Sharon Elphinstone recommends that young women make the most of every career opportunity, as Elders prepares to celebrate the International Day of Rural Women on October 15, 2022.
“Have a go and don’t limit your options,” she says, reflecting on her own career journey over nearly 30 years to product manager – potatoes with Elders.
When Ms Elphinstone left Tasmania with one bag and a suitcase and joined Elders at its Pakenham branch back in 2005, she didn’t imagine that she would be heading up the company’s national potato business by 2017.
Five years on, she manages national seed production of Elders’ potato varieties as well as overseeing the assessment and development of new potato varieties for the Australian market, with the support of eight Elders agronomists and field staff.
The company imports three to six new varieties every year, mainly from the United Kingdom and Europe, to see whether they are better than any of the 289 varieties currently grown in Australia.
Ms Elphinstone says working with potato seed growers, buyers and industry representatives is one of the most enjoyable aspects of her job.
“We rely on approximately 30 potato seed growers in Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia and Western Australia to grow the certified planting material from the mini-tubers for supply to commercial growers,” she said.
“In fact, Elders is a major supplier of certified planting material and inputs to the potato industry, with specific varieties grown to supply the fresh market and processing for chips and potato crisps.”
Whether it’s looking at new planting material, handling sales and logistics, talking to growers or sorting out payments, Ms Elphinstone says her job offers plenty of autonomy and variety.
“I enjoy the business and there’s something new happening every day,” she said.
According to the latest statistics from AusVeg, the industry’s peak body, potatoes are Australia’s biggest vegetable crop, valued at more than $807 million at the farm gate in 2021.
In this same year, Australian growers grew more than 1.4 million tonnes of potatoes, with two-thirds of the crop supplied to processors and the food service sector and one-third sold through the fresh market, including supermarkets and other retailers.
“Whether it’s whites, creams, yellows or reds, for the table market, potato crisps or French fries, potatoes are grown year-round in all states of Australia,” Ms Elphinstone said.
“Elders has a long-term commitment to the industry, bringing in new varieties as tissue culture and managing them through the process of quarantine, laboratory and field assessment over several years before deciding whether to release them commercially.”
“As part of this, we test the market fit of each new variety with buyers.
“Only one or two new varieties make it through these assessments each year, before the plants are multiplied by our seed growers and introduced in key potato areas such as Ballarat, Otway, Portland, the Mallee, Kangaroo Island and Gippsland for further scrutiny.”
There are very few people who can match Ms Elphinstone for the depth of her knowledge and experience in potatoes.
Ms Elphinstone grew up on her parents’ cattle and vegetable farm at Thirlstane, near Devonport ion the north coast of Tasmania, picking up potatoes for pocket money from her father in the summer holidays.
Uncertain of her career options, she spent 12 months studying business administration at Marcus Oldham College in Geelong before returning home and picking up field work with a local farm consultant and then with McCains, based at Devonport.
In 1994, she started working with one of McCains’ field officers in potatoes, travelling around the state measuring and monitoring crops for processing for four years.
Her work in potatoes continued at the Tasmanian Department of Agriculture where she was a certification officer and helped oversee the production of mini-tubers for six years.
She then moved to the mainland to join Elders as a potato technical officer in 2005, doing everything from leaf sampling and virus testing to running trials all over the country.
“These were early days for Elders in the potato market, so it’s been good to be involved in growing our business over the last 18 years,” Ms Elphinstone said.
“And I’m looking forward to contributing to the potato industry and continuing our growth in the years ahead.”
Chris Willis, Elders category manager – seed, congratulated Ms Elphinstone on her long and successful career at Elders and in the potato industry.
“Not only is Sharon well known in the industry, but she also has excellent rapport with potato growers,” he said.
“Few people can match Sharon for her knowledge and understanding of the potato production system, which is invaluable in her work at Elders every day.”
