Welcome all NGIT members to the 1st edition of Tassie eNews for 2016

The Tassie eNews newsletter will be produced on a regular basis with the intention of keeping all our Tasmanian members up-to-date with all relevant nursery and garden industry information.

We encourage all our members to share with us any news, story ideas, innovations and information concerning the nursery and garden industry.

In this issue we will touch on some of the up-and-coming events, important calendar dates, past and previous events of interest, plus we will feature a selection of member benefits. 

Over the coming issues you will meet the members of the NGIT Committee and administration.

We welcome input from all members, and are here to assist you in promoting anything from events to innovations throughout NGIT's professional network.

We have some exciting new projects on the drawing board and welcome suggestions from all members throughout Tasmania.

What's on in this issue

• Introduction & welcome from our President
• Southern Member social drinks @ Cargo
• Structure Review Consultation Meeting
• Myrtle Rust Stakeholder Update Report
• HALS Site visit & presentation
• 2106 Conference Award Winner
• Member Benefits
• Website coming soon!
• NGIT Facebook Page
• Nuffield Scholarships
• Advertise with us!

Introducing our Nursery and Garden Industry of Tasmania's President

Mark Van der Staay is a 3rd generation nurseryman with 17 years experience
in the nursery and garden industry.

In 1956, Mark's grandfather Henry Van der Staay, established Westland Nurseries in Lenah Valley; in 1984 the family business relocated to the
present 34 hectare property at Seven Mile Beach.

Westland Nurseries is a wholly Tasmanian family owned and operated wholesale business, specialising in advanced trees which employs over
40 people.

Twelve months ago, with the support of the committee, NGIT underwent a restructure; a new committee was created with Mark elected as President

'I'm looking forward to working closely with all NGIT members over the next year and encourage out members to take advantage of the information and benefits NGIT has to offer'.

Mark and his wife Melanie have 3 young girls, plus his constant shadow,
his Border Collie - Maverick.

Southern Members Social Drink

All southern NGIT members should have received an invitation to come along for a casual drink to discuss some of the proposals and changes that may need to be considered with the up and coming Nursery & Garden Industry Structure Review Consultation Meeting scheduled for Wednesday 18th May.

The outcome of the proposal may see the amalgamation of NGIA into one governing body which could have wide ranging effects on our Tasmanian memberships and affect areas such as Bio Security, accreditation and funding.

NGIT encourages all Tasmanian industry stakeholders to make well informed contributions and submissions to the Structure Review Consultation Meeting by encouraging all members to attend the meeting if possible or complete a written submission via the NGIA website.

You are all invited to catch up and have a casual discussion over a drink on Wednesday evening @ 6.30 pm at Cargo (RSVP below please).      

The Structure Review Committee is pleased to announce they will be visiting Tasmania to facilitate consultation meetings with industry stakeholders as part of their broard ranging, whole of industry review to assess the current structure of the nursery and garden industry in Australia.

The Structure Review Committee is an independent committee which has been tasked to review the bodies representing growers, retailers and suppliers in the industry. The Committee is made up of industry members and operates without the interference or influence of existing bodies.

For more information please visit www.ngia.com.au Industry Structure Review.

All members of NGIT are invited to attend the consultation meeting and contribute to this review process.

Campbell Town Consultation Meeting - Wednesday 18th May 2016

Venue: Zeps, 92 - 94 High Street, Campbell Town

Time: 11.00am start - 12.30pm

As light catering will be provided, we ask you RSVP your Attendance by emailing kobie.keenan@ngia.com.au

Myrtle Rust Update 26th April 2016

Dept of Primary Industry, Parks, Water and Environment

A Myrtle Rust Emergency Response was initiated on 23rd February 2015.

Current Status Report

As at 26th April there have been 59 Myrtle Rust detections on Lophomyrtus plants in the North West Coast area (Burnie, Wynyard, Ulverstone and Devonport) and
11 detections in Launceston - all in residential gardens. The majority of the plants have subsequently been removed and destroyed, with only the most recent detections still to be removed.

DPIPWE require resident and business assistance to discover and report  the presence of Lophomyrtus plants on properties to the hotline.

The Myrtle Rust Management Group is meeting weekly and is in the process of updating a number of guidance documents associated with the response including incident appreciation, pest risk analysis and eradication technical feasability based on findings this season.

No evidence of the disease has been found in the southern part of Tasmania or in the wild at this stage.

The latest detections in home gardens highlights the need for continued vigilance by nurseries, garden contractors, local government, natural resource managers, community groups and the general public, particularly during warm weather and humid conditions which create an ideal environment for Myrtle Rust.

Biosecurity Tasmania is working closely with nurseries to ensure signs of the disease are reported immediately. Measures are in place to stop the spread of Myrtle Rust between nurseries.

Myrtle Rust Hotline: 03 6165 3785

Information, including photographs of Myrtle Rust are available on the Biosecurity Tasmania website www.dpipwe.tas.gov.au/myrtlerust

Click below for a full PDF copy ofthis Myrtle Rust Stakeholder Update Report

Horticultural and Landscape Supplies - Site Visit

Last month, Steve Gavalas of Horticultural and Landscape Supplies invited all NGIT members to take part in a guided tour of his Brighton facility.

NGIT members were given an intensive tour of the HALS property where Steve and his knowledgeable staff explained their production processes in depth.

When it comes to specific soil mixes, HALS promote a ‘Mix on Demand’ policy and are happy to work with anyone requiring either 1 or 100 cubic metres, 

delivering statewide.

After lunch, Max Edgley treated NGIT members to a presentation on soil health ‘The Secret is in the Soil’. Max is presently studying his PhD in Horticultural Science at UTAS. The presentation covered the areas of potting mix design, types of soil and how to improve soil texture, composting, structure and organic matter, soil chemistry, wetting agents, fertilizers, quality testing and analysis.

HALS was established in 1982 as a wholesale business, servicing hardware and garden centres throughout Tasmania. Taken over by Steve in 1991, HALS has grown to one of the largest garden wholesale businesses in Tasmania with representatives in the north and south of the state, and distributing some of Australia’s recognized garden supply companies. HALS customers range from small independent growers and nurseries to some of Australia’s largest chains and supermarkets.

A full gallery of images will be displayed on our new website.

Australia's nursery and garden industry shone a spotlight on the nation's most outstanding nurseries and garden centres at the prestigious national awards
in February 2016.

The Awards recognise and reward excellence within the nursery and garden community and acknowledge industry leaders as they strive to achieve best business practice.

All of us here at NGIT take pleasure in congratulating
Stoneman's Garden Centre
on taking out the prestigious award of the
Tasmanian Retailer of the Year.

For a full list of all 2016 Nursery and Garden Industry Award winners visit  www.ngia.com.au

Member Benefits

Just a reminder to all our members of your member benefits and entilements which are part of your annual subscription.

NGIT offers all members access to accreditation, seminars and industry workshops, assistance from technical and commercial developmental officers, and Industrial Relations consultations through the Centre for Tasmanian Industry. 

We will be promoting all our member benefits in future Tassie eNews issues.

Centre for Tasmanian Industry

The Centre for Tasmanian Industry (CTI) is committed to providing excellent individualised service and advice that assist employers to achieve outcomes that maximise competitiveness, quality, cost, safety and investment of their people.

The CTI team has extensive knowledge, expertise and relationships and sources specialised experts only when needed to ensure that members access timely, cost effective integrated services across strategic, personnel, health, risk and operational management areas.

CTI specialises in Industrial Relations and Human Resources, represtations and negotiations, health and safety, and strategic and operational business management. 

The future issues of Tassie eNews  will feature some of these areas of interest in detail and how they may benefit your businesses. 

NGIT would like to remind all members that they receive the following:

• FREE membership with Centre for Tasmanian Industry (valued @ $605 inc GST)
• Access to CTI phone advice line or face-to-face meetings
• A substantial discount on services and rates
• Access to CTI as your Industrial Advocate with Fair Work Australia 

Please phone 03 6244 8881 or email admin@centretasindustry.com to make an appointment to discuss what assistance CTI can provide.

NGIT Website - Coming Soon!

We like keeping all our members informed and up-to-date with the most recent industry information and to facilitate that we will be launching our own Nursery and Garden Industry of Tasmania website. 

Our NGIT website will feature all and any information that is relevant to our Tasmanian members. We are creating an interesting, informative and engaging  digital platform that will allow NGIT members to network and share information and innovations with fellow members throughout our state.

Stay tuned - we'll keep you posted on the soon to be launched NGITas website.

NGIT Facebook Page

NGIT or Nursery and Garden Industry of Tasmania has just launched our own Facebook page and invite all our active 'Facebook Friendly' members to 'LIKE' our page by clicking this link.

Facebook is another great way to keep in touch with our members, it's casual and informal yet can also be very informative. Social media advertising is a great marketing tool for any business in today's fast moving and modern world and we encourage all our members to become our Facebook Friends.

We intend to be regularly posting interesting articles and information from all areas of our industry and encourage our members to engage in this simple form of networking and communication.

Nuffield Scholarships

Applications for the 2017 Nuffield Australian Farming Scholarships
are officially open!

For more information please visit www.nuffield.com

or click here to download the online brochure 

Advertise with NGIT Tassie eNews

Tassie eNews is one of NGIT's key methods of communication that is delivered statewide to all our member's in-boxes regularly.

So if you have an event you would like to promote, a training course, product you wish to sell or promote, or a position you wish to fill we invite you to consider advertising with us for FREE.

We extend this offer of FREE advertising space to all our NGIT members for up to 4 advertising spaces per year*. 

For further details please contact Kay Carney @ admin@ngitas.com.au

*Terms and conditions do apply. All advertisements must be content appropriate to the nursery and garden industry and will undergo approval by NGIT Administration. 

Non-members are welcome to apply for advertising space for a nominal fee.

So a big thank you to all members for taking the time to read through
our First Edition of the NGIT's Tassie eNews and we look forward
to your feedback, story ideas, and the sharing of information. 

 Have an Awesome Autumn!