vegetables
VA-SepOct2016
VA-SepOct2016
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19<br />
Photography by Andrew Beveridge.<br />
Vegetables Australia September/October 2016<br />
spinach and rocket to three<br />
main processors – Hi-Tech<br />
Processors, DSA Fresh and<br />
Salad Greens & Kitchen<br />
Herbs Pty Ltd – while the<br />
cauliflowers are supplied to<br />
Fresh Fruit for You at the<br />
Adelaide Produce Market.<br />
“I achieved the sales by<br />
managing to lease a bit more<br />
land, a bit more infrastructure<br />
and slowly grow a good<br />
product and achieve good<br />
produce consistently.<br />
Consistent produce gets<br />
consistent sales,” Tony says.<br />
Like all growers, Tony<br />
experiences setbacks in<br />
vegetable production due to<br />
weather, along with the<br />
challenges associated with<br />
soil conditions and pest<br />
management.<br />
The South Australian<br />
vegetable grower remains<br />
philosophical about these,<br />
opting to take the good<br />
with the bad.<br />
“It (the vegetable industry)<br />
is not an easy industry but<br />
you keep at it. You have your<br />
good runs and you have your<br />
bad runs and slowly, slowly<br />
you get there,” Tony explains.<br />
He added that there are plans<br />
in place to monitor and control<br />
the challenges that<br />
arise on-farm.<br />
“To combat these, I have<br />
regular checks to see if<br />
there’s any pests flying<br />
around, as well as conducting<br />
soil tests and leaf analysis.<br />
We try to compost more<br />
organic matter through<br />
cover crops and spread out<br />
gypsum in the lawn, just<br />
to condition the soil.”<br />
Hail has affected the farm’s<br />
spinach crops for three years<br />
in a row, so there are plans<br />
to protect them from further<br />
damage in the months ahead.<br />
“We may look to plant out<br />
further north or we could set up<br />
some paddocks with hail<br />
netting and try to eliminate that<br />
risk,” Tony says.<br />
Tony has a firm eye on the<br />
future when it comes to the<br />
business. Currently leasing<br />
land, the ambitious grower has<br />
a desire to purchase his own<br />
piece of profitable soil and<br />
continue from there.<br />
“I’d like to purchase my<br />
own land and then have all my<br />
own setup within processing,<br />
growing and marketing – the<br />
full range from start to finish,”<br />
he explains.<br />
There is also a desire to<br />
continue the Catanzariti<br />
legacy in the farming and<br />
vegetable industry.<br />
“Some people may not agree<br />
with it, thinking that the farming<br />
industry’s not the best but I’d<br />
like to have my children involved<br />
in the running of the farm.”
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