EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
Granite Belt Growers Association is overseen by a committee of nine members. Our Executive Committee has a wealth of experience, in a wide range of areas, across the horticulture industry, each offering a unique set of skills and viewpoint. Meet our experienced and enthusiastic Executive Committee below:
Connie Taylor
PRESIDENT
Married to Raymon Taylor in 1999, we are 4th Generation vegetable growers . Together with Ray – we have bought our business into the 21st century with progress growth over the 21 years, increased knowledge in soil nutrition, innovation in our water management and Integrated Pest Management just to name a few. We grow a range of vegetables including Ice-berg Lettuce, Wombok, Celery, Silverbeet, Cauliflower and Mini Cos Lettuce. We crop all zones twice a year over 700 acres and we rotate these zones to produce for 12 months of the year.
Richard Ross
VICE PRESIDENT
Richard is a Zimbabwean-born farmer with 10 years of broadacre cropping experience, covering Western Queensland and Northern New South Wales. For the past four years, he has been the summer cropping manager for Ashbern Farms Stanthorpe, producing field grown strawberries. Richard studied at Harper Adams in England, where he developed a passion for using technology to solve agronomic problems with out-of-the-box thinking. His driving focus is water efficiency and believes that “…the sooner we help each other, the better farmers we will be. Collaboration is better than competition.”
Jessica Andreatta
SECRETARY
Jessica runs a 450 acre gourmet tomato and capsicum farming operation with her husband David at Ballandean. Jess operates a stand-alone tomato and capsicum packing facility for a number of growers in the region. Jess has a amazing passion for the farming community of the Granite Belt and believes the Growers Association can give our community a real voice across Queensland.
Katherine Gow
TREASURER
With a family history of working in the horticulture industry in the Granite Belt region, Katherine divides time between the family farm (Gows Produce) and working in the Regional Services team of the Department of Education.
Nathan Baronio
COMMITTEE MEMBER
Nathan is a 3rd generation farmer working with his brother to run their family farm Eastern Colour. Eastern Colour specialises in protective cropping of strawberries in conjunction with the businesses long standing supply of apples and pears to the Queensland market. With a background in marketing and sales, Nathan is passionate about collaboration in order to increase marketing activities and sales performance of the members of the Granite Belt Growers Association.
Paul McMahon
COMMITTEE MEMBER
Paul is a 4th generation farmer, operating McMahon Bros. Orchards with his family since 1929. Specialising in organic fruits, Paul grows apples, berries and stone fruit and prides himself on their chosen growing methods, promoting the utmost freshness and flavour.
Angus Ferrier
COMMITTEE MEMBER
Angus is a passionate and innovative farmer who runs Rosemary Hill Orchard, a family-owned and operated stone fruit orchard producing early season peaches, nectarines and plums. Prior to joining the family orchard, Angus spent 10 years in the construction industry as a Project Manager.
Susan Giacosa
COMMITTEE MEMBER
Susan and her husband Terry operate Terry’s Sweet Persimmons, cultivating over 1000 persimmon trees in their Fuyu persimmon orchard. Susan also devotes much of her time as a quality assurance consultant, assisting growers with their numerous compliance obligations.
Michael Simpson
COMMITTEE MEMBER
Michael and his family operate a gourmet tomato farm in Ballandean. As a generational farmer, Michael has been a farmer his entire life, learning everything he knows from his dad, and passing his knowledge to his own son.
SUPPORTING LOCAL GROWERS
Membership is open to companies or individuals directly engaged in the growing of horticulture produce within the Granite Belt region