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The Fertcare Accredited Adviser Program assesses the competence of advisers to make nutrient recommendations. The assessment is based on standards set by the Australasian Soil and Plant Analysis Council (ASPAC), which have been mapped to national competencies.
The standards cover the process of making recommendations, the underlying data that supports the recommendation, sampling methodology and laboratory competence.
Recommendations are tested for completeness and for appropriate management of environment and food safety risk. The standards are based on accepted scientific consensus with ASPAC providing advice on any dispute or review.
Fertcare Accredited Advisors must complete Level C training as a prerequisite to assessment.
Once an advisor has been assessed as competent they are then subject to a biennial audit of randomly selected recommendations made in the preceding two year period. The audit is a quality assurance process to ensure that the competence is being routinely applied and provides mechanisms to improve and rectify any underperformance. The audit will also provide farmer customers with confidence that the recommendations made are not influenced by fertilizer sales targets. |
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Both the assessment of competence and the biennial audit can be assessed either on an individual applicant basis or on a systems basis. For a system to be successfully assessed it must be capable of demonstrating that the standards that apply to individuals are systematically applied to all users of the system and that appropriate training, assessment and record keeping is maintained. This is further tested by individual assessment of a selection of advisors who use the system.
The Fertcare Accredited Advisor Manual contains the detailed procedures and standards used in the assessment of competence and biennial audit.
The Fact Sheet provides a two page summary of the main features of the program.
Those wishing to apply for individual assessment should contact Chris Dowling at the Back Paddock Company:
1800 557 166
If you would like to discuss systems assessment contact FIFA:
02 6230 6987 |
Fertcare Accredited Adviser Program Manual.pdf