THE Almond Board of Australia is encouraging more growers to sign up for Almond Hort360, an online best management practice portal. It allows growers to assess their operations and see how they compare to others in their industry.
The portal is made up of a series of self-assessment modules on different topics designed to give growers a 360-degree view of their farming operations. The Almond Board of Australia has worked with growers and industry experts to develop eight core modules. Module development was prioritised by the ABA’s Sustainability Committee based on industry needs and other modules will be made available over the next year and a half.
Modules available: Pollination, Irrigation, Pesticide, Workplace Health and Safety, Managing Waste, Energy and Emissions, Biosecurity and Nutrient.
Modules to come: Soil, Integrated Pest and Disease Management, People and Place, Biodiversity, Climate, Better Business, and Offsite Impacts.
One of the benefits of Almond Hort360 is that data collected by the platform will assist the ABA in pinpointing areas that require additional resources, identifying research and development opportunities, and addressing industry needs.
The platform has been trialled by early adopters providing insight into the kind of outputs that can be generated.
Each module comprises different subtopics or ‘farm management areas’ which are displayed in the box and whisker diagrams.
The box plots summarise farm management area scores into the maximum, 75% quartile (the value at which 75% of data points are below), average, 25% quartile (the value at which 25% of data points are below) and the minimum. For each farm management area, a score of 75% or higher indicates that best management practice was met or exceeded.
While Almond Hort360 provides valuable insights for the industry, its primary purpose is to help almond growers identify areas for improvement and implement positive changes on farm. Continued next page
Figure 1. Percentage score per farm management area included in the Pollination module.
Pollination module analysis
For the Pollination module the highest score recorded for each farm management area was between 90% and 100%. The mean score was greater than or equal to 75% for four out of the five farm management areas indicating that best management practice was generally achieved. The average score for pollination efficiency was below 75% suggesting that there is room for improvement. Although on average participants scored well on the Pollination module, significant variation in scores highlights that there is still room for improvement across all farm management areas.
Figure 2. Percentage score per farm management area included in the Irrigation module.
Irrigation module analysis
Overall participants scored highly on the Irrigation module. For all farm management areas, the highest score recorded was 100%. The mean score for each farm management area was equal to or greater than 75% for all farm management areas indicating that participants generally met best management practice. Sustainability strategies showed the greatest variation, with 25% of participants scoring below 60%. This highlights an area where improvement is needed.
Program leads to savings, efficiencies
WALKER Flat Almonds in South Australia’s Murraylands has completed seven of the Almond Hort360 modules. The Assistant Manager at the 167-hectare orchard, Melina Mueller, said it’s good to identify areas to improve.
“The advantage is you are not competing against anyone else, and you can’t fail Almond Hort360, you can only improve," she said. “It’s just a quick assessment and it prompts you to think about things that can improve.”
Melina said a module takes around 20 to 30 minutes to complete if you have all the information, otherwise could take a little bit longer. “Most of the questions were relatively easy to answer and if you are in a management position you’ve got the required resources in front of you,” she said.
Melina found the modules on Managing Waste and Pesticide to be the most valuable for her business. “It was a good reminder about the product recycling schemes that are available such as Drum Muster and Big Bag Recovery,” she said.
Melina said some growers possibly would be able to identify cost savings by completing the modules and striving for best management practices. “If you aren’t as efficient as you could be, there could be an opportunity to save money, particularly in the irrigation, energy and managing waste topics,” she said.
Walker Flat Almonds Assistant Manager Melina Mueller says Almond Hort360 has identified cost savings and improvements that can be made on-farm.
“It really is something that is fast and relatively easy – view it as a self-assessment and a way to improve.”
Modules on Biosecurity, Pollination, Irrigation, Pesticide, Workplace Health and Safety, Managing Waste, Energy and Emissions and Nutrients are available, with more to be added in the future. Growers keen to find out more about Almond Hort360 can sign up online here. Anyone who has already applied to join the program can log in here.
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When each module is completed an action plan is developed which includes:
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A risk assessment for each question, rating responses as ‘very high’, ‘high’, ‘moderate’, or ‘low’ risk.
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Resources to help reduce risk and make positive changes on farm.
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A peer-to-peer performance graph similar to the box and whisker plots in this article, so growers can see how they compare to others in the industry.
Individual data is held with the Almond Hort360 system. Any data that is utilised by the ABA is deidentified. You can view the ABA’s privacy policy here.
Growers keen to find out more about Almond Hort360 can sign up online here.
Anyone who has already applied to participate in the program can log in here.
Figure 3. Percentage score per farm management area included in the Pesticide module.
Pesticide module analysis
For each farm management area, the highest score recorded was between 90% and 100%. The mean score was 75% or higher for four out of the five areas, indicating that best management practices were generally met. However, the average score for spray system setup suggests there is room for improvement. Planning exhibited the greatest variation, with some scores as low as 50%, highlighting a significant opportunity for improvement in this area.”