Since the ABC Rural’s article on Nov 7 about cherries and the wet conditions that growers are facing (see here), there has been a further 200 millimetres (approx) of rain in many cherry growing regions.
The article captures the depth of connection that cherry producers have to their product, and it seems that they—along with other primary producers in all regions—have been facing extreme weather events including flooding, lack of sunshine, strong winds and hail.
Season
At this stage the season is running later than average.
Should further rain hold off, the mid-to-late and later regions will be less affected and will produce some quality fruit. (See Figure 1 for photos taken recently.)
EOI: QFF Hail Plate Monitoring trial
Included with this column is an Expression of Interest regarding a hail plate to be installed in an orchard for two seasons.
The plate measures the number of hits and intensity of hail for a project that is for the purpose of research and development for Celsius Pro.
This company is considering Hail Insurance for primary producers with a key difference being that payout is not based on assessing fruit or tree damage, it is assessed on hail hits recorded on the plate.
There is only a very limited number available for cherry growers, so if you wish to be involved, read about it on page 10 and act quickly.
Excerpt from ABC Rural article
Christmas cherry supply shortage looms as growers battle third La Niña
Shoppers will need to order Australian cherries early this Christmas, with supplies expected to be tight as growers deal with cooler, wetter conditions.
A new report from Rabobank Australia found consecutive La Niña weather events could increase the likelihood of splitting in this year’s cherry crop. Associate analyst Pia Piggott said higher rainfall could lead to reduced local availability of the sweet red fruit.
“Last year, we saw that there was lots of November rain in major growing regions [leading to a] decrease in total production of around 15% and a decrease in exports of around 20%,” she said.
“When there’s the unseasonal rain, we have less of the quality cherries that we’re able to export and that definitely has an effect on farmers and their margins.”
With widespread flooding already expected to drive up the price of fresh produce, Ms Piggot said cherries could also be more expensive this year.
“We do expect that, because the supply is tight and producers’ input costs have been rising, including additional costs because of the rain, we might see elevated prices in the retail space,” she said.
Ms Piggot said growers with protected cropping were less likely to be have production losses.
Peter Brooke has just finished putting up more netting over his organic cherries in Barmera, in South Australia’s Riverland. He said heavy rain in late October had led to fruit splitting for his first crop…
Rain and cold weather will also delay cherry picking on the NSW south west slopes, but Young grower Scott Coupland said he believed there would be plenty of fruit for Christmas…
See also this recent article in The Age.
See this article in Tree Fruit November 2022
