About the Board
AgBiTech Pty Ltd was formed in 2001. The board of AgBiTech is made up of the directors with a similar vision for the development of Australian research for integrated pest management:
- Jeff Bidstrup (Chairman and Director)
- Patrick Buerger (Managing Director)
- Anthony Hawes (Marketing Director)
- Wade Bidstrup (Director)
Director Profiles
Jeff Bidstrup
Jeff Bidstrup
(Chairman and Director)
Jeff has been a graingrower since 1970 and a cottongrower since 1987. Jeff's family farms 1600 hectares at Warra on the Northern Darling Downs to dryland cotton and grain, 500 hectares in partnership at Jimbour and have just developed 400 ha for irrigation on their 3000 ha property at Condamine in southern inland Queensland.
Jeff has been a member continuously of the Graingrowers Association and latterly Agforce since he began growing grain, and has held several local positions and delegate positions.
An active member of The Darling Downs Cottongrowers Association since 1987 and a committeeman almost continuously, he was treasurer for three years, vice president for one year and active on many committees.
Jeff has also been chair of the Brigalow Floodplains Landcare Group, and inaugural chair of the Brigalow Jimbour Floodplains Group. These groups were much lauded, and won many awards at state and national level.
In 1999, Jeff and wife Marilyn were named as winners of the Queensland Landcare Primary Producers Award. In that year they also won the Australian Cottongrower of the Year Award, after winning the Australian Dryland Grower of The Year Award.
The first people to grow naturally coloured cotton in Australia, they remain the only ones to have done it commercially. This involved using heated greenhouses and teaching themselves to plant breed to improve quality and yield. It was initially very successful, but the market declined rapidly and commercial production stopped in 1997. They now produce and sell a line of clothes made from their own naturally coloured cotton.
In 1999 Jeff was appointed as Director of the Cotton R&D Corporation. and held that position until 2005. In 2005 he was appointed as Director of Cotton Seed Distributors.
In conjunction with eldest son Wade, Jeff developed and manufactured all the machinery to automate the mass rearing and harvesting of the heliothis for the manufacture of ViVUS at both AgBiTech facilities.
Patrick Buerger
Patrick Buerger
(Managing Director)
Since completing his BSc degree in South Africa in 1975 Patrick has been involved in the agricultural industry. His experience includes farm management, crop protection and water resource management. In recent years he has made a significant contribution to Integrated Pest Management (IPM) in Australian agriculture.
Patrick was central in the development and commercialisation of a US-made NPV in the 1990s during his time with Rhône-Poulenc Rural.
Patrick made significant contributions to the agricultural chemical industry while representing his employer on a number of important industry committees. These include AVCARE Herbicide Resistance Action Committee (AHRAC), AVCARE Fungicide Resistance Action Committee (AFRAC) and AVCARE Insecticide Resistance Action Committee (AIRAC). In the latter committee he served as chairman for two years. During this period he was able to make a number of significant contributions to the industry. He was instrumental in guiding the AIRAC member companies to establish a working group, involving the chemical industry, researchers, growers and agronomists, which successfully developed a resistance management strategy for diamondback moth (Plutella xylostella) in brassica crops. As AIRAC chairman he was the chemical industry representative on the TIMS committee which manages and monitors cotton's transgenic and conventional insecticide resistance management strategies.
As Managing Director of AgBiTech Patrick has been central in the development of systems, equipment and processes to manufacture and formulate ViVUS and Magnet. He is passionate about the need for sustainable solutions to pest management in agriculture and is committed to establishing the company as a major player in this area.
Anthony Hawes
Anthony Hawes
(Marketing Director)
Anthony completed his Bachelor of Science in Agriculture Degree at Sydney University in 1994, with fourth year specialisations in Agricultural Economics and Agronomy. After finishing university, he worked for Agrisearch Services, a leading contract field trial provider, testing pesticides across a wide range of agricultural industries including broadacre cropping, pome fruit, grapes, cotton and turf in a large geographical area from central Victoria to Southern Queensland.
Following this role he took a position with Bayer Crop Protection. In his time with Bayer, he was involved in the development of agricultural chemical products, market research and marketing of the company's broadacre product range.
Since the formation of AgBiTech, Anthony has been closely involved in the production aspects of manufacturing a biological insecticide, along with management of the company's product development, regulatory affairs, sales and marketing efforts. He has a vision for the organisation to become the leading supplier of IPM solutions to Australian farmers.
Wade Bidstrup
Wade Bidstrup
(Director)
Since completing his Bachelor of Engineering (Mech) Degree at the Queensland University of Technology in 1999, Wade has been involved in the agricultural industry. His short experience includes farm management, mechanical design and construction as well as the development of an insectary and larvae harvesting facility. From 2000 to 2002, Wade extended his studies to include a post graduate certificate in rural science (cotton production), which focuses on sustainable and environmentally conscious agricultural production, with an emphasis on cotton production.
Wade's agricultural experience centres on grain, pulse and cotton production. He has also been part of a team developing an irrigation system on a property west of Condamine in Queensland. A strong focus of this project has been the comprehensive tail water reticulation and storm water capture systems to exceed the cotton industries self-imposed environmental criteria.
As a Director of AgBiTech, Wade has been centrally involved in the development of systems, equipment and processes for the mass rearing of Helicoverpa armigera and the manufacture of high quality nuclearpolyhedrovirus. His engineering knowledge has enabled in-house development of the equipment for egg collection, larval handling, pupae harvesting, virus extraction and automated dispensing for cost effective manufacturing of ViVUS.
