FORMER Grain Growers chief executive officer Alicia Garden has landed a new gig.
She’s been appointed the chief executive officer of Discovery Ag, a wholly owned spin-off of Delta Agribusiness. The business, which launched just two months ago, will offer precision agriculture products and services.
In August Ms Garden suddenly resigned from Grain Growers Limited, with the official line she had left to spend more time with her family.
“More recently I’ve been in the policy and industry services space rather than commercial. I entertained staying that space but I was very excited when I was approached by Delta. Discovery Ag has huge potential and I can’t wait to see what we can do,” Ms Garden said.
In her new role, she will work alongside Delta Agribusiness co-founder, now managing director of Discovery Ag, John Pattinson.
During the next 12 months the pair, with Mr Pattinson in Young and Ms Garden in Canberra, will focus on three key projects: the expansion of its weather station and soil moisture network; the development of grower-focussed decision support platforms and the national roll out of ‘Precision Area Contracts’.
Strategic partnerships will form the cornerstone of the young business. It has an established partnership with GrainCorp to provide a contract option to precision farmers. It is also partnering with Grain Growers to develop crop forecasting software.
With degrees in information and technology, Mr Pattinson said Ms Garden was the right person for the job.
“Discovery Ag is a new and exciting venture, with a rapidly evolving pipeline of opportunities and it will be wonderful to have Alicia as a key member of the team to make our concept a reality,” Mr Pattinson said.
Discovery will operate with a “resource light” model. Ms Garden will be responsible for the development and implementation of Discovery Ag’s three-year strategic plan while Mr Pattinson will take care of business development, new product creation and marketing.
