February 2012 - No 3 - Cherry Growers Australia

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Point of View This page is available for contributions by all members for news items from their region, comments on issues of concern, new ideas etc. If you have anything you would like to contribute, please email to office@cherrygrowers.org Victorian Cherry Conference “Review the Season and Plan for the Future” March 1 st & 2 nd 2012 Wangaratta Region All Australian Cherry Growers invited For more information go to website www.cherries.org.au or contact the VCA office on ph: 03 58253700 or email: info@cherries.org.au Fruit Growers Tasmania farewelled 2 staff members in December. Sally Tennant retired and she and husband Chris have moved to Queensland to be close to family and avoid the Tasmanian winters. Kelsie Linell left to pursue a new career in the dental industry. We would like to thank Sally and Kelsie very much for their hard work and service to the industry and wish them both all of the best for the future.
STATE REPORTS The NSW season has been another disaster for growers with some growers reporting the season to be worse than the previous year. Another wet season and damage ranging from 65 - 95% from growers in both Young and Orange leads to support for an EC application for the NSW industry. At present confidence in the industry is at an all-time low due to two of the worst seasons on record, little available markets and poor domestic performance. Some growers have already left the industry, removed their trees and some growers are looking to exit the industry if things don’t improve in the near future. The Young district hosted the Chinese delegation on their audit of cherry growing regions throughout Australia. The meeting went very well and the Chinese were impressed with what they saw from our growers. It is a must that we have access to the Chinese market, they have the market that will take all we can produce subject to quality, especially as we have the market to ourselves before Chile and New Zealand. Growers are waiting to see what the draft protocol is and they want a favourable protocol so more product can be sent offshore. Growers in NSW are very disappointed with the draft protocol that Thailand has asked industry to accept. The growers feel this will be another market lost even if we do accept the protocol. Under the current protocol no cherries will be exported from NSW and it will be a long time before changes will be made. Thailand was our third largest market and always paid a premium for fresh cherries from NSW. On a personal note I would like to thank Wendy Batinich for all her help with all the delegations that came to our district. It was the busiest time of the year for her with their operation especially as the district was faced with so many challenges. She made sure that everyone was well fed and catered for and it was much appreciated by all. Reports from the markets are that things are bad and it could get even worse. There is oversupply of all products and some of the independent stores may close their doors. Price wars, high rents and a lack of confidence in the economy all lead to pressure on the retail sector resulting in the shops being very cautious on what they buy. Something needs to be done and fast or we will not have a horticulture industry in the very near future. Fruit fly numbers across the traditional growing areas in NSW have been maintained low. However, growers need to act now to control them. As chemicals are being withdrawn and there are more abandoned / neglected orchards about. Bait sprays, MAT will help but it is a community effort that is required if we are to succeed. Andrew Jessup has done some work on cherries being a non-preferred host and some of the early results look promising. We are not out there to prove cherries are a non-host but just a nonpreferred host and to reduce the risk of Q-Fly within cherries and make it easier for market access. Once again there is plenty of cherry slug around but as for tree health all trees in NSW are in very good condition. It’s now a matter of everyone remaining positive. Scott Coupland President NSW CGA REFRACTOMETERS FOR SALE Check the brix of your cherries before harvest 0-32 Brix $89.95 plus postage 0-80 Brix Jam Refractometers $134.00 plus postage
Page 1 and 2: February 2012 - No 3
Page 3 and 4: Andrew Smith—President CGA W ith
Page 5 and 6: CGA Chief Executive Officer � Tai
Page 7 and 8: Cherry orchard biosecurity workshop
Page 9 and 10: A producer who sells cherries by re
Page 11 and 12: 2011-12 Export Report
Page 13 and 14: 2011-12 Export Report
Page 15 and 16: LATEST CHERRY RESEARCH Managing nut
Page 17 and 18: into fruit is mainly after cell div
Page 19 and 20: Continuous Improvement for Horticul
Page 21 and 22: EXPORT Culture Thailand Country Fac
Page 23: According to Thailand Customs and T
Page 27 and 28: STATE REPORTS The Tasmanian cherry

February 2012 - No 3 - Cherry Growers Australia

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