Celebrating AgDay

On Friday  the nation celebrates AgDay which is the Australian agriculture’s biggest day of the year. The theme this year is “Innovation in Agriculture”, which is what we have come to expect from Austchilli.

“Innovation is at the forefront of everything we do. We are always exploring new ways of doing things and that includes using the latest sustainability practices on our farms and in our production facility. It doesn’t cost the earth to do the right thing by Mother Nature. We work hard to grow nutrient rich fruit that in turn provides people with healthy food solutions” Says David DePaoli, Austchilli’s Owner & Founder.

I am proud to have been farming in the Bundaberg region for more than 50 years and we have now adopted growing principles and systems that go back in time to replicate how the food was grown before the invention of artificial fertilisers and crop protectants. Our agronomy research team use these ‘old-time’ principles together with modern-day science and technology so we constantly improve our growing practices.

One of these principles is the compost we create from the waste out of our production facility. The benefits are two fold, it means we minimise our waste stream as well as helping our plants grow in a more natural way.

This year has seen unprecedented rainfall and consecutive weather events creating supply challenges for not only us but our neighbours and fellow farmers across Australia. A lack of supply of staple fresh produce has put a spotlight on the agriculture industry for Australian shoppers and hopefully increased appreciation for farmers.

Water is precious to us farmers, so we are extremely efficient with our water usage. 100% of the water we use in our production facility used to irrigate our crops.

We are always working towards reducing our carbon footprint and ways to preserve our farming land to ensure Bundaberg continues to be an integral part of the Agricultural footprint of Australia.

Today, take a moment to appreciate the importance of our farmers and workers, who put world class food on our plates, year round.