THE Nutrien Harcourts annual conference and awards forum at Ingot Hotel, Belmont, last month was a chance to celebrate a strong year for the company, recognise its top real estate performers, set the dial for some future strategies and hear from a selection of guest speakers.
Nutrien Ag Solutions region west manager Andrew Duperouzel acknowledged the efforts of the real estate team and said with two months still to run for the completion of the company's financial year, the division had already exceeded budget expectations.
While it had been a consistent team effort, western region corporate and business development manager Glenn McTaggart announced the season's standout performers for the July 2020 to June 2021 selling season.
Geraldton-based sales representative Brad King topped the honours list when he was awarded the gold achievement award for highest overall sales.
Midlands sales representative Terry Norrish won the silver achievement award while Gingin-based Adam Shields, who has finished on the top three podium every year for the past 12 years, claimed the bronze achievement award.
At the other end of the State, Denmark-based couple Dennis and Leisha Davis were named best residential and lifestyle category performers for highest number of sales.
Rob French, Midvale, placed second and Michael Greenwood, Kellerberrin, and Chelsea Adams, Midvale, finished in equal third place.
Carbon farming was one of the hot topics on the conference agenda and recognition of its place in the future of agricultural landholder decision-making was acknowledged by Mr Duperouzel, who announced the company had just employed a sustainability specialist to start in January.
Guest speaker, Select Carbon chief executive officer Dean Revell took conference attendees through "a carbon farming 101 session" saying there was potential for huge overlap between their two companies.
"We have 10 million hectares in Australia under carbon farming projects, but there is upside for a lot more with plenty of people and businesses willing to pay for others to store their carbon for them," Dr Revell said.
"Farmers and pastoralists are, in a sense, already carbon farmers because they need carbon to sustain any form of plant growth.
"But our job as a service provider is to measure, monitor and verify the process and document the new actions that increase the amount of carbon in vegetation or soil if carbon credits are to be obtained."
The spot trade price for selling carbon sat at almost $40 a tonne up from about $17 in November 2019, while the Clean Energy Regulator price was $17, up from about $14 in 2015.
Partnerships manager Aaron White and campaign strategist Jaydon Braun from online real estate trading platform Openn Negotiation gave insight into new developments from their company.
Nutrien Harcourts staff have had considerable success in 2021 using its Openn Negotiation auction platform, which allowed buyers to bid from wherever they were in the world and in the case of farmers meant they did not have to leave their property to attend an auction sale.
Two new platforms, an Australian first Openn Offers and Openn Tenders which are soon to be released, were also keenly welcomed.
Mr McTaggart said Openn Offers, in particular, would be well suited to an expected increase in the number of properties being offered for lease, as it enabled a lessee to select their preferred option, not necessarily the highest bid option and could remove some of the sensitivities that may exist when friends and neighbours were involved.
Meteorologist Neil Bennett discussed the implication of decreasing rainfall and increasing temperatures saying its impact on real estate could be in making marginal Wheatbelt areas more marginal, a bigger spread between the 'good years', an affect on fruit setting potential in orchard belts and beach erosion in ocean suburbs.
The conference concluded with a sundowner in the Ingot Hotel Sports Bar.
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