By JONATHON HOWARD
ONE of Ballandean’s first stone fruit farms, Carawa Orchids, has pushed out more than 40 hectares of nectarines as the Granite Belt undergoes a major horticultural shift towards more viable produce.
Pressure on growers to make every square metre of land and every megalitre of water count, continues to reach new heights with fierce competition from the southern states.
Carawa Orchids owner Ian Mungall, who has been working the Emu Swamp Rd property all his life, said growing stone fruit had become uneconomical and competing with the southern states unviable.
Mr Mungall said it was a trend being felt throughout the Granite Belt as many other growers faced similar challenges.
Carawa Orchids has instead shifted towards strawberry nursery production to supply strawberry runners to surrounding growers, which yield greater returns and require less upkeep.
Mr Mungall said it had been a tough decision and one he did not reach easily.
“A huge increase in production and the shopping chains favouring the southern states, has applied a lot of pressure on the stone fruit industry here,” he said.
Mr Mungall said that in order to continue nectarine production, almost $1 million was needed to upgrade vital hail netting.
“We were still competitive, but the added costs of maintenance for hail netting and the returns we were getting meant we needed to make the shift,” he said.
“We had to weigh up the amount of input required to achieve viable production and we couldn’t see it being a part of our business into the future.”
BREAKOUT
Southern advantage
SOUTHERN growers in areas such as Shepparton have the added benefit of a longer growing season, more land, less hail risk and better access to water.
There was now a shift towards the berry market across the Granite Belt, which requires less maintenance and yields greater returns.
Mr Mungall said that in his opinion the single biggest threat to this region was the availability of land.
“I have recently been astounded by the numbers of larger farms that have been divided up for smaller parcels of residential farms, with many prime areas now lying dormant.”
Mr Mungall said the issues facing Granite Belt growers were complex, but the need for a new dam could be unwarranted.
“As more and more growers shift or sell it will make justifying a new dam – with the dam costs being passed on to a dwindling number of users – difficult,” he said.
Mr Mungall said the shift could also have major impacts on the region’s economy with fewer orders for fertiliser, less demand for staff and greater supply from the competitive southern growers.
“The reality is that the region has missed the boat and while the dam was needed now, there’s little justifying the cost into the future,” he said.
