It does seem ironic that during serious long term drought that rain during the cherry seasons caused losses due to rain cracking and that the last two seasons that have been wetter than average, the rain damage has still continued to a certain extent.
Predictions for the total Australian sweet cherry crop have been rising along with some of the increased plantings across the country. It does seem as though serious data collection of tree numbers, tree age, rootstocks, varieties, harvest timing, and yield would be useful for the industry to chart its growth, and plan where it is heading.
I understand Cherry Growers of Australia are heading down that path, but unless there is sufficient levy money available, other projects may have a higher priority.
The last five years have seen significant tree numbers planted in most cherry growing regions.
What we do not always hear about is the trees that are removed because; they die, they get replaced because the variety is no longer popular in the market, they are too old to be financially earning their place in the orchard, or other reasons.
I am one who has been warning of the giant crop that is coming, when all regions have a big crop, with little damage by weather. There have been very big crops in recent years, but weather event damage by rain, hail, floods, and extreme heat have been knocking down the production of sound marketable fruit.
But it will happen one year, and the industry and its players will require a strategy to deal with it, to be prepared. It would be expected that a large national crop would assist the marketing and research and development funding.
Unfortunately these funds may be a season too late in helping to deal with these industry issues, but not too late to help with the next mammoth crop.
In the meantime, we all must do whatever it takes to increase domestic consumption of fresh cherries just as the industry is rightly portraying the health benefits of eating them.
Exports for Australian cherries seem to be hampered by bureaucracies and governments that that have a vested interest in their own futures rather than the future of horticulture and the future of food production. Don’t you agree?
For information, images and contact details, see the February 2012 Tree Fruit.
