Former Growcom chairman John Bishop cuts a towering figure both literally and figuratively across the Queensland horticulture landscape.
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In recognition of John’s extraordinary 45 years of service, the Growcom Board was pleased to award him lifetime membership at a special event in Gatton last week.
The Growcom Board was joined by local growers, dignitaries, staff and members of the Chamber of Commerce to celebrate John’s incredible contribution as one of the horticulture industry’s most dedicated players.
It is a testament to the esteem in which John is held that the Director General of the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries Dr Beth Woods made the trip to Gatton to say a few words.
John began his horticulture career as a vegetable grower in the Lockyer Valley and in later years has moved into orchard crops such as mangoes and figs.
John first became actively involved in industry activities in 1973 and since then has served on almost every possible horticulture committee, culminating in his Chairmanship of Growcom from 2007 to 2013.
He has been consistently involved in biosecurity and environmental initiatives as a member of Landcare Queensland from 1997 to 2005 and the Queensland Ministerial Advisory Committee on Biosecurity from 2002 to 2012.
In recent years he has found a home on the committee for drumMuster, a national environmental program for the collection and recycling of empty, clean, non-returnable crop production and on-farm animal health chemical containers.
As a Director of Growcom, John championed environmental and chemical inititiatives. His major achievements included helping launch the Farmcare environmental code of practice in 1998 and progressing the minor use chemicals registrations system.
John has served on numerous agriculture boards and committees including Austsafe Super, Brisbane River Management Group, Queensland Farmers’ Federation and ChemCert Training Queensland.
In his acceptance speech John acknowledged the importance of organisations such as Growcom and emphasised that it was important for growers to join peak bodies and play an active role if they wanted to see change.
