By Mara Pattison-Sowden
THE Yarra Valley is leading the way for the Australian cherry industry with sustainable and money-saving techniques for getting the best out of crops.
The 41st Australian Cherry Industry Conference was held in Melbourne and hosted by the Victorian Cherry Association.
The conference included a field day to two of the Yarra Valley’s own cherry producers, OakSun in Yellingbo and Chappies in Silvan.
OakSun Cherries managing director Franklin Trouw said more than 150 people attended the field day where farmers could look at new growing systems and the advantages of high density plantings.
Mr Trouw said OakSun in particular, which grows up to 20 varieties of cherries, had been able to locally manufacture a purpose-built steel rain covering system in the Yarra Valley.
“Rain is one of our biggest threats – the cherries crack and are deemed un-saleable, and we get quite a bit of rain at harvest time,” he said.
“It uses a plastic covering system, which is vented. It’s sustainable and costable, and is currently being exported to America.”
Mr Trouw said Chappies has moved to high density plantings because the land values were so high in the Yarra Valley.
“To remain costable, we need to have these systems to maintain the yield,” he said.
American cherry grower John Morton has been travelling the world for the past 15 years looking at how other businesses can enhance their market.
Mr Morton, who grows more than 40 hectares of cherries in Oregon, said one of the things he learned from Australian growers was to grow “bush-type trees” that are closer to the ground.
“In Oregon we’ve transferred the knowledge and reduced picking from ladders. We can pick twice as much from the lower height,” he said.
Mr Morton also spoke to delegates about his cherry “crop crash” financial disaster in 2009.
“We had a bumper crop and the packing sheds packed fruit that was too small for the market and was refused buying,” he said.
“You need to grow good quality fruit and make sure the sales agent picks and sells only the best fruit.
“Growers that put little input in can ruin the market for everybody with low quality and cheap produce.”
