THE Almond Board of Australia has a new Swan Region grower director, with Peter Tana stepping into the role previously held by Stephen Beckwith. Mr Tana is an owner/director of Indian Ocean Farms and has been involved in growing almonds since 2015.
During this time he has overseen the installation of a new on-farm hulling and shelling facility.
Mr Tana also has more than 20 years' experience in the olive industry. He was involved in the establishment of more than 1,000 hectares of olive trees and has been running the growing, harvesting and processing operations.
Mr Beckwith’s departure from the ABA comes after he changed roles, moving from almonds to carrots. Mr Beckwith has been involved with the almond industry for six years and said being connected with the ABA has been terrific.
“We generally don’t have the opportunity to get to field days but the work that the extension staff do, the webinars etc, being on the chemical committee, which I chaired, and also the production committee was really valuable for us to develop relationships and gain information,” he said.
Mr Beckwith said the almond industry is very welcoming and people are willing to share information. “Not too many horticultural industries are like that,” he said.
The orchard is three hours north of Perth, halfway to Geraldton and 90 minutes inland from the coast. The orchard's neighbours are large grain farmers.
While other almond growers might be able to visit a neighbouring grower to discuss issues, this isn’t possible for Western Australia’s only almond orchard, but Mr Beckwith said he is still well connected with the industry.
“There’s a lot of colleagues that we have now that are only a phone call away and we can chat about experiences,” he said.
“Although there’s the geographic spread there, it’s amazing the similarities and challenges across the other side of the country.”