2. Northern Rivers NSW – Agrifood ITAB

Wednesday 7^th September 2022: Tabulam

Beekeeping: Beekeeping and Careers in Beekeeping

Bruce White OAM: Bruce has decades of love and dedication to the rewarding beekeeping industry, spending forty-one years in NSW Department of Primary Industries retiring as Technical Specialist (Apiculture). He is the past Educational Specialist and Biosecurity of the NSW Amateur Beekeepers Association. Bruce has vast experience both overseas and here in Australia, presenting at World Beekeeping Congresses and head judge of honey at the Royal Easter Show . He co-wrote the Certificate III in Beekeeping and has been awarded an Order of Australia Medal for services to beekeeping in 2011 . He has trained 100’s of budding beekeepers all over the world. Bruce is keen to promote best management practices for the success of the industry in the future every season is different and rewarding.

Dr Lamorna Osborne: Lamorna has been a medical Doctor for 45 years and a commercial beekeeper for over 15 years. Specialising in the medicinal honey she has a passion for the medical properties of honey and its application. Her business BioHoney specialise in packaging medical dressing with Australian manuka honey and is pioneering in this area. She has been the President NSW Amateur Beekeeping Association and a board member of the NSW Apiarist Association.

Scientific Research-Pollination: Pollination and food security make bees the most important insect on earth

Carolyn Sonter: Carolyn is an Environmental Scientist and Apiarist and PhD candidate with the University of New England researching the impact of environmental contaminants and agricultural systems on the European honey bee (Apis mellifera). In this role, Carolyn has worked with beekeepers and growers to improve pollinator health and pollination outcomes on blueberry farms. In addition to being the only female-owned and operated honey business in the Armidale region, Carolyn is the Biosecurity officer for the local bee club and provides an advocate service to members of the NSW Apiarists’ Association, affected by mining and other environmental impacts.

Horticulture: growing plants: Grafting, how to grow your own plants and lucrative careers

Des Boorman: Des has 34 years of experience in the nursery industry, production horticulture and has a Bachelor of Applied Science Horticultural Technology. He has a successful and lucrative horticultural contractor and consultancy business. He was the Technical and Business Services Officer for the Nursery and Garden industry NSW for 5 years 2013- 2018. As part of Des’ business he can graft 100 plants per hour. He will demonstrate is technique and expertise in this area. Des is a technical expert on the National Amenity Horticulture Government Advisory Group.

Production Horticulture- Blueberry production: Tips and Tricks, how to maximise your yield

Pita Boronski: Pita is the Nursery Coordinator with Mountain Blue Nursery at Lindendale, NSW. Pita has worked in the nursery industry for over 30 years and was trained initially by Yates, followed by Alpine Nurseries, where she worked with landscape plants, potted colour, and herbs. Pita has recently stepped over to agriculture and primary production and is extremely excited for this new chapter of her career.

Industry Leaders: Question and Answer Panel:

Steve Fuller: Steve is the President of the NSW Apiarist Association and the President of the North Coast Branch of the NSW Apiarist Association. He is also a panel member of AgriFutures ( peak industry-government partnership research organisation). He has been a commercial beekeeper for over 40 years and is a certified organic honey producer and successful pollination business called Bee Services Pollination. He is the Secretary for the Crop Pollination Australia Association. Australian Honeybee Industry Council Centre for Researcher Co-operation.

Rose-Anna Bown: Rose-Anna has worked in senior WHS management roles for over 10 years. Working across areas of WHS, injury management, HR , environment, and Quality Assurance in the food manufacturing and now agriculture sectors. She holds a Bachelor of Psychology (Honours), along with Return to Work, Auditing and WHS qualifications. Recently moving into Operations Management for Mountain Blue’s Tabulam sites, has been an exciting new challenge.

Melissa Wortman: Melissa is a vocational education and training (VET) expert and has 26 years of experience across the agrifood, forestry and utilities industries. She is the Executive Officer of the Agrifood Industry Training Advisory Board and has a successful training and management consultancy business. She has a bachelor’s degree in Environmental Science and close to completing her Masters in Business Administration.