26 Years of Knowledge, Trust and Friendship: Farewell to Jyri Kaapro

After more than 26 years working across turf, ornamentals, vegetation management and forestry, Envu Technical Services Manager – Turf ANZ, Jyri Kaapro, is retiring from full-time work.

Jyri's career has spanned significant change in the Australian turf industry and the businesses behind it. Since joining Aventis CropScience in March 2000, and subsequently working through Bayer and Envu, he has built a reputation for technical expertise, rigorous product development and an understated approach that has earned the trust of colleagues and turf professionals across Australia.

From turf research to industry

Jyri's foundations in turf began well before his commercial career.

While completing his Masters at the University of Sydney, he had the opportunity to learn from some of the formative figures in Australian turfgrass research, including Professor Peter Martin, Peter McMaugh and Dr Percy Wong.

Jyri later worked at the Australian Turfgrass Research Institute before an opportunity arose to join Aventis CropScience as a Research and Development Specialist in March 2000.

"At that time I needed a change from the work I was doing, so I was very fortunate when I was approached by Aventis," Jyri recalls.

What followed was a career that would take him well beyond turf alone.

"The variability of the work is what I've really enjoyed. Moving from a golf course to a farm to a nursery to a forest, every day is different. And I enjoy being outdoors."

A career built around innovation

Product research and development has been a constant throughout Jyri's career, and it is the projects offering genuinely new approaches to existing problems that he remembers most fondly.

"I guess the projects with real innovation are the ones that I most enjoyed. Initiator and SilvaShield are the two that come to mind. They showed a different way of tackling particular problems and they worked really well."

Another molecule with which Jyri has had a particularly long association is indaziflam.

In 2005, Jyri and his family spent several months in North Carolina, where he worked at the company's research station, principally on a new molecule then known internally as "437".

Today, that molecule is known as indaziflam, which Jyri believes continues to provide significant value across turf and vegetation management.

The North Carolina assignment also became one of the highlights of his career.

"It was a great group of people at the research station and a truly memorable experience for us as a family."

For Jyri, however, product development has always been about more than bringing something new to market. It is about developing the depth of knowledge needed to ensure a product can be recommended with confidence.

"Our products are backed by in-depth research and we have a good understanding of how they work and how they should be used. Good technical backup is important for the commercial team."

Knowledge only has value when it can be understood

Over more than two decades, Jyri has become recognised for the depth of his technical knowledge, but his approach to technical support has remained remarkably straightforward.

"Trying to explain something in a way that people can understand I think is the key. You can impart information, but if it's not understood, it's not going to be implemented."

It is a philosophy he has applied not only to customers and the industry but also to mentoring and supporting other technical professionals throughout his career.

His advice to somebody beginning a technical career today follows the same practical approach.

"Be honest. 'I don't know' is a valid answer. Don't make up something if you don't know the answer."

An industry transformed

The Australian turf industry Jyri leaves is very different from the one he entered commercially in 2000.

"When I started commercially we totally dominated the supply of plant protection products to the turf industry. This has changed now with many international and local competitors."

He believes one of the industry's significant challenges for the future will be attracting and retaining people.

"Staff recruitment is a major hurdle for the Australian turf industry. The cost of living in the major cities makes it tough for young people to start in the turf industry when they can be financially better off in other industries."

At the same time, he sees considerable opportunity ahead.

"The future will be exciting, with technologies like autonomous equipment and AI set to make a significant impact."

The relationships that last

Despite a career built around science, products and technical development, when Jyri reflects on more than 26 years in the industry, it is the people rather than the products that feature most prominently.

"I've made friends for life through the turf industry. A lot of us have aged at the same time, so we've gone together through the ups and downs of life, sharing similar experiences."

Those relationships have been built through decades working with turf managers, superintendents, researchers, distributors, colleagues and other industry professionals around Australia and internationally.

Travel has been another highlight. While Jyri has enjoyed opportunities overseas, his involvement in forestry and vegetation management has also taken him into more remote parts of Australia — something particularly suited to someone who readily admits he is "not really a city person".

Asked what he will miss most about his working life, his answer is immediate.

"That's definitely people!"

Leaving knowledge behind — and making way for what's next

After a career of more than 26 years, Jyri is surprisingly reluctant to nominate a legacy he would like the industry to remember.

Instead, his answer reflects the scientific curiosity and willingness to keep learning that have characterised his career.

"Any contribution I've made will be superseded with new technology and knowledge. I hope people embrace those developments rather thanremembering anything about what I did."

It is perhaps an appropriate perspective from someone whose career has been devoted to developing, testing and communicating new knowledge.

And after more than a quarter-century working in what remains a relatively close-knit industry, Jyri offers one other piece of advice:

"Don't burn bridges. It's a small industry and you don't know down the track who you are going to be working for, with or against."

A new chapter

While retiring from Envu, Jyri isn't planning to leave the turf industry entirely. He intends to undertake some consulting work, increase his involvement in volunteering and devote considerably more time to family.

Travel is also firmly on the agenda.

"Certainly want to do more travel — a lot more travel."

Jyri leaves Envu after more than 26 years with a contribution that can be seen across product development, technical research and support, and in the knowledge shared with generations of turf professionals.

More importantly for Jyri, he leaves with something that has endured through all the changes in companies, products and technology along the way: friendships built across an industry and a career he has clearly enjoyed being part of.

Envu thanks Jyri for his outstanding contribution and wishes him and his family every success and happiness for the next chapter.