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WGCSA May Update

Plenty of post vintage conversations took place earlier this month at our strategic planning day at The Barossa Cellar. Nothing compares to a group of engaged and honest Growers in a room sharing vintage stories, ideas, and frustrations.

As part of the day, we were thrilled to welcome 3 fantastic guest presenters who spoke on their strategies and thoughts for the future along with potential collaborative opportunities.

A huge thanks to:
Ashley Keegan Chair - Australian Grape and Wine (AGW) Vignerons committee and CEO of FABAL Operations
Caroline Rhodes CEO Primary Producers SA (PPSA)
Prof. Mehdi Doroudi Chief Executive, Primary Industries and Regions SA (PIRSA)
for contributing to our day in such a positive way. I sincerely look forward to continuing and building on the strong relationships we have with you all.

Our strategic planning day also included many grower members who brought practical knowledge and insight to the conversations along with some big sky thinking.

For me the day could be summarised as an honest and respectful exchange of ideas, experiences and opportunities while understanding our immediate limitations, and acknowledging the harsh realities of an Industry under pressure.

Sincere thanks to all who travelled short and long distances and gave up your time to actively contribute to the conversations and help formulate the future – it was so valuable and truly appreciated.

Our facilitator Troy Forrest (Strategy Road) and I are currently working to finalise the draft Strategic Plan which will be shared in due course.

As a result of feedback on the day, I’m pleased to introduce a Primary Producers SA section to this and future newsletters. I hope this will help members stay informed of work taking place and opportunities to be involved.
To kick off, Who is PPSA? See below to find out who they are and what they do.

Our latest round of EcoVineyards workshops with project partner Retallack Viticulture are underway. Those who attended the Coonawarra and Kangaroo Island workshops were extra lucky to have Dr Mary Cole (Agpath) share her vast knowledge on soil health, microbiology, composting, nutrient cycling and much more. Thanks to the Limestone Coast Landscape Board and Kangaroo Island Landscape Board in helping bring Dr Cole to your regions. All reports back were unanimous – she was awesome!

Following, we have the latest news from Australian Grape and Wine, details on how to access a free Roadworthy Heavy Vehicles – made easy workshop, an opportunity to nominate the 2022 Ag Town of the Year and meet another one of our amazing EcoGrowers.

As we head into winter, enjoy the rain, cosy fires, comfort food and red wine!

Cheers,
Lisa Bennier

In this issue

Roadworthy Heavy Vehicles- made easy workshop
Tax Time
Who is PPSA?
The search is on for the next AgTown of the year
Meet the EcoGrower - Kerri Thompson
18th Australian Wine Industry Technical Conference (AWITC) to be held in Adelaide
Australian Grape & Wine newsletter
Australian Grape & Wine 2022 Member Survey

Roadworthy Heavy Vehicles- made easy workshop

PPSA are seeking interest to deliver FREE regional Roadworthy Heavy Vehicles - made easy workshops.

It's a great opportunity to understand the theory behind heavy vehicle checks and receive a free practical check up of the vehicle (See further details below).

If your region has an interest and can get 10+ attendees, PPSA will run the workshops.

Click here to find out more.

The ATO has developed a range of resources to help agriculture workers get their tax right in preparation for 1 July 2022.

Tips to make tax time a breeze

Lodging your tax return doesn’t have to be hard yakka. The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has a range of resources and tips to make tax time a breeze and help you understand what you can and can’t claim this year.

Click here for a useful guide on deductions for our Industry.

Top tips:

Check out the ATO’s work-related expenses guide for agriculture to find out what deductions you can claim if you work in agriculture. The guide has also been translated into other languages.
If you’re lodging online, the best time to lodge is from late July. By then, all your information from employers, banks and health funds will be automatically included in your tax return. All you need to do is check the information and add anything that’s missing.
Once you’ve lodged, you can check the progress of your return online by logging into ATO online services through myGov or using the ATO app. Remember, most tax returns lodged online take about two weeks to be processed.

For more information, visit ato.gov.au/agriculture.

Who is PPSA?

Primary Producers SA (PPSA) is the peak industry body representing the interests of South Australian primary producers.

In this role PPSA interacts with the Minister for Primary Industries and Regional

Development, PIRSA, many other SA Government Departments, the Commonwealth Government and national industry organisations.

The Wine Grape Council of SA works in collaboration with PPSA and its fellow commodity groups on shared cross-commodity issues.

Click below to read the new PPSA strategy snapshot.

Read the Strategy Snapshot

The search is on for the next AgTown of the year

Nominations are now open to crown the fourth annual winner of the South Australian Agricultural Town of the Year, following the Eyre Peninsula community of Kimba taking out the crown in 2021!

The award recognises regional towns that are excelling in agriculture and the flow-on effect this has on a township and community.

Anyone can nominate their favourite agricultural town by simply visiting the AgTown website, with nominations open until Friday 17 June 2022.

Nominate here

Meet the EcoGrower - Kerri Thompson

Find out why regenerative farming and respecting the land are top priorities for Kerri and how EcoVineyards has become a supportive layer of her vineyard management.

Australia’s premier wine industry events, the 18th Australian Wine Industry Technical Conference (AWITC) and WineTech 2022; and will be held in-person at the Adelaide Convention Centre from 26 to 29 June 2022.

Registrations are open!

Australian Grape & Wine newsletter

Don't forget! WGCSA members whose principal business is wine grape growing are members of Australian Grape and Wine.

Click the button below to read the latest AGW newsletter. If your principal business is grape growing and you would like to receive the newsletter directly and vote at general meetings, send an email to laura@agw.org.au.

Latest Newsletter

Australian Grape & Wine 2022 Member Survey

As the new membership year for Australian Grape & Wine members approaches, they want to ensure the issues they have identified as their main priorities for 2022-23 are aligned to the priorities of grape and wine businesses around Australia.

They have compiled a very short survey to help them gauge the importance of these priorities at the business level. It should only take 2-3 minutes to complete.

AGW would be very grateful if our members would complete the survey using the link below.

Survey