water holding and carbon capacity in their soils.

Another example has seen a profitability benefit of $5,000 per hectare through improved yield and quality.

So they're good examples of the right research invested wisely and over time, showing real productivity and profitability benefit.

And Tom, they don't have to be large investments like soil wealth, but they do have to be relevant investments and investments to make a difference.

So a good example is we heard the need to investigate brown etch on pumpkins, a relatively small research project, but an important one for pumpkin growers in order to support yield, quality and on-farm productivity.

Another great example is this podcast, which is supported by the Communications Project in order to communicate research outcomes to growers.

And finally, I guess I can point to an opportunity coming up for growers, and it's a business program called Level Up, which is funded by the levy.

Now, through this program funded by the levy, it's available to all growers.

Growers are eligible to access specialized horticulture business consulting to the value of $10,000 per year.

So I know up-to-date analysis of farm data is important for decision making, so this program will add value to any grower who takes up the offer.

It's a great program.

We featured them on the podcast last year.

So looking at how growers can get involved with the process, how do they put their hand up and say they'd like to help?

There are many ways that growers can be involved, and the good news is over the last year, close to 1,000 vegetable growers engaged in some way with Hort Innovation or Hort Innovation projects.

For example, a simple way if you're interested in being involved is the Vegnet program, which is delivered in partnership with Ausveg.

So each vegetable and onion region in Australia hosts workshops, demonstrations, trial farms and grow community meetings.

For example, the Lockyer Valley Growers Association regularly hosts a Vegnet Growers meeting with Darren, the Vegnet Regional Development Officer.

So great ways to engage with your local Vegnet Officer.

A grower recently told me the more we can meet, come together and discuss our challenges and learn from each other and the latest research, the better.

And Vegnet offers this for growers.

So reach out to your local development officer.

Alternatively, if growers want something really simple and quick and easy, to start an engagement is to sign up for our communications by visiting our website at Hort Innovation and become a Hort Innovation member.

That means you'll receive all the latest updates and the opportunities to get involved will be communicated there in new projects or upcoming events and trial sites.

And finally, reach out to our industry dedicated manager.

You can contact Mark Spies and Jason Hinkston.

They'll be more than happy to hear from you.

You can find their details on the Hort Innovation website.

And you may want to get involved in project reference groups, get involved in advice panels, and by doing so you can become more formally involved.

Would you say that the levy system that is used across most Australian primary production sectors gives Australia an edge over some of our competitors on the international stage?

It's a unique system, you know, and I think the benefits of that unique system does deliver a way that Australia can invest in research and development and keep at the forefront on technology and change.

We need to be more productive than our international competitors.

And we've seen that particularly in the last couple of years.

You know, our purchasing power has decreased more than our international competitors, so productivity is critical.

And the way to do that is through research and development.

And that's what the levy system supports and delivers for Australian growers.

So yeah, I'm a big believer in what it can deliver.

Andrew, thanks very much for unpacking that for us.

That's no worries.

Thanks, Tom.

It was a pleasure being here.

I enjoyed the chat.

You're listening to the Vegalogue podcast, brought to you by Ausveg.

On the western outskirts of Sydney stands a glass house a little reminiscent of a cathedral window.

Part of the facility glows pink in the afternoon sun and part pale blue.

The vibrant colours come from special films applied to the glass, which are being trialled for their potential to reduce energy use and increase productivity in protected cropping.

I was given a tour of this technicolour glass house by Associate Professor Chris Cazzonelli and Professor Zhong-Hua Chen of Western Sydney University's Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment.

Chris, for those that are listening to this on the podcast, could you maybe describe the space we're in at the moment?

Yeah, so we're on the Hawkesbury campus of Western Sydney University, and we're in a high-tech glass house here.

It's one of its only kind in Australia.

And in particular, right now, we're in a 420-square-metre production bay.

And to the side of me, we've got eight research bays.

They're all 105 square metres.

And what really makes this glass house high-tech and one of its kind is that it's completely computer-controlled.

So in this bay right here at the moment, this is our teaching bay.

So we're growing capsicum varieties here, where students come in and get engaged to look at how fertigation can affect crop growth and capsicums.

But in behind me, as you can see in the red film, that's a polycarbonate film that's been lined on the roof and on the sides of two of our research bays.

And what it's doing is it's providing more of the red wavelength of light.

So it's removing the green, translating it into more of a red.

And it's also diffusing the light.

So different parts of the crop canopy can get exposed to that light as it diffuses through.

And essentially, the combination of more red and more diffused light can enhance growth.

Behind that, we have two bays of our light-altering film that's got a bluish tinge to it.

In the second generation, it's a little bit less blue now.

And what that film is doing is it's blocking out some of the UV and a bit of the infrared in order to keep out the wavelengths of light that often cause heating within a glasshouse facility.

But you've got to be careful when you're changing the spectrum of light coming through in films, whether it's appearing more red or more blue, you can also alter the metabolism that's occurring and the product quality.

So it's important that you check that the post-harvest attributes of the crop is not altered.

In designing the first generation of film, there was a bit of a reduction in overall light transmission and it stole a little bit of the blue and the red wavelength of light.

So in its second generation, we've sort of re-engineered it to bring back some of that red and that blue and a little bit of the ultraviolet and far red, but also while still hoping that we can reduce the light energy that comes in that causes heating within the glasshouse.

And behind that, we have our control bays where we don't have any film so that we can compare between the red light altering film with the blue light altering film versus the control.

So at the moment, we've got two PhD students and post-docs as well as engineers working together.

The new third generation LEAF film and second generation blue altering film, what we are hoping to do is understand the relationship between light capture that enables photosynthesis and carbon production to that of photo protection, which is understanding how the plants protect themselves on sunny days.

And that relationship we found in our first few studies seems to be linked.

So we're trying to understand how these processes are coordinated with the end goal of trying to essentially keep the plants on steroids, keep them at maximum growth, whether it's a cloudy day, sunny day, whether it's autumn, spring, summer, winter, we can maintain photosynthesis and the plants can protect themselves when necessary.

Unfortunately, these films are reducing photosynthesis to some degree, at least the blue one, and they're also affecting photo protection, where the red film appears to be enhancing photosynthesis to some degree.

So we hope to get into those mechanisms a bit more, and that will hopefully, down the track, lead to the engineering of films that could be almost seen like a chameleon, where they can change their spectrum and characteristics depending on whether it's a bright, sunny day like right now, compared to maybe in days to come being a cloudy day, and they can shift those spectrums of light.

That would be the end goal down the track.

So ultimately, we've got to get a fine balance between the film, the energy use efficiency, and whether you're seeking a gain in productivity or the nutritional value of the crop.

Glass houses use large amounts of energy to maintain a stable temperature, and Professor Chen says even a small energy saving can yield big dividends for growers.

As you probably know, there are two biggest costs in the protected cropping industry.

The first one is of course the labour, then the followed by the energy.

So by reduce even 5% of energy from protected cropping, that will save millions of dollars for the growers.

Assuming the trial results show the improvement you're aiming for, how will you encourage adoption of these materials by industry?

So we've actually have already got some companies showed interest.

I think we have shown some promising results, particularly for the leaf fume.

And those fumes are very flexible, can be adapted to not only the high tech greenhouse you can see here, they can also be directly applied to the mid to low tech greenhouses or polytunnels.

So I can see the potential use by growers in the near future.

And can you apply to existing protected cropping systems, or is it only on new builds?

Those can be applied on the existing ones.

For example, as you can see here, the leaf film is actually attached to the glass house.

So of course this was built before the leaf film was applied.

And for the low tech greenhouses or polytunnels, they can be applied on top of the existing coverings, or even put it inside, depending on the requirement of the grower.

And do you think it can be a challenge to commercialise this kind of technology?

There are challenges.

Particularly, really, I think the grower wants to see the actual cost benefits.

So that's why we have a team of researchers from the School of Business at Western Sydney to look at the life cycle assessment, to look at potentially how this is going to bring if the growers invest to purchasing those films in their greenhouse and whether they can get more benefits or more economic returns.

Of course, those need to be tested.

There are challenges, but I think it's also promising because those films are not that expensive.

And if they get promoted broadly to many growers, then the cost of those films will further be reduced further.

This project is funded by Hort Innovation using the vegetable levy and contributions from the Australian Government under project code VG21006.

Australia generates more than 7.6 million tonnes of food waste each year, or about 312 kilos per person, and fresh produce makes up half of it.

That wasted food costs growers and the broader economy billions and has a huge environmental footprint.

While households are the single largest contributor, on-farm waste also accounts for nearly a quarter.

Finding ways to reduce food waste by collaborating across the supply chain is the mission of End Food Waste Australia.

The organisation has just released its Horticulture Section Action Plan for food waste reduction, and Ausveg's Deborah Hill spoke with the lead author of the plan, Melissa Smith, about where to start reducing on-farm wastage and the potential benefits for growers.

Welcome, Melissa, and thank you for having a chat with us today about this program.

Thanks, Deborah.

So, define food waste, what is that?

Is it food that we chuck out just because we don't eat it, or is it food that never made it to the table in the first place?

This is a common question, and so I'm stoked to be addressing it straight up.

So in Australia, we have a really broad definition of food waste.

We call it everything that was intended to be eaten by humans and doesn't make it to a person's tummy, basically.

So that's everything from when a crop is mature and ready for harvest, so from that point of harvest all the way through to people's homes, anything that was meant to be eaten by people but didn't get there in the end is food waste.

So we clearly know that there is an issue with food waste at the consumer level.

What are some of the other consequences along the supply chain for wasted and lost food?

So we know that about 30% of food waste happens in people's homes in Australia.

So Australia has about 7.6 million times of food that goes to waste every year.

That's enough to fill the MCG to the brim 10 times.

But 22%, so the second highest area is on farms, is where food is wasted in the production phase.

And the consequences of that is a huge economic cost, so it's $36.6 billion a year is the financial cost to Australia of our food waste.

But there's also a huge environmental footprint.

So globally, greenhouse gas emissions from food waste are about 10% of our total greenhouse gas emissions.

That's more than flying.

Food waste is a huge carbon footprint.

So let it end food waste come about, and how are you funded, and what are the aims and targets you have as an organisation?

So back in 2015, Australia committed to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal of harbing food waste.

And then we had to figure out, well, how are we going to do this?

And one of the processes of that was creating the CRC, the Cooperative Research Centre, to look at research and development for how to hit that harbing food waste goal.

Then a feasibility study was done, and that showed that we really needed an independent body to help run all the other parts of it, all the industry work and getting that impact in ways other than research and development.

So that was another arm of the organisation was built.

And so now we're all one organisation called End Food Waste Australia.

We were kicked off with seed funding from government, but we also do have other partners who help with funding along the way.

So your role is within the horticulture sector, if you like.

What are you hoping to achieve from that perspective?

So I lead the Horticulture Sector Action Plan.

So one of the ways that we know that we can get impact to reduce food waste is to look at these really gnarly issues that affect entire industries or sectors, as we call them.

So the baseline research that was done showed that there are a couple of industries that have a large amount of food waste and one of them is horticulture.

And I want to stress again, there's no blame put on the people who are in the horticulture industry.

It's just we know this is happening.

What can we do about it situation here?

So there is a type of planning called Sector Action Planets and we've done those for dairy.

We've done them for bakery.

We've done them for the cold chain and food rescue organizations have come together.

And now we have one for the horticulture sector, which is what I have led.

So that was to get our heads around what are the hotspots of the food waste in horticulture.

And this is going all the way from farm to retail.

We didn't go into people's homes because there's a lot of work already looking at that stage.

So we stopped at the point of people's trolleys.

So you mentioned hotspots within to identify within the different groups.

Horticulture is such a diverse production collection of seeds, isn't it?

So, you know, what happens in a mango farm compared to what happens in a broccoli field in Tasmania are going to be pretty different.

Is there commonalities that have come out of that initial research?

Yeah, so I should point out, so we did a whole of horticulture plan, which was this was funded by the Queensland Department of Environment and Science.

They put up the initial funding to help with it, meet some of their organics strategy work.

And then it was co-funded by our own CRC.

They wanted to have a look at the whole of hort, acknowledging that hort is very complex.

So then doing deep dives, as many deep dives as we could.

And we started with two, which is into bananas and melons.

So that's exactly to address that issue of, OK, we know that there are really varied production systems.

But interestingly, for the whole of hort one, what are the common problems that affect anyone in horticulture, no matter where they sit?

And a lot of those are similar to what we found for bananas and melons.

Do you have some examples?

I'm guessing transport would be one.

Yeah, transport was one of the ones that was caught out most definitely, or the cold chain in particular.

And so we know that the number one hotspot for food waste is at that on farm stage.

However, we also know that it occurs at other stages along the cycle.

And we want to address all of those.

But I personally have a strong focus at that on farm stage.

We know the number one cause for food waste, according to growers, is environmental conditions.

So where does food waste fit into that?

Well, we know that great practices on farm can really reduce food waste.

The more efficient a system is, the less food waste you have.

And we know that growers and industry bodies like Ausveg are already working hard and have been for years to attack that.

We support that.

And we want to say that there's another lens to view this through, that great practice also has great environmental benefits by reducing food waste.

And then there were other root causes such as overproduction.

That's one that we heard about from growers and all the way along the chain.

And it's a tricky one.

But what are some of those systemic issues that really create overproduction where people didn't mean for there to be overproduction?

Is there a risk of solving the problem at the farm gate of then pushing it further down the supply chain?

Yes, that is a risk.

And that is something that was one of our non-negotiables in the criteria for creating solutions.

It had to reduce food waste overall.

It couldn't just push it somewhere else.

So one that comes up is specification.

We hear that constantly, product specifications.

Growers tell us that it is creating food waste on farm for them.

And so it's a really nuanced topic.

And if we just have a knee-jerk reaction and throw open specifications, all that's going to do is push food waste into other parts of the supply chain.

So we need to keep quality high.

From a grower's perspective, you mentioned things like wasting the resources to grow the food.

What are some of the other drivers then for a grower to better use their food without the farm gate waste?

Yeah, so it's a triple win when we reduce food waste.

It's great for people, it's great for planet, and it's great for profit.

And I'll start with the profit one.

We have looked at what's been done overseas and acknowledging that they do have different systems, but there are still learnings to be had here.

When they were looking at who wastes the least across blackberry farms in the UK and looking at the best in class, if other people moved to that best in class, they could increase their profits by 20%.

So that's profit.

Profit is a great reason to do it.

Planet, it's going to reduce your environmental footprint.

It's going to help you access more markets.

So there's a real actual financial benefit to being that bit more having a small environmental footprint.

And then for people, we know that food charities are crying out for more fresh produce.

There's some incredible growers out there who are already doing donations, but we know we can increase that.

Which brings its own challenges too, doesn't it?

We actually have a pretty clear idea.

We've done some great work in talking to growers about who do donate and those who don't donate.

Sometimes they're next door to each other.

So, you know, what's your barrier that this person doesn't have?

And a lot of it's around communication and understanding what is and isn't possible because there's some great programs out there.

For example, Foodbank.

You don't need to pay for the for freighting your produce to Foodbank.

They work with transport to get that freight for free.

So making sure more people are aware of that, trying to expand those programs, it makes sense.

What do you see as some of the challenges for the horticulture industry to take on some of these learnings from the plan and embed the strategies in their own system?

Look, at this stage, we're not really asking people to jump in and pick up this plan, individual growers, and do it themselves.

What we're saying is this is the guidance.

There are some things you can do right now, but really this is to say to all those people out there, the funders, the state governments, the peak industry bodies, the research corporations, to say we know what needs to be done now.

Do you have practical tips for growers then about how they can have a look at what they're doing?

Yeah, that old saying, you can't manage what you don't measure.

And we're actually just trialling a very simple technique actually of in-field measurements so that you can get in there and measure what's being left behind after a harvest and understand if it's first, second or third grade basically.

And so then you can decide is it, what's the cost benefit of either altering the harvesting techniques or doing a second pass or better education for pickers, whatever it may be.

Or it could just be in your packing shed, you know, starting to really calculate what is the waste that's happening in our packing shed, writing it down, getting a tally.

And people, as soon as they start to measure, they always start to reduce.

It's impossible not to just to be a bit more efficient once you shine the light on it.

So give it a go and see if it can bring you in a bit of extra income.

If you hear of us reaching out and wanting people to be a part of trials and pilots, please say yes and then we can make this work.

We can make it beneficial to industry in every possible way.

So what are the next steps for you and the project then, Melissa?

We are busily trying to find ways to implement this plan because we are determined it's not just going to be a plan that sits on the shelf.

It's actually going to come to life.

Melissa, it's been great to have a chat with you about food waste on farms.

So thank you very much for your time today.

Thanks, Deborah.

I think we all got a role to play in reducing food waste and let's do it.

You can find End Food Waste Australia's new Horticulture Section Action Plan at endfoodwaste.com.au or in the show notes of this episode.


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Vegalogue is produced by Ausveg, the peak industry body for Australian vegetable growers.

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