ACE OPEN DAY
Recognition for Ross Skinner
AT the Almond Centre of Excellence Open Day , the main road into the property was named in honour of former Almond Board of Australia ( ABA ) CEO Ross Skinner , who dedicated a significant amount of time to lobby for the establishment of the facility . He said it was a huge shock to be singled out . “ It was very generous of the ABA Board and ABA CEO Tim Jackson to do that , because there were a lot of other people who contributed significantly to the Almond Centre of Excellence ,” he said . Mr Skinner said the ACE Committee and its chair Brendan Sidhu , along with the guidance of ACE farm manager Anthony “ Wocky ” Wachtel and assistant farm manager Melissa MacFarlane also needed to be acknowledged . “ It ’ s been a great team effort to bring it to fruition , that needed the support of not only the funding bodies but the ABA Board and staff ,” he said . Mr Skinner said having the orchard transferred to ABA ownership was part of the terms of the lease agreement with the South Australian Government . “ It ’ s important that industry has control , as it allows the ABA to invest heavily , knowing that they have ownership of the orchard and the assets on the site ,” he said . While Mr Skinner has retired from the ABA he still enjoys visiting the ACE Orchard and hearing how the trials are progressing .
At the open day former ABA CEO Ross Skinner had the main road at the ACE orchard named in his honour , to recognise his efforts to establish the site .
“ Given the amount of time and effort invested in getting the orchard established , I ’ ve retained a keen interest in how it ’ s operating and the trials , which will form the basis of future industry production systems ,” he said . Mr Skinner said the work on rootstocks , tree architecture and the management of irrigation and nutrition are all important elements of the production system .