INDUSTRY NEWS
Growing Almond Leaders program underway
Merbein almond grower Neale Bennett shows the Growing Almond Leaders group through the Whole Orchard Recycling Trial on his orchard.
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THE 2026 Growing Almond Leaders program is underway. Eleven participants from the three major almond growing states have been selected for this year’ s intake:
• Anna Eadie – Almond Board of Australia
• Stuart Hastie – Australian Farming Services
• Daniel Horn – Select Harvests
• Peter Jealous – Almond Board of Australia
• Sean Leesure – Almondco
• Samir Mecwan – OFI
• Jarryd Petch – Aroona Farms
• Bala Varra – Australian Farming Services
• Alex Voutier – Australian Farming Services
• Abby White – White Blossom Consulting
• Eryn Wrigley – Yenda Producers Cooperative
The participants met in Mildura for a three-day residential in January for presentations, group discussions, site visits and other activities. The topics covered included learning about leadership styles, the gobal /
In A Nutshell- Autumn 2026 Vol 27 Issue 1
Almond Board of Australia’ s Peter Jealous, Select Harvests’ Daniel Horn and Murray Downs Almond’ s Alex Voutier during the first residential in Mildura.
national drivers impacting the almond industry, strategic and critical thinking, effective communication and presentation skills. The cohort visited the whole orchard recycling trial at Neale Bennett’ s property in Merbein South, where SARDI researcher Nigel Fleming discussed the results so far. Garry Minter from Minter Magic at Iraak then took the participants for a tour of his family’ s property, discussing some of the new innovations and explaining how the crops grown on the farm have changed over time. The next residential will take place in Loxton in May, giving those who are busy working the almond harvest time to focus on getting the crop stockpiled and ready for processing. Monthly webinars have commenced as well, with the February session focusing on the Almond Board of Australia’ s structure, funding model and a marketing overview. The webinar in March will focus on governance. In coming weeks, participants will be matched with mentors to further enhance their leadership journey. At their final residential, participants will present their group projects, with each project addressing a key industry challenge or opportunity. This will be followed by their formal graduation at the Australian Almond Conference in October, where they will also showcase their project posters.