Australian Berry Journal - SPRING 2020 - Edition 4

AUSTRALIAN

SPRING 2020

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BENCHMARKING

RUBUS BUYERS

P L A N T E A R LY

WHICH BEES

Benefits the bold

Who are they

To boost yield

Love blueberries

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HAND-HELD TECH BEATS PAPER

A FAMILY AFFAIR

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I N D U S T R Y

R U B U S

S T R A W B E R R I E S

B L U E B E R R I E S

What’s happening in your Industry

How do pollinators behave in tunnels?

Early planting to impact yield

Expanding options for blueberry rust

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A round up from the IDO Team

08 – 12

Pinata’s first year of Raspberries in TAS

Benchmarking in WA

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Rising berry stars

Electronic traceability

New Blackberry Breeding Program

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ASD – A family affair

ABGA Voluntary Levy

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77

Meet SA Organic Strawberries

What’s in store this season

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Tasmanian labour survey

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Strawberry Sundae lives on

Why do bees love blueberry flowers?

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84 Costa growing blueberries in the west

Combined treatment post methyl bromide

Who’s who in Hort

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NEED COVID-19 INFORMATION OR TEMPLATES? Visit: Bit.ly/BA-COVID-HUB E D I TO R Jane Richter TERES Communication 0431 700 258 jane@teres.com.au

C O N T R I B U TO R S Rachel Mackenzie Peter McPherson Simon Dornauf Jonathan Shaw Richard McGruddy Melinda Simpson Dr Angela Atkinson

Bron Ford Claire McCrory Dr Katie Dunne Jane Richter Dr Chris Menzel Michael Tarbath Michele Buntain Sophie Parks

Leanne Davis Madlen Kratz Bart Kellet Henrietta Child Bryn Edwards Jen Rowling Sally Chesworth Paul Horne

Greg Calvert S.P. Singh Dr Dylan McFarlane Dr Scott Mattner Apollo Gomez David Oag

Do the right thing with water in NSW

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A DV E R T I S I N G For all Advertising & Partnership Enquiries Jen Rowling | 0448 322 389 | jenrowling@berries.net.au All advertising and advertorial material is subject to review and approval prior to publication.

DESIGN Kern & Kraft Design | www.kernandkraftdesign.com.au

DISCLAIMER: Whilst every care has been taken in the preparation of this journal, the information contained is necessarily of a general nature and should not be relied upon as a substitute for specific advice. The advice and opinions in the articles published in Australian Berry Journal are essentially those of contributors and do not necessarily reflect the views of Berries Australia or the Editor. The advice is at the reader’s own risk, and no responsibility is accepted for the accuracy of the material presented. Inclusion of an advertisement in this publication does not necessarily imply endorsement of the product, company or service by Berries Australia or the Editor. Horticulture Innovation Australia Limited (Hort Innovation) makes no representations and expressly disclaims all warranties (to the extent permitted by law) about the accuracy, completeness, or currency of information in Australian Berry Journal. Reliance on any information provided by Hort Innovation is entirely at your own risk. Hort Innovation is not responsible for, and will not be liable for, any loss, damage, claim, expense, cost (including legal costs) or other liability arising in any way, including from any Hort Innovation or other person’s negligence or otherwise from your use or non-use of Australian Berry Journal or from reliance on information contained in the material or that Hort Innovation provides to you by any other means. Copyright © Horticulture Innovation Australia Limited 2020 Copyright subsists in Australian Berry Journal. Horticulture Innovation Australia Limited (Hort Innovation) owns the copyright, other than as permitted under the Copyright ACT 1968 (Cth). Australian Berry Journal (in part or as a whole) cannot be reproduced, published, communicated or adapted without the prior written consent of Hort Innovation. Any request or enquiry to use the Australian Berry Journal should be addressed to: Communications Manager, Hort Innovation, Level 7 | 141 Walker Street, North Sydney 2060, Australia | E: communications@horticulture.com.au | P: 02 8295 2300 Wherever you see this logo, the initiative is part of the Hort Innovation Blueberry, Strawberry and Raspberry and Blackberry Fund. Like this publication itself, it has been funded by Hort Innovation using the Blueberry, Strawberry and Raspberry and Blackberry R&D levy and contributions from the Australian Government.

Some projects also involve funding from additional sources.

I N D U S T R Y

Executive Director's Report Rachel Mackenzie | 0408 796 199 | rachelmackenzie@berries.net.au As an industry we must embrace opportunities to employ more Australians, but we must not let governments think that is the only solution. It is completely unrealistic to think that we can shift the dial from a seasonal workforce comprising around 5% locals to even come close to meeting our seasonal workforce requirements, but we absolutely need to lift the number of Aussies on our farms.

It is hard to believe we are already at the end of August of this very strange year.

While farmers the world over are used to dealing with mother nature’s curve balls, the rest of society is now catching up with the realisation that there are some things you just can’t plan for. The challenge is now to work with policy makers to make sure they don’t make decisions that make it impossible for you to provide high quality fresh produce to your customers.

We also need to do more to attract the workers, whether they be backpackers or locals, to the berry industry.

Unfortunately, the industry still has reputational issues.

Whilst a recent report from the Fair Work Ombudsman shows that the Caboolture area in particular has shown a significant improvement, the perception remains that the berry industry does not treat its workers well and this means they are going elsewhere.

Last week I had virtual conversations with more than 100 growers around Australia. I was very impressed by how you are all getting on with things in the face of ever-changing border rules, new WH&S requirements and a general sense of uncertainty. I also heard loud and clear that you are deeply concerned about having enough workers, not only for the upcoming season but also into next year.

Berries Australia is looking at innovative ways to showcase the opportunities for the workers in our sector including highlighting stories from pickers who have earned more than $3000 in a single week.

We are also looking at ways that growers can use SEDEX or Fair Farms as a way to show workers they are good employers. But the stories won’t stick whilst some growers, whether it be through labour-hire or direct employment, don’t pay decent piece rates or mistreat their workers in other ways. On behalf of the whole berry industry, I urge every one of you to check that your workers are being treated properly.

State governments need to get on board with the Australian government’s willingness to allow workers from the Pacific into Australia. I am hopeful that by the time you are reading this all State governments have made a formal request to the Australian government, but right now we are working very hard behind the scenes to make that happen.

Again, I would like to give a big shout-out to the IDOs and the Berries Australia team who are doing an enormous amount of work trying to support you in these difficult times. Please continue to raise your issues with them or me and hopefully together we can weather whatever COVID-19 throws at us.

I understand that Pacific workers are not the solution for everyone but if we can access these workers then there are fewer growers trying to tap into the everdiminishing pool of backpackers.

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Chairman's Report Peter McPherson | 0418 666 651 | peter.mcpherson@costagroup.com.au now required to lodge a DA for nets and farm dams.

Whilst at the moment this is a “Coffs issue” the risk is it will set a precedent for other regions. Therefore, it is important that we push government to properly consider the requirements of modern farming so that advancements in farming practices undertaken on rural and agricultural zoned land are also reflected in the planning legislation and not simply dealt with by the imposition of DA’s at an individual council level.

Welcome to the Spring edition of the Australian Berry Journal. Obviously, the key issue on everyone’s minds is the continued COVID-19 crisis and impacts on the availability of workers. Berries Australia is working with the Australian Fresh Produce Alliance and the other peak industry bodies through the NFF Horticulture Council to push for meaningful solutions but there are no silver bullets.

Whilst COVID-19 certainly is a huge issue, we cannot lose sight of the fact that there are many other challenges to ensuring that berry production remains profitable and sustainable into the future. One of our biggest challenges is maintaining our social license or “right to farm”.

Those of us who live in the Coffs region are regularly reminded that not all of the community is behind the industry despite our significant economic contribution to the region. The situation in Coffs may sadly become the situation across Australia unless we learn from what is happening and take steps to address these issues before they become an impediment to the industry.

The Berries Australia team is working to raise these issues with government, however, the situation is not helped by consistent reports of non-compliance with water regulations and workforce laws. It is difficult to make the case that industry is operating at best practice and deserves support if growers don’t comply with the rules already in place. As we are entering into a period where competition for workers will be high, the poor reputation of some berry growing regions may really start to have big consequences in terms of worker availability.

In response to the ongoing uncertainty around borders both international and domestic, the Berries Australia committee made the decision to postpone BerryQuest until 2022. This is disappointing but the cost and effort involved in getting a world class conference off the ground means we need to give it the best chance of success.

The NSW government has recently appointed an Agriculture Commissioner, former head of the Federal Department of Agriculture Daryl Quinlivan. This appointment has been made in recognition of the need to explicitly develop policy frameworks that support agriculture and the ‘right to farm’. That being said, this is not an invitation to do whatever you want, instead it is an important opportunity to define what farming practices are acceptable and reasonable in the running of a productive farm and making sure the planning frameworks recognise those practices.

On the positive side, demand is strong and the quality of berries across the board is top-notch. I am looking forward to the PIB AGMs in October where we can reflect on what has been a truly unprecedented year.

My feeling is that without a strong united industry body delivering a structured communications program and lobbying on our behalf we all would have been worse off. Please continue to support your PIB and Berries Australia and I look forward to working with you as we move into 2021.

Up until recently the use of nets for the growing of berries in many regions has not required a development application (DA). The Coffs Harbour City Council planning department has interpreted the NSW planning laws in such a way that growers are

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Chairman's Report Simon Dornauf | 0408 681 206 | simon@hillwoodberries.com.au 2020 just keeps dishing up the challenges for our industry and for each of us personally too. For those in Victoria, the last couple of months have been particularly difficult as a result of going back into full lockdown; and the rest of the country continues to live on edge, hoping not to face a second wave of COVID-19 to the degree that Victoria has experienced.

out of work and so many opportunities on-farm, now appears to be an ideal time to revisit this process and rest assured that the collective energy of a large number of people are focussed on this right now.

For the strawberry industry, it’s a difficult time given that growers in the Winter production regions are expected to order plants for the 2021 season shortly, and Summer production will ramp up in the next few months. Feedback from Queensland is that growers are erring on the side of caution with plant orders for Winter 2021, attempting to balance the risk of a labour shortage against a profitable level of production.

From an industry perspective, we are now facing significant difficulties with potentially unprecedented labour shortages. The Federal Government’s decision to restart the Seasonal Workers Program has definitely been welcomed by those farms who have the infrastructure in place and are Approved Employers. It won’t help everyone, but it will take some pressure off the ever-diminishing pool of Working Holiday Makers.

On a positive note, its great to hear that the northern region of the Granite Belt has been receiving plenty of rain, so runner production is back on track in those areas. The southern region hasn’t been as blessed, so indications are that there will be a reduction in fruit production out of Stanthorpe this Summer season.

Berries Australia has been on the front foot throughout this ordeal. Rachel Mackenzie has been representing the berry industry at all levels, lobbying continually for adjustments to regulations to ensure that the berry industry has sufficient workers available over the coming months whilst at the same time maintaining the safety of all farm owners and employees.

It’s also great to see that Hort Innovation has put the call out for parties interested in managing the commercialisation of temperate varieties of strawberries out of the Australian Strawberry Breeding Program. We look forward to working with the successful project management team.

Growers can help this process by ensuring that you have the appropriate farm health systems in place.

The Industry Development Officer in your state can assist you with this process if you are not clear what your COVID safety responsibilities are.

The 2020 Strawberries Australia AGM has been scheduled for 15th October via Zoom (Register at berries.net.au/home/events), and a Strategic Planning Workshop is currently being coordinated for the Australian Strawberry Industry. This will likely be held via Zoom in late October, and key topics for discussion will include labour and propagation.

Further details will be distributed in due course.

There is still a lot of work to be done, including navigating the movement of workers between states given that restrictions have tightened again. There is also a need for a coordinated campaign to attract a local labour workforce, something that has previously been difficult to achieve. With so many people currently

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President's Report Jonathan Shaw | 0418 758 268 | president@abga.com.au As I write, I have been reflecting on the US proclamation to make July “blueberry month” and the Canadians matching that with a Royal proclamation of August as blueberry month. Perhaps we should propose to the Australian government that September be Australian Blueberry Month! Whilst I am being a little tongue-incheek, such proclamations reflect the high esteem in which the industry is held in North America and that is something worth emulating.

I am hesitant to make any predictions about the upcoming season as COVID-19 keeps turning things upside down, but what I can say with confidence is that the investment in the future of the industry through ongoing payment of the voluntary levy is reaping rewards.

Without the levies, we would not be making market access applications, investing in marketing or even receiving this journal and the other industry development support provided through the Berries Australia communications project.

The ABGA, with the support of Berries Australia, has been very active over the last few months despite the challenges of COVID-19. We made four Trade Advisory Panel (TAP) applications to start the process of gaining market access to New Zealand, South Korea, Taiwan and Vietnam as well as directly funding the development of a market access strategy. This piece of work complements the updated Blueberry Export Strategy being developed by Hort Innovation.

Executive Director Rachel Mackenzie has been extremely active across a number of fronts ranging from national conversations about workforce needs to state-by-state discussions about specific COVID-19 rules and restrictions, as well as discussions at a local level about planning regulations. The work she and her team does means that volunteers like me and the rest of the committee can focus on growing blueberries, knowing that Berries Australia has our back. Please SEE PAGE 77 for more information on how to pay levies and how your money is spent.

The Berries Australia Executive Director Rachel Mackenzie has also been closely managing the final stages of the Murdoch University fruit fly work to complete our data requirements to gain access to Japan.

Labour shortages this year might mean for the first time that we face the agony of crops left unpicked.

We share the same labour issues as other berries and again, the value of Berries Australia has been demonstrated with the executive working hard with Government to urgently address this issue.

The 2020/21 blueberry marketing campaign is in full swing with great coverage on the Channel Nine TODAY show which went out to 1,230,170 viewers. This is on top of our social media blitz, banners in supermarkets and a range of other promotional activities. I’m not much of a social media user myself but I’m told we are getting a great response to our Instagram and Facebook pages under the Australian Blueberries banner.

Please join us for the ABGA AGM via Zoom at 1pm on the 14th of October – you can register to attend via the website berries.net.au/home/events. I hope you all have a prosperous few months and I send our strong support to our Victorian members who may be impacted by the ongoing lockdown.

It is encouraging that the market seems to be holding relatively firm as we move into peak production which can in some part be attributed to our ongoing marketing investment.

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President's Report Richard McGruddy | 0408 763 804 | richard@berryq.com.au Spring is here at last and raspberry production is ramping up at my farm on the Sunshine Coast following good winter production of blackberries. Prices have been relatively strong, but like everyone else we have had to put in place new processes and procedures to reflect COVID-19. We are paying our workers above the Award to make sure they see us through to the end of the season. I am also watching with interest the impact of the reduced capacity of the Victorian distribution centres on the throughput of soft fruit.

You may be surprised to know that there is nearly $2 million in levy funds within the Raspberry & Blackberry Fund within Hort Innovation www.horticulture.com.au/growers/raspberryblackberry-fund. One of the key challenges has been identifying worthwhile projects to fund through the levy.

Claire McCrory, our Rubus IDO, has been pulling together a list of research priorities based on consultation with growers and agronomists throughout the country and we are in the process of working through those to come up with a really good set of research priorities to push through Hort Innovation.

On the RABA front, we have got into a consistent rhythm of holding bi-monthly RABA meetings which means we can get some progress on industry issues.

One outstanding issue relates to our commitments under the Emergency Plant Pest Response Deed which RABA signed in 2015. The signing of the deed means that we will be given government support in the case of a biosecurity crisis, but it also means the industry has to pay its share in the management of any incursion.

If you have a great research idea, please let Claire know. We will also be running through these research priorities at our AGM, so please join us via Zoom if you would like to know more or participate in the process.

The Hort Innovation Raspberry & Blackberry Strategic Industry Advisory Panel (SIAP) recently met to approve the new Rubus marketing campaign which links into the Hort Innovation Good Mood Food campaign www.thegoodmoodfood.com.au

RABA has now incurred a debt with the Australian government for the eradication of Varroa Mite (which affects bees) and the committee has decided that, like all other signatories to the deed, we need to build a biosecurity levy into our current levy arrangements.

This does not mean that you will pay any more levy, just that some of the levy will be used for this purpose.

I am aware that our Victorian growers are really doing it tough at the moment with the recent storm adding to the complexities of being in COVID-19 lockdown and the contraction of the restaurant trade. Please reach out to Rachel and Angela if you need support.

One of the other benefits of the biosecurity levy is that we can utilise some of those funds to run biosecurity projects through Plant Health Australia rather than Hort Innovation. The RABA committee needs to gain the support of the majority of levy payers for this change and we will be running a consultation and voting process over the next six months.

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Hopefully I will see many of your faces at the upcoming AGM on October the 15th at 1pm. Please register to attend at our website berries.net.au/home/events

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Annual General Meetings 2020 With the COVID-19 pandemic making face-to-face meetings difficult, all of the AGMs for the berry associations will be held online this year.

Each meeting will be held using the online platform Zoom. Zoom can be set up on a smartphone or PC. You can join for free at Zoom.us If you are a current member and wish to attend, please REGISTER for any of the meetings via the EVENTS section of our website berries.net.au/home/events. Each of the AGMs is scheduled for a 3-hour period to allow time for all relevant business to be carried out according to the Rules or Constitution of each Association.

WED 14 OCTOBER 2020 14:00 – 17:00 AEST

THU 15 OCTOBER 2020 10:00 – 13:00 AEST

THU 15 OCTOBER 2020 14:00 – 17:00 AEST

To nominate as a candidate for election as an officer of the Association or as an ordinary member of the committee you must:

Please Note: Any State Representatives of the Board or State Growers Associations, desiring to bring any business before the AGM may give notice of that business in writing to the SAI Chief Executive Officer by email to admin@berries.net.au

Nominations of candidates for election as officers of the Association or as ordinary members of the Committee:

(a) use the ABGA 2020 Nomination Form, signed by two members of the Association and accompanied by the written consent of the candidate (which may be endorsed on the form of nomination); and (b) return the signed form to the Secretary of the Association (via admin@berries.net.au) no later than 7 October 2020.

Each member is entitled to appoint another member as a proxy by notice given to the Secretary (via admin@berries.net.au) no later than 24 hours before the time of the meeting in respect of which the proxy is appointed.

All Australian Strawberry growers are eligible to attend this meeting as non-voting members.

A SAI Board member shall be entitled to appoint in writing a person who is a member of a State Association or the Board to be their proxy, and attend and vote at any meeting of the Board.

To appoint a proxy please use the PDF Form SAI 2020 AGM Proxy Form which can be downloaded from the EVENT listing on berries.net.au/home/events

Both the ABGA 2020 Nomination Form and the ABGA 2020 AGM Proxy Form can be downloaded from the EVENT listing on berries.net.au/home/events

(a) Shall be made in writing using RABA 2020 Nomination Form, signed by two members of the Association and accompanied by the written consent of the candidate (which may be endorsed on the form of nomination); and (b) Shall be delivered to the Secretary of the Association (via admin@berries.net.au) no later than 8 October 2020.

Each member is entitled to appoint another member as a proxy by notice given to the Secretary (via admin@berries.net.au) no later than 24 hours before the time of the meeting in respect of which the proxy is appointed.

Both the RABA 2020 Nomination Form and the RABA 2020 AGM Proxy Form can be downloaded from the EVENT listing on berries.net.au/home/events

If you have any questions, please contact: Wendy Morris | Membership Officer | admin@berries.net.au | 0491 751 123

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NSW: COVID-19 Safety Plans are compulsory Berry Industry Development Officer, Blueberries & New South Wales Melinda Simpson | 0447 081 765 | melinda.simpson@dpi.nsw.gov.au If you haven’t already completed a Safety Plan, please do so as soon as possible. SafeWork will be checking that you are ensuring the wellbeing of your staff, that your employees are appropriately distanced, that you have adequate hygiene and cleaning protocols in place and that your record keeping is sufficient.

Blueberry harvest is well under way now with plenty of fruit being picked, packed and on the supermarket shelves. This year the season has come on around a month earlier and, due to the warmer temperatures on the north coast, there have been fewer frosts. Despite last year’s drought, production figures for this season look like they will be high.

A new tool for blueberry growers who move produce interstate will be available shortly. “ICA31 made easy” is a simple plain English and Punjabi guide to make sure all boxes are ticked in terms of treatment, inspection and certification of blueberries using the ICA31 protocol.

This guide provides a quick reference to the critical points contained in an operating procedure which runs to 32 pages and can be a little difficult to follow.

The ICA31 made easy guide is supported by posters providing clear information on inspection and treatment that can be displayed at key work sites. The guide and posters will be sent out to all blueberry growers shortly.

On the 3rd of August, State Minister for Agriculture, Adam Marshall announced the appointment of the state’s first Agriculture Commissioner, Daryl Quinlivan.

The Agriculture Commissioner will review the NSW Government’s Right to Farm Policy and will have a particular focus on resolving land use conflict and identifying growth opportunities for industry.

Unfortunately, most of the workshops planned for this year have had to be postponed for the time being and as a result, we have had to deliver these digitally where possible. A webinar titled ‘Learn how to comply with water laws – options for you and what has worked for other landholders’ was presented to berry growers at the end of June. The Natural Resource Access Regulators provided examples of how to reduce the capacity of a dam, how to increase harvestable rights and authorise bigger and additional pumps. If you missed this webinar, please see the article on PAGE 89 which provides some FAQ’s from that session.

There have also been a number of minor use permits applied for over the last six months, but please note that these permits have not yet been released: • NOGALL for blueberry crown gall • E xtension of permit PER84176 – copper for control of rust and anthracnose and request to change water volume requirement/ha when spraying from 800L/ha to as per industry standard

SafeWork NSW will be undertaking compliance checks across the Coffs Harbour region over the next few months assessing whether growers have their compulsory COVID-19 Safety Plan in place. A template for these plans is available at www.nsw.gov.au/covid-19/covid-safe-businesses.

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• E xtension of permit PER80070 - PyGanic for the control of Monolepta, Green Vegetable Bug and Green Stink Bug in Blueberries and RUBUS • A zoxystrobin for the control of rust and stem blight in blueberries

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TAS: Getting COVID ready Berry Industry Development Officer, Rubus & Tasmania Claire McCrory | 0434 974 653 | claire@fruitgrowerstas.org.au As Tasmania is approaching its first berry season under the COVID-19 regulations, growers and packers are keen to watch and learn from afar as the winter mainland berry season unfolds. Concerns around labour shortages and the return of seasonal workers are a high priority for growers and packers to have a successful season.

new restrictions around the movement of people across different jurisdictions, and the limited availability of flights pose barriers to workers returning to Tasmania.

FGT are working with Berries Australia, growers and government to reduce the impacts of this by streamlining the entry process for interstate workers and activating locally resident workers as much as possible.

Tasmanian growers are busy finalising last-minute preparations before the upcoming season commences.

Many growers have completed blueberry pruning and strawberry planting, with the assistance of seasonal labourers wishing to stay in Tasmania. Raspberry pruning has been delayed in some areas of the state due to the August rain, but otherwise all winter maintenance programs are proceeding to schedule.

Chill hour calculations have now been completed, with longcane blackberries coming out of storage and tunnel plastics being returned to their framed glory.

Growers are also taking the time before spring to look at upskilling their workforce by utilising a new statebased training program developed by FGT and TasTAFE. This program aims to help growers, their employees and people seeking employment in the industry by providing key entry-level skills and training. The subsidised program offers training in first aid, manual handling, ChemCert, biosecurity, chainsaw operations, as well as vehicle operations including tractors, front end loaders, forklifts, quad bikes, and side-by-side utility vehicles. Growers looking to reserve a place in the program for themselves or their staff can do so by going to www.fruitgrowerstas.org.au/agriskills-eoi and completing the expression of interest form.

Winter has been relatively moderate across northern and north-west Tasmania, with temperatures warmer and drier than average. Conditions have been a bit less hospitable for growers based in southern Tasmania, with the region experiencing a wet June and August.

These conditions are expected to continue throughout spring, which may impact on early-season fruit set and development and create challenges for disease management.

COVID-19 has created some challenges for face-to-face activities, but we have a heap of new events and information resources on the way for growers. On the production side, these include a Rubus flower mapping tutorial with Bert Meurs from Plantalogica (Netherlands), pointers on minimising yield instability in blueberries with Susan McCallum from the James Hutton Institute (Scotland), as well as webinars on blueberry nutrition, Rubus preparation, and crop protection. On the retail front, we are also looking forward to hearing from Gi Lee at Nielsen about domestic berry consumption and purchasing trends, as well as an overview of global berry export trends

by Wayne Prowse. Check The Burst for more details.

The main concern on the minds of growers for the season approaching is a forecast labour shortage. Many enterprises have arranged with mainland horticultural operations for employees that have travelled to Victoria, NSW, Queensland or WA for the winter harvest trail to return back to Tasmania for the 2021 harvest season.

The additional requirements for COVID-19 compliance,

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WA: Up and running Berry Industry Development Officer, Strawberries & Western Australia Dr Katie Dunne | 0428 335 724 | WABerryIDO@berries.net.au As I am writing this, harvest is underway across the various berries in Western Australia. It has been an interesting season with COVID-19 restrictions adding to the mix. We have had numerous storms that have blown many a tunnel away. WA’s hard border has impacted the berry industry and other horticulture industries in a number of ways including logistics, export and the availability of labour.

committee and the growers for allowing me to observe the meeting.

On the 5th August 2020, I hosted the Breaking the Mould webinar which was delivered by Dr Kirsty Bayliss from Murdoch University. This webinar was well received by those that attended and everyone is excited about the work that is currently taking place and its potential impacts for agriculture in general. For strawberry growers that are participating in the APC funded project please be aware that the next stage of sampling will be in October for those that have already provided their first sample.

Last month, in partnership with the Agriculture Produce Commission, vegetablesWA and Pome West, WA’s Strawberry Growers hosted a webinar and discussion focusing on labour shortages and the impacts going forward. Jamie Michael from Ti Produce was part of the panel discussing the current issues faced by growers looking for workers. The webinar has been posted online for those that still wish to view it (youtu.be/uGtWGWXWhIg). The webinar provided industry with the latest information on the resources they have available through the various online channels.

A list of these resources is provided at the end of this article for those in WA that require workers.

We are currently planning more events that will consist of both workshops and online resources focusing on improving industry’s knowledge in chemical application and management. The events will be delivered in partnership with the APC, vegetablesWA and Berries Australia and other commercial partners.

Export continues to be a concern for WA given that we have limited flights in and out of the State. DPIRD is currently collaborating with industry as well as the Federal Government through the IFAM program to address industry’s concerns. The supply of workers continues to be a major concern for not only WA’s strawberry growers, but other horticulture industries.

If you have any questions regarding securing your workforce, please contact:

I am starting to make my way around WA getting to know WA’s berry growers and I thank those that have given their time up to discuss all things WA berry production related. I am using these visits to help design and deliver extension projects tailored to WA’s needs. I have found it quite interesting learning about the different production systems and berry varieties.

It has been fascinating tasting the different varieties available, similar to what I used to do during vintage, only better.

Melissa Denning at vegetablesWA on either melissa.denning@vegetableswa.com.au or 0477 477 044.

Stuart Scott from Studium on 0421 411 641. The use of the Studium website is partially supported by DPIRD to help industry source their workers. For more information refer to the website www.studium.work

Last month I was fortunate to meet up with the QSGA and Bronwyn - the Queensland IDO - which proved to be an insightful night for all that attended. I thank the

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QLD: Berry farms well prepared Berry Industry Development Officer, Strawberries & Queensland Bron Ford | 0438 752 177 | office@qldstrawberries.com.au As spring arrives, we welcome the much warmer weather and the peak production months for all berries in Queensland. COVID-19 has continued to raise challenges particularly with the changing status of border closures and the designation of “hot spots”

by Queensland authorities. At the time of writing, Queensland borders are closed to anyone from NSW, ACT and Victoria except with specific approval by the Chief Health Officer, and returning Queenslanders are required to quarantine in a Government-approved hotel facility at their own cost. One of the few exceptions to the interstate travel ban allows for freight to continue to move produce around Australia with strict selfisolation and recording requirements for all drivers.

in July and August. These “friendly” audits were checking visa arrangements, HMP implementation and border pass compliance. The whole Queensland berry industry was praised by the authorities involved and commended for addressing the risks associated with COVID-19 satisfactorily.

The impact of COVID-19 continues to be felt in labour supply disruption. It is estimated that the strawberry industry is short more than 1000 pickers and packers for this season, and there is growing concern regarding labour availability for the 2021 season across all berry categories. Discussions and negotiations are happening from the local to the national level to establish strategies to address the shortage and reduce the potential impact on the industry.

All businesses utilising a seasonal workforce in Queensland are required to develop and submit a “Health Management Plan” (HMP) to Queensland Health. The development and implementation of a HMP was critical in the management of a COVID-19 positive case on a berry farm in Bundaberg in June.

Extension activities which are a key component of the project have been modified to address COVID-19 restrictions. A short video and fact sheet have been developed on the topic of implementing “pick your own” as part of a business diversification strategy.

These resources are available on the Berries Australia website SEE bit.ly/str-res. An on-farm seminar and farm walk was also held on the Granite Belt in August providing an opportunity to network, learn from a variety of presenters and discuss the upcoming season with other growers.

From early March, the owners of this farm had taken proactive steps to manage the risks of COVID-19 in their business. Key details in their health plan included separating the farm and packing staff into small teams of eight, immediately isolating the COVID-19 positive staff member and the team of workers that were in close contact, conducting on-site daily health checks and obtaining and reviewing the detailed travel and accommodation history details of all staff. The company has been praised by key Government staff for their plan and their response to the positive case on their farm.

Finally, the Queensland Strawberry Growers Association Annual Dinner & Awards night will be held on Friday 30th October at the Novotel Twin Waters Resort, Sunshine Coast. Nominations are currently open for the awards in the following categories: Employee engagement, Rookie of the Year, Service to Industry and Making a Difference Community Award.

For more details: www.qldstrawberries.com.au

Additional on-farm reviews of HMP were conducted in the Mundubbera/Gayndah, Bundaberg, Caboolture, Sunshine Coast and Granite Belt regions of Queensland

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Victorian Strawberry Industry Development Committee

VIC & SA: Greetings from lockdown Berry Industry Development Officer, Strawberries – Victoria & South Australia Dr Angela Atkinson | 0408 416 538 | ido@vicstrawberry.com.au Looking back at the last update I gave, I was hopeful that we would be able to hold industry events before the start of the coming season. That was written in the brief moment between COVID-19 restrictions easing and Victoria entering its second, and more restrictive, lockdown. Now it seems face-to-face events will be a while away, with the whole of the Melbourne metro area, including the Yarra Valley and Mornington Peninsula, under Stage 4 restrictions with a night-time curfew and travel restricted to 5km unless for essential work; and the rest of the state in Stage 3 restrictions.

effect and cross border community members will no longer be able to enter from Victoria unless they can apply under a different category of ‘essential traveller’.

Exemptions apply for the purposes of undertaking year 11 or 12 high school in SA, or undertaking agricultural/ primary industry work at a location in Victoria which is at or near the SA border and is accessible without stopping in any township or built-up area. Hopefully by the Summer edition of the Australian Berry Journal there might be some better news on the COVID-19 front, and we can look forward to a return to some sort of normality.

Victorians are unable to travel interstate except under very specific exemptions, such as freight movement, and the border closures have meant some seasonal workers have not been able to move north for the winter season. The outlook for labour for the coming season is a concern to most horticulture industries, not just berries.

Meanwhile, the Industry Biosecurity Plans for Strawberries and Rubus were overdue for updating, and with the help of Plant Health Australia we now have a revised Biosecurity Plan for the Berry Sector which has been endorsed by both Strawberries Australia and RABA. The plan will be reviewed and updated annually, and currently covers strawberries and Rubus, but will include the blueberry industry when that plan is due for review. The plan outlines the major biosecurity threats to the berry industries, and is a document to inform biosecurity personnel and industry representatives in the event of a biosecurity incident. A biosecurity manual for growers, based on this plan, is being developed.

Plant Health Australia has a short online training module for growers covering biosecurity reporting and response, which takes around 15 minutes to complete.

It gives an overview of Australia’s biosecurity system and what happens in the event of an incursion by an exotic pest. The course can be found here: www.planthealthaustralia.com.au/resources/training/ biosecurity-online-training

With the increased restrictions in Victoria, all businesses that are still allowed to operate have had to put in place a COVID-safe plan for their workplaces (www. business.vic.gov.au/disputes-disasters-and-successionplanning/covid-safe-business/covid-safe-plan) and all those working in permitted industries, which includes agriculture, must carry a Permitted Worker Permit with them at all times (www.vic.gov.au/worker-permit-scheme).

For the coming season, it’s important that growers have these plans in place, as well as keeping records of all visitors and workers on site, in addition to the physical distancing, hygiene and cleaning protocols required.

At the time of writing, changes to South Australia’s Cross-Border Travel Directive are about to come into

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BERRIES AUSTRALIA

BerryQuest International 2022 Sea World Resort & Conference Centre Gold Coast, Queensland

COVID, COVID, COVID! It’s interfered with almost every aspect of our lives, both professionally and personally, and it is with heavy hearts that we have taken the pragmatic decision to postpone BerryQuest from 2021 to 2022.

We understand that other associations have moved to virtual conferences.

While video conferencing is an effective tool, we appreciate that most of us are a little sick of sitting in front of a computer and communicating via Zoom and Teams.

Furthermore, presentations are not the sole benefit of a conference. Conferences are for networking. They are an opportunity for socialising, for forming new alliances, and for getting a break from the everyday. These benefits are even more important for horticulture workers, who are often isolated from their peers.

Berries Australia’s aim is to excel, and without access to a range of speakers, and without the ability to provide important social events, we just don’t feel a conference will be what it should be. That is why we have made the decision to delay BerryQuest until we can run the event as it should be run.

We look forward to seeing you on the Gold Coast in 2022!

Further information on sponsorship opportunities will be distributed at a later stage. Until then, get in touch with any questions: Jen Rowling, Berries Australia 0448 322 389 | jenrowling@berries.net.au | berries.net.au/bqi2022

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vegetablesWA Benchmarking Project — An outsider’s view Bryn Edwards, Benchmarking Lead, vegetablesWA. The project was funded by Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development’s Agribusiness Innovation Fund and Hort Innovation.

vegetablesWA undertook a business benchmarking project starting in 2016.

This article is a reprint of the one published in the winter edition of their magazine. It provides a useful insight into the project. DPIRD is currently investigating the option of rolling out a similar project across all horticulture sectors in Western Australia.

Having completed and published the third year of vegetable industry benchmarks I thought I’d take time to share some thoughts, reflections and observations from across the three years.

As someone with no background in Horticulture or Agriculture prior to starting the project but a 16+ years background in solving some major business problems and challenges in a variety of business sectors across the world, you could take this as an outsider’s view looking in – although my look in has been up close and personal over the past three years.

To be clear when I get involved in a project or initiative, I don’t take it lightly; if I’m going to get in involved, I get involved – which I quickly began to realise was a trait I have in common with most growers.

In the beginning, I thought that winning the funding for three years and convincing Australia’s foremost leading agricultural benchmarking specialists, Planfarm, to partner with us was the toughest part…

I was surprised initially by the sceptical and frosty response I received in the first year from a large number of growers. In fact I was baffled - here I am offering a free service (which would normally cost $6,000 to $8,000 privately) that will pin point and help

Bryn Edwards, Benchmarking Lead, vegetablesWA

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By going through the process, growers also remarked on how educational it was. Many just simply hadn’t had any solid or robust financial and business management training in the past. They knew how to grow great produce but couldn’t stay on top of the money side and were all so often left confused as to why all their efforts and labours didn’t result in the level of returns in their pocket.

you understand where you could increase profitability year-on-year and where to steer your business to deliver some future prosperity and most weren’t interested – it just didn’t make sense to me.

The first year did test my resolve and there were times when I questioned myself and the process.

However, there were a number of brave growers who gave me the time and decided to participate – I am super grateful to each and every one of them because without that the initiative would have been dead in the water (much like a similar initiative that was started at the same time in Victoria).

It was during these sessions and listening to growers that I began to get a better understanding behind the reception I had received during that first year.

During the first year I would frequently be told ‘I’m not sharing my information with anyone’, ‘Why would I do that?’, ‘Sounds too much like hard work’, ‘Too busy, mate’.

Taking those first growers through the process of gathering up data, analysing and then sitting with them to really critically analyse the results was superrewarding as I could visibly see the impact that I knew the process would deliver to those who got involved.

Through engaging more growers and listening to them I began to realise that a core reason behind the lack of take-up was a widespread gap in understanding relating to the dynamic relationship between strategic planning, managing figures, business management, marketing and informed decision making. And how by understanding this it can put you in a position of much greater control across your business and less at the whim of outside pressures.

To be clear, these sessions are not easy going for the grower. The results lay bare not just the true performance of the business on many levels, but also the consequences of all the decisions they have made during that year both longer term and short term focused.

To add to this there is a very human element – pride and the feeling of self-efficacy or self-confidence. No one likes to feel like they don’t know what they’re doing or that they’re not on top of everything – particularly if you’re male (which I can honesty attest to!).

While the sessions can be confronting, all growers stated how very necessary they are because they cut through the b/s stories that we tell ourselves and dispel any myths that we might have bought into that aren’t quite serving us or our business — and let’s not forget, while there is a lot of romance in being connected to the land and growing vital produce for others, the function of your business is to provide you and your family with the resources (i.e. money) to shape the life you want and open up greater options and decisions.

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While the genuine foundational intentions of benchmarking are to help you to flourish, the process, and the light it shines into your business, can bring about a situation that triggers those thoughts or questions that sense of knowing what you’re doing.

And so, it was with a deeper level of understanding of the underlying issues that we progressed into the following years of the benchmarking initiative. By being more aware and pitching the conversations at that level we were able to bring more growers on board to participate and build the dataset up to where it is today.

To be clear, there is still a long way to go across the industry - just as a world-class 100m sprinter will never be able to run fast enough because he always wants to go faster – so too, I believe, should growers want to continuously get better and better at managing their business. The industry faces many challenges and successful businesses can meet that challenge more

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successfully from a place of inside knowledge and informed decision making rather than from a place of hoping and blaming the outside world – which is a very weak business planning strategy.

You may agree or disagree with what I’ve written, but I’ve always been clear with growers; don’t come asking me about crop rotation, soil or flies - that’s simply not my game. But if you want a more expansive strategic future-focused conversation then – whether it’s financial or beyond - please get in touch.

And that offer still stands.

The great thing is that filling the gap in understanding is a straightforward job to do but it does need both parties to come to the table honestly acknowledging what is and isn’t in place.

Observations of a berry grower that participated The program enabled us to learn more about our business operations. The professionalism and expertise of Bryn and his collaborators exceeded our expectation. They went through everything with us in ways that made all the technical information easy to understand and comprehend.

What has been super pleasing has been playing a role in the acceleration of the business management skills and the strategic thinking of the growers who’ve participated.

The project enabled us to evaluate our bottom line and identify leakages. We were able to see where we performed in comparison with the industry pooled numbers.

Over the past three years, we’ve seen growers make some impressive improvements and changes — this extends beyond the financial performance of their business to their standard of life with their family beyond the farm.

One issue to be aware of is the importance of record keeping. Even though we had some processes involved, participating in the project enabled us to improve our systems.

The project also enabled us to find out about rebates that we were eligible for such as the diesel rebates. We found out about it via the project when we were going through our report comparing our performance against others.

To be honest, there’s still a level of frustration within me because I know we’re only scratching the surface of what the Western Australian vegetable industry is capable of, and the ingrained business consultant in me hates it when I can see inefficiencies anywhere, and the missing opportunity of more money staying in the pockets of you the growers for the tremendous effort you put in.

The vegetablesWA website provides information about the benchmarking project and some interviews with growers that have participated. DPIRD is currently seeking feedback as to whether other horticulture industries in WA are interested in such a project. If you are interested in participating in the project or would like more information please contact WABerryIDO@berries.net.au

I am super happy I traded the corporate meeting room for ‘a cup of tea and chat around the kitchen table’, it’s more real and genuinely means something.

That’s why I’m working hard to get this initiative extended for another three years because I feel like we’ve only just begun.

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Industry survey offers snapshot of growers’ labour needs Michael Tarbath, Policy Officer, Fruit Growers Tasmania and Claire McCrory, Berry Industry Development Officer, Fruit Growers Tasmania

It became clear in March 2020 that the global impact of COVID–19 will affect Tasmania’s fruit industries. In preparation, Fruit Growers Tasmania (FGT) went out to Tasmania’s fruit growers in early June to get a measure of industry labour needs for each sector during the 2020–21 financial year period. Within the survey, participants were asked to indicate their industry sector(s) and a small number of questions relating to expected seasonal employee numbers, seasonal employee housing practices and ongoing employment within each sector.

Demand for seasonal labour

A total of 77 respondents answered the labour survey, representing major growers in the strawberry, blueberry, raspberry, and blackberry industries, as well as other crops including cherries, apricots, nectarines, peaches, plums, apples, pears and quinces.

Survey respondents indicated that their businesses employ 1358 people in ongoing roles.

Most survey respondents (95%) indicated that their business is reliant upon access to seasonal labour to complete key activities. Responses from survey participants indicated a very high reliance on seasonal workers across the fruit industries, with a slightly smaller reliance amongst berry producers (89%) when compared against other fruit crops (98%). These trends reflect the growing number of small-scale pick-yourown berry enterprises now operating across the state.

Approximately 65% of individuals working in these sectors are employed as casual employees (876), with the remaining 35% permanently employed in either full time (440) or part time (42) roles.

In peak season, Tasmania’s fruit sectors are reliant on almost 7,900 seasonal workers from interstate and overseas to fill seasonal roles, with only 2,900 of these filled by Australian residents and international students. By sector, the berry sector is the single largest employer of seasonal workers within Tasmania, employing more than 4,100 seasonal workers in peak season (Figure 1).

Berries were shown to be the largest employment provider across the state, employing more than 700 Tasmanian persons to fill ongoing roles. These individuals were primarily located in the north (233) and northwest (385) of the state, with fewer located in the south (95).

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Figure 1. Tasmanian fruit industry seasonal labour needs comparison between berry sector and other non-berry fruit sectors. Note the higher labour requirement in peak season and longer duration for which employees are needed.

This sector utilises seasonal labour from a number of sources including locals and residents (941), working holiday makers (1,423), and the Pacific Islands (1,367) through the Pacific Labour Scheme and/or Seasonal Worker Program (Figure 2). International students were a negligible component of the berry sector’s seasonal workforce outside of the January peak (414). These employment demographics are very different from other Tasmanian fruit sectors (Figure 3), who rely heavily on working holiday makers (1,991), with international students (540) and locals and Australian residents (1,076) to manage their comparatively compact harvest windows.

Figure 2. Distribution of number and type of seasonal workers in the berry industry.

Seasonal workforce is required in large numbers fairly consistently throughout October to May.

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Figure 3. Distribution of number and type of seasonal workers in the other non-berry fruit industries. Seasonal workforce is required from November (apple thinning) to March (apple harvest) with a distinct peak in January (cherry harvest)

Tasmania’s border barrier

At this time, FGT are working with the Tasmanian government to explore a range of options in this area, but at this stage no decision has been reached.

As outlined above, the majority of seasonal workers working in Tasmania’s fruit industries are attracted and sourced from interstate (working holiday makers) or from the Pacific Islands (Pacific Labour Scheme and/or Seasonal Worker Programs).

The situation is similarly concerning for businesses relying on working holiday makers to fill seasonal work opportunities. Few working holiday makers remain located within Tasmania, and the financial and time costs of undergoing Tasmania’s quarantine are expected to deter potential new arrivals until quarantine restrictions are lifted.

At the time of writing, all harvest workers entering Tasmania will be required to undergo a quarantine period of 14 days within a facility managed by the Tasmanian government immediately upon entering the state. Like other states, Tasmania’s quarantine facilities operate on a cost-recovery model which requires individuals to register and contribute $2,800 per person prior to entry.

This means few working holiday makers are expected to be present for the start of the Tasmanian berry harvest season, and more will not be forthcoming until early December at the earliest unless employers agree to absorb the quarantine costs for bringing in interstate workers.

The Tasmanian government recently announced that these requirements would remain in place until at least 1 December 2020, with the option of this being further extended if problems persist in other areas of the country.

Looking local for labour Due to the challenges of bringing in seasonal workers from overseas or interstate, Tasmanian businesses are increasingly being encouraged to look locally to meet their seasonal labour needs.

For employers using the Seasonal Worker Program, this announcement means the restrictions will be in effect during the first month or two of the harvest season when seasonal workers would traditionally be arriving in the state. This will make bringing these workers into the state difficult and expensive.

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To support this, the Tasmanian government is already announcing a number of new initiatives aimed at making people aware of seasonal work opportunities

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The third challenge will be to retain workers for the duration of the harvest season. Without access to a professional itinerant workforce, it may be a difficult season to replace departing workers.

and encouraging Tasmanians who have not previously done so to consider helping with the harvest.

FGT’s labour survey shows that Tasmanian fruit producers source a significant part of their seasonal labour force locally, either through Australian residents or from international students during their holiday periods.

As noted in Figure 1, the seasonal work window for Tasmania’s berry sector lasts for eight months, which is much longer than the 2-3 months of other crops, like cherries.

Looking locally may address issues of border quarantine requirements, but is expected to create a number of challenges for individual businesses and industries.

With such a long season, staff turnover and recruitment of replacement workers will be extra challenges for businesses in the berry sector.

The first challenge for this season will be to grow the number of available seasonal workers from 2,900 to the 7,900 required by January.

Businesses may also wish to investigate options for bringing in and supporting seasonal workers from other areas of the state, including subsidised or free onsite accommodation and/or transport access for a lower pay rate. These measures may make it possible to draw upon willing workers from out-of-the-area locations within Tasmania.

Recognising this, a number of leading Tasmanian fruit producers are already stepping up efforts to attract and recruit more Tasmanians to take part in the harvest, including new migrants, domestic and international students, as well as those whose employment has been disrupted by COVID-19.

The second challenge for businesses will be to match the volume and timing of work to their likely available workforce. Growers in some sectors have acknowledged that they cannot afford to produce fruit which they cannot pick, pack and sell, resulting in them considering options like reducing planting areas, managing crop loads, and maximising fruit quality and pack-out rates.

Other businesses have taken the step to collaborate with nearby businesses in allied industries, moving workers between businesses to ensure work continuity.

WE WANT YOUR BERRIES PROCESSING

We would love to purchase your Australian berries for our Aussie Frozen Fruit packs.

TO FIND OUT MORE, PLEASE GET IN TOUCH:

growers@aussiefrozenfruit.com.au 03 5964 8101 aussiefrozenfruit.com.au 21

A D V E R T I ON RDI UA SL T CR YO N T E N T

Temperature is the #1 factor determining storage life of all fresh berries Allan Anderson, Export Manager, AND Fresh Management of temperature can be made even more difficult based on the length of the supply chain and the number of parties involved from the point of leaving the packing shed to arrival at the point of sale to the consumer. Finally, there is a cost-effective solution which allows you to remotely monitor your fruit shipments in real-time – from the point they leave your farm all the way to the end point of sale – anywhere in the world.

AND Fresh has partnered with Frigga® to become the exclusive Australian & Australasia Licensed Dealer for Real Time Data Loggers powered by Frigga®. These real-time data loggers provide a top-class solution to track and trace shipments, monitor temperature, humidity, light and even shock, with an online and App interface for quick and reliable data access.

These innovative loggers have global coverage and work using the mobile telephony network to autonomously upload data to cloud-based systems that can then be viewed on a Smartphone App or other online access point. Real-time alerts can also be set up to notify users when product arrives at, or departs from pre-determined locations, and even alert you if the consignment temperatures fluctuate outside pre-set limits.

This has the potential to boost export supply chain traceability of an industry worth over half a billion dollars.

AND Fresh Pty Ltd has also recently been awarded a grant by the Federal Government to trial data logging tech across the table grape export supply chain.

David Littleproud, Minister for Agriculture, Drought & Emergency Management

The technology will assist in the identification of breaks in the cool chain and be able to detect if containers have been opened by the use of integrated light sensors. The real-time access and smartphone App interface make this product range a complete game-changer for exporters, but has the ability to provide invaluable data to improve domestic supply chains too.

Traceability is about consumer trust and we know trust is an increasingly valuable currency in these challenging times.

Building more awareness about just how safe and healthy Aussie produce means more opportunities to export and more dollars for our farmers.

Allan Anderson from AND Fresh has 30 years of experience in farming, horticulture and exporting, and understands the critical importance of the cold chain management capability that this tool provides.

AND Fresh will trial the use of data loggers in a select number of table grape export shipments from harvest point to shop shelf along road, rail and shipping networks.

The loggers will capture location, temperature, humidity and light in real time.

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“We have customers using these in the meat industry, table grapes, citrus and stone fruit and the recurring comment is that they just don’t know how they managed without them. Nothing leaves their shed now without a Frigga® real-time data logger in the load.”

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Contact: Allan Anderson, AND Fresh 0419 I O N 4@andfresh.com.au J O U R369 N A L 944E D|I T allan www.realtimedataloggers.com.au

I N D U S T R Y

What is funded under the Smart Fruit Fly Management measure?

National Fruit Fly Council The measure also supports the development of national policies for fruit fly management. One of these is a national policy for use of the sterile insect technique (SIT) in fruit fly management. It will outline principles to assist state and territory governments to consistently apply SIT in Australia.

The National Fruit Fly Council brings together governments, growers and research funders to oversee implementation of the National Fruit Fly Strategy and to drive delivery of a cost-effective and sustainable approach to managing fruit flies across Australia.

In the technical and scientific advice area, a technical feasibility and economic analysis for the eradication of Mediterranean fruit fly from Western Australia being undertaken by the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics.

In November 2018, the National Fruit Fly Council welcomed the Australian Government’s announcement of the $16.9 million Smart Fruit Fly Management measure.

The measure acknowledges the importance of managing fruit fly to protect Australia’s horticulture industry and supports maintaining a strong, effective and harmonised fruit fly management system. The Australian Government Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment is leading the management of the measure which supports a wide range of activities that fall into five priority areas:

1

Systems Capability

2

National Policy Development

3

Technical & Scientific Advice

4

Communication & Extension

5

Research & Development

As well as promoting the measure and its achievements, activities in the communication and extension area aim ensure that all participants are aware of their shared responsibility in strengthening Australia’s fruit fly management system.

Finally, the measure establishes a research program to fund research, development and extension activities that strengthen Australia’s fruit fly management system.

The total funding for the research program is $13 million, comprising $6.5 million from the Australian Government and $6.5 million co-contributed by the state and territory governments. Projects that will be funded under this program will be announced soon.

The National Fruit Fly Council believes the activities supported by the measure will play a vital role in strengthening Australia’s fruit fly management system.

The Council will continue to support and collaborate with all stakeholders to progress work in each of these priority areas.

For example, to improve system capability the measure supports the modernisation of Australia’s National Fruit Fly Management Protocols. The protocols include a series of guidelines and references that set the standards for the national management of fruit fly.

This ensures the Australian Government can provide assurance to international trading partners that Australia’s management of fruit fly is coordinated, consistent and meets international obligations.

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drumMUSTER is a MUST What is drumMUSTER?

How do I participate?

drumMUSTER provides Australian agricultural and veterinary chemical users with a recycling pathway for eligible empty agvet chemical containers.

When you purchase products displaying the drumMUSTER logo, you’re making a commitment to sound land management practices.

drumMUSTER is a national product stewardship program that is supported by agvet chemical manufacturers, industry stakeholders which includes member and farming associations, state and local governments.

Working hand-in-hand with local councils and other collection agencies, drumMUSTER has established collection facilities all over Australia and since its inception in 1998 the program has recycled over 33 million containers.

The logo indicates the user can deliver the empty, clean containers to one of 814 national collection sites free of charge, as they have already paid a 6c levy per L/kg towards recycling of the container.

Who is behind drumMUSTER?

CLEAN IT

drumMUSTER and ChemClear are voluntary programs of AgStewardship Australia Limited. Its members are CropLife Australia, Animal Medicines Australia Limited, Veterinary Manufacturers and Distributors Association and the National Farmers Federation.

There must be no chemical residue on the inside or the outside of the container, including the thread and cap. If there is any chemical residue visible when delivering your containers these drums will be rejected. After rinsing your chemical container, it should be left to dry with the cap off which will aid in the drying process. The cap should not be replaced on the container, it may be brought separately to the collection if clean.

How does it work? drumMUSTER is funded by levies collected by AgStewardship, which was established to develop stewardship programs for Australia’s agriculture sector, along with ChemClear.

DECLARE IT Your container should have the labels on to provide inspectors with identification of the container being handled.

A signed statement by the farmer or chemical user at the point of the collection provides drumMUSTER with evidence that the container has been rinsed.

The levy was set at 4c per L/kg on participating containers. This increased to 6 cents per L/kg on 1 July 2019 after the ACCC approved the reauthorisation.

This marks the first increase in the levy since its inception in 1998.

What’s included in the drumMUSTER program?

DAY

MONTH

YEAR

SEQUENCE

DELIVERER TO COMPLETE

I hereby certify that each of the containers free of any chemical I have delivered to residue. this drumMUSTER collection have been I agree that if any cleaned of the containers I deliver are rejected liable for and accept by an authorised the return of these drumMUSTER inspector containers.

I will be NAME: BUSINESS:

ADDRESS: STATE:

POSTCODE:

EMAIL:

PHONE:

FAX: SIGNATURE: DATE:

INSPECTOR TO COMPLETE STEEL

LESS THAN 20L

20 / 25L

200-205L

LESS THAN 20L

PLASTIC

20 / 25L

100-120L

200-205L

TOTAL

REJECTED

DECLARATION NO:

CONTAINER RECEIPT RECEIVED FROM AT COLLECTION

SITE CODE

DAY

(DELIVERERS NAME/BUSINESS):

MONTH

YEAR

SEQUENCE

SITE:

TOTAL NO. OF AGVET ACCEPTED

CONTAINERS: REJECTED

INSPECTORS SIGNATURE:

This receipt can be used DATE: and Best Management to demonstrate compliance with Quality Assurance, program requirements.

Environmental Management No refund is applicable Systems for delivering containers to the program.

For more information:

Phone 1800 008 707 Fax 02 6273 1977

Email drummuster@drum Web www.drummuster.o muster.org.au rg.au

Thank

Privacy Act Statement: you for using the The drumMUSTER program. legislation. The information drumMUSTER program adheres to the National Principles as specified in the Privacy like to make contact with collected by the drumMUSTER collection Legislation. It has put agencies is stored for Agsafe to amend or access in place policies and procedures use by Agsafe for program this information they can monitoring to ensure adherence do so by contacting the to the Agsafe office on 02 6273 purposes and to further develop the program.

1977.

If chemical users would

Once your chemical container has been accepted, you will be issued with a receipt which then forms part of your farm quality system documentation and should be retained as proof of disposal.

You can see a list of these participating manufacturers at: www.drummuster.org.au/whos-involved/manufacturers

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The drumMUSTER program recycles clean and empty agvet This declaration form chemical containers from eligible manufacturers. or processing facility. must be completed by persons delivering eligible drumMUSTER containers to a collection

DOCUMENT IT

Agvet containers above 1 L and less than 205 L are currently accepted into the program. There are over 120 manufacturers involved in the program.

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CONTAINER CLEAN DECLARATION FORMLINESS

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How do I find a Collection Site?

There are over 800 drumMUSTER collection sites available across Australia where you can bring in your empty, clean eligible agvet chemical containers to be collected, processed and recycled. For details on collections in your area, please use the search facility online at: www.drummuster.org.au/find-a-collection-site

What happens to drumMUSTER containers?

Processors place drumMUSTER containers through shredders, then the granules are washed and heated up to 250°C. Once the plastic mass reaches molten stage, it is cooled, then heat extruded to make small granules, which are packed in bales ready for transport to a remanufacturing plant.

Find out more at drummuster.org.au

1800 008 707

W A IT L PE H E L N ST XP EW RA AN NG DE E D

Recycled plastic remanufacturers create useful products such as wheelie bins, irrigation pipes, public furniture, road markers, construction materials and garden equipment.

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I N D U S T R Y

FreshChain Technology to trace and track berries from your farm to the consumer Greg Calvert, Fresh Chain Systems & S.P. Singh, NSW Department of Primary Industries competitive advantage of Australian produce in new export markets. The project outcome will benefit all supply chain participants including growers, packers, exporters, importers, retailers and consumers.

In the fresh food sector, there is a strong need to achieve electronic traceability across the supply chain. The tracing and tracking abilities enhance the confidence of growers, packers, consumers and government agencies which are involved in regulating market access, food safety and public health.

Adoption of FreshChain Systems by berry growers and packers will ensure their commitment and compliance to food safety, market access and traceability. Such compliance is critical to the ongoing success of domestic and export market access for berries achieved through various trade and phytosanitary agreements. The berry growers and traders adopting this technology will be able to tackle the food fraud challenge in the high value markets, reduce food waste and enable rapid product recall in the event of a food safety failure.

During a food safety incident, a robust traceability system should be able to accurately and swiftly recall the suspect product without affecting the supply and sale of safe products in that category. It also provides several benefits to the businesses in collecting feedback from the consumers and traders to improve product quality and manage supply chains more efficiently.

Using FreshChain Systems technology, a consumer can, at the click of a camera (Figure 1) be assured that their product is fresh and then learn about the things that they make buying decisions around such as ethical sourcing, packaging and compliance to fair workforce laws. Valuable data insights at an aggregate level on who is buying their produce, where their produce is being purchased and what they want to know more about is also available as reports to growers who participate.

Australian-owned FreshChain Systems has secured funding from the Federal Government under the 2020 Traceability Grants Program to build on its existing work in delivering end-to-end traceability, provenance, food safety and consumer engagement in horticulture. The FreshChain System has broad applications across all food, fibre and agricultural products with the current pilot focussed on so called ‘high-risk’ horticulture products such as melons, berries and leafy greens in domestic and export markets. The current project will support the National Traceability Framework by protecting brands in export markets through the prevention of food fraud and maintaining consumer confidence.

Consumers can also rate their product experience including providing comments directly to the grower rather than on social media which can be harmful to brands if made without context or validation.

The FreshChain traceability solution opens more opportunities to directly engage with the consumers and to share more information about your farms and farming practices. The FreshChain System is a costeffective solution which can be adopted regardless of the scale of operation and current level of digitisation.

Our goal is to build a resilient fresh food supply chain to help enhance Australia’s reputation as a supplier of fresh and safe food to the world.

FreshChain is collaborating with the NSW Department of Primary Industries and other industry stakeholders, encouraging the adoption of its blockchain-based end-to-end traceability solution in agriculture. This project will demonstrate the benefits of the technology, ease of integration with existing systems and adoption across the entire supply chain whilst strengthening the

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The existing postharvest packaging and supply chain operations make it easier for the berry growers and packers to retrofit new traceability solutions such as FreshChain Systems in their packing lines and integrate with their Quality Assurance programs.

We are now seeking expressions of interest from farmers/growers/packers across Australia in horticultural commodities that have both a domestic and export focus but looking to grow, or a future view to export opportunities.

If you are a berry grower/packer/exporter, please register your Expression of Interest (EOI) for a traceability pilot project by contacting

FreshChain Systems | 02 8415 9885 hello@freshchain.com.au

Figure1.

Photo credit: Greg Calvert, FreshChain Systems

I N D U S T R Y

Harvest technology streamlines outcomes for berry producer Henrietta Child, Chief Executive Officer, Agricultural Picking Technology

South Australia’s Agricultural Picking Technology (APT) has collaborated with premium berry producer Perfection Berries to implement a harvest management system which captures and reports on all activities.

The system helps managers track, analyse and improve crop outcomes at five berry farms across three sites in Queensland and Tasmania. blueberry buckets. For raspberries, multiple workflows capture key data to record information ranging from grade variables (premium and second grade) and seasonal payroll differences such as piece-rates to hourly rates, depending on the time of year and volume to be picked. For blueberries, capturing weight direct from the scales is vital for efficient operation. AgPick also counts waste, as pickers are paid to pick waste and captures key information such as break times – paid and unpaid – for accurate payment,” she said. “It also has the ability to switch from scanned units to key entry details of a worker’s total pick, if required,” she said.

APT chief executive officer Henrietta Child said management system, AgPick, was initially designed to provide growers with better visibility and control over their harvest activities via hand-held Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) scanners. However, AgPick’s capabilities had evolved to meet Perfection Berries’ objectives to record all outdoor activities including seasonal picker payroll reconciliation, traceability, on-farm crop management costs and provide yield comparisons at a glance, she said.

“What we’ve discovered since AgPick was developed in 2017, is that producers want to look at more than picking outcomes. They want to move away from paper records and have the flexibility to access information easily and remotely via any device,” she said.

Perfection Berries general manager Roger Turner said AgPick was implemented at the Caboolture, Queensland raspberry farms in 2018. Following further development, it was then rolled out at the blueberry farms at Bundaberg, Queensland and blueberry and raspberry farm at Riana, Tasmania, in 2019. “We’ve taken its development a step on from the original idea and smoothed out the processes. The previous paperbased system involved a lot of downstream information and administration effort. By moving the recording of this information into the field and, because of the auditing nature of the system, reports are accessible anytime, without the need for someone to collate the results. I’d estimate it paid for itself within 10 months,” he said.

“For Perfection Berries, live harvest information captured on RFID scanners is available to managers on any device at any point during the picking season – or throughout the year. Our solution is based on touch screens using android devices which are designed for outdoor use and conditions for data capture, supported by an online portal which can be accessed by any web device.”

“The system supports flexible workflows so it has been configured for different berry lines. For example, raspberry punnets are not recorded in the same way as

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AgPick scanning a picker’s ID.

AgPick accounting for blueberry weight at Perfection Berries.

An example screen showing data captured.

All images supplied by AgPick.

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AgPick operates on flexible workflows – being able to do different things in different settings – not a onesize-fits-all approach,” she said.

With the blueberry solution, workflow parameters are set to connect scanned results via Bluetooth® to scales set up in the field, and weights are automatically linked to a picker’s identification card.

It works quickly and logically to capture information without holding pickers up and it reduces human error.

“A lot of farms have a lot of spreadsheets. Today’s growers are seeking simplicity in their technology solutions so they can focus on growing. This system provides a daily read-out, which is simple to analyse and can be edited.

Operational and labour costs can be separated which allows growers greater flexibility in reporting which has become more critical in terms of traceability processes.”

Aiding picking movements during COVID-19 Mr Turner said AgPick technology had played an important role in the successful auditing of pickers during COVID-19 restrictions.

“We’ve been able to use the system’s attendance component to compare who’s had their temperature checked with our records. It’s formed part of successful audits and accreditation to prove who’s there. Integrity of data in this circumstance is vital.”

“For harvest supervisors, it means using a scanner fitted with a SIM card and connected to the Telstra mobile network. If there’s no connection, the system holds the data on the scanner until there is a signal – so there’s no loss of information. Training is minimal and the only requirement is having access to a device with a screen,” he said.

AgPick was launched in 2017 by Ms Child and APT chief technology officer Tony Drake. Ms Child’s experience is in the IT industry, implementing software and training, and mentoring early stage technology companies.

Mr Drake’s background is in developing software knowledge systems for the wine and beverage industry.

He said workflows set for raspberries recorded the movement of punnets to trays for QA checking and captured information for different grades and punnet sizes which, in turn, informed managers of varietal yield outcomes. Live data enabled managers to monitor a harvest’s progress and make key decisions as required and meant managers did not have to drive around a farm to assess a harvest’s progress, providing flexibility and time saving, he said.

Key AgPick features: • Easy-to-use, hand-held operation • U ltra-High Frequency (UHF) option for highpowered, long-distance scanning of multiple vessels • Near

Field Communication (NFC) option for closeup scanning of single vessels

Picker payroll integration

• A secure cloud-based solution which stores records for real-time or post-harvest analysis

Mr Turner said the system was configured to recognise the use of contract labour hire providers, reflecting data with incoming invoices and accurately informing the payroll function. Ms Child said the system handled and record all associated labour costs as well as harvest management costs associated with a farm such as pruning, weeding, spraying and more.

• Picker to payroll integration Agricultural Picking Technology (APT) was established in South Australia in 2017 in response to a need for harvesting efficiency and accountability in the horticultural sector. Its flagship product, AgPick, is at the forefront of global picking technologies.

“Information is calculated daily and compares costs spent on a block with yield from that block.

Depending on the objectives, it can be sorted by block, product or size of operation.

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Growing Berries………….. We can help!

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Huwa-San helps to deal with diseases of viral, bacterial and fungal origin. It has proven to be very effective in helping your crops recover quickly from such diseases as gray mold, powdery mildew, anthracnose, white leaf blotch and many more. For further enquiries please contact the friendly team at Brinkman Australia on 03 95872566 or by email info@brinkman.com.au.

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I N D U S T R Y

Incorporating agritourism into your berry business Bron Ford, Berry Industry Development Officer, Queensland Strawberry Growers Association

Agritourism is a direct marketing strategy that has recently been gaining in popularity and can diversify or increase farm income. Agritourism operations can help spread the income stream, provide an opportunity for value adding (particularly for fruit that doesn’t meet retail quality specifications) and assist with vertical integration of the business.

Implementing PYO as a strategic business component can have some advantages including:

Agritourism activities help to build a direct relationship between the farm and consumers, enhance understanding of the berry farming system and can potentially contribute to brand loyalty in the longer term.

• P roviding a business diversification option spreading the income streams and risks • P otentially offering more stable price points than fluctuating market prices

Agritourism activities that are considered authentic, locally relevant, have an educational component and allow the consumer to “meet the farmer” to see how berries are grown are strong motivators for agritourists.

• O ffering a good way to build customer and brand loyalty • C an be used as an educational tool regarding food and agriculture

Examples of agritourism in the berry industry include formal partnerships with schools, farm-based festivals, farm gate shops and pick your own (PYO) approaches.

• P roviding an ideal opportunity and venue to sell value-added products including jam and ice-cream • R educing overhead costs associated with picking, packing and transport

Mandy and Adrian Schultz run ‘Luvaberry’ at Wamuran in the Moreton Bay region just north of Brisbane. They have had a PYO aspect to their business since 2017.

One of the longest running PYO berry businesses in Queensland is Strawberry Fields, established more than 40 years ago at their site on the Sunshine Coast.

The agritourism venture initially opened as a farm gate shop to sell “seconds fruit” directly to the public.

In 2020, COVID-19 social distancing restrictions required the business to pivot and a new concept Peckish Picking was born.

“The evolution of our PYO business into Peckish Picking requires consumers to register and pay online, and limits visitor numbers to ensure we are meeting hygiene and social distancing requirements” said Mandy.

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David Carmichael, owner of Strawberry Fields, reflects that the business today has expanded its agritourism focus and the farm balances PYO, an on-farm shop and commercial production.

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Brendon Hoyle from Ashbern Farms says that “committing to the PYO element of the business at Stanthorpe has provided us with a good platform to engage directly with our customers and continue our drive for increased brand awareness and loyalty”.

Aside from the peak strawberry production periods of August and September, nearly all fruit is sold on-farm in the form of PYO, fruit sales over the counter, seconds fruit processed into jam, ice-cream, and toppings sold in the farm shop as well as through the on-site café.

The business juggles significant additional management requirements due to conducting a commercial farm alongside a PYO operation.

“It has been challenging at times to ensure that the farm is kept in impeccable condition adding to the daily logistical challenge of managing normal farm machinery movements with the unpredictability of visitors and children. In saying that, the majority of the fruit from the farm goes to existing retail and wholesale fruit markets, but incorporating PYO has enabled the business to engage with the local community, become involved with the public and be an additional asset to the local tourism industry”.

Planning and implementing an agritourism component to a berry business can be a challenge and there are a number of key legal and social considerations to address. These include: • I nstallation and management of customer facilities including bathrooms, carparks, sun-shelter, fencing, signage • A dditional workplace, health and safety considerations and possibly additional public liability insurance and safety management requirements • C onstant interaction with people and limited privacy around your farm and on-farm residences • S tate and local Government regulations specific to café and food service, traffic management, car parking and retail outlets • F ood safety requirements including understanding of withholding periods Ashbern Farms grow strawberries all year round in Queensland with commercial operations at Beerwah from March – September and on the Granite Belt during the summer season from September – April.

The PYO component of the business has been in operation for approximately ten years at the Stanthorpe (Granite Belt) farm only and was a conscious choice to capitalise on the high number of tourists that visit the region particularly over the summer holidays.

If you would like hear directly from these growers about their experiences developing an agritourism part to their berry fruit growing business, check out this video: youtu.be/Q0K9lajz7Ko

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EASE AIR INCR FLO

Generous channels between feet provide airflow & water access

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OTS WITH FEE |P T

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I N D U S T R Y

Exploring Integrated Pest Management options for Spotted Winged Drosophila Dr Paul Horne & Jessica Page, IPM Technologies To achieve this, IPM Technologies’ entomologists Dr Paul Horne and Jessica Page found collaborators in the UK and in Denmark. These collaborators arranged farm visits for us in the UK and Denmark in June 2019 to observe current control measures and SWD biology. We then proposed an additional cultural control option that we asked them to trial on-farm.

As part of a Hort Innovation funded project using funds from the Raspberry & Blackberry and Strawberry levy funds and contributions from the Australian government (MT18010 – Development of IPM compatible methods for controlling Drosophila suzukii in berry crops), Paul Horne and Jessica Page from IPM Technologies have travelled to Europe to look at the methods used to control SWD there.

Current cultural options are being implemented in the UK with good effect and these are listed here: • E nsuring that an IPM approach is in place dealing with all other pests (at present mirids pose the most disruptive controls).

Australia is currently free of the exotic spotted wing drosophila (SWD; Drosophila suzukii), a pest of softskinned fruit that has been identified as a threat to Australian fruit production, and which is ranked in the Top 40 High Priority Plant Pests by the Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment.

• E nsuring good hygiene practices, e.g. ALL nonmarketable berries need to be picked every 2-3 days and securely destroyed.

• Trimming plants to remove suitable habitat for SWD. • D ecreasing planting density (blackberries and raspberries) and reducing humidity in the crop.

It is a particularly invasive pest originating in south-east Asia that has spread rapidly through fruit producing regions around the world where it has caused significant damage. If this pest enters and establishes in Australia it could impact a range of fruit produced commercially here, and it is recognised as a key biosecurity threat by a number of Australian horticultural industries.

• U sing herbicide or otherwise keeping area under plants bare.

• U sing screens/curtains around the edges of the crop from where SWD may invade.

• U sing commercially available bait traps outside the crop area, on the perimeter where SWD is likely to be breeding.

There are three control options for any pest, including SWD, and these are: Biological, Cultural and Chemical controls. Effective Biological control agents for SWD are unlikely to be available in the near future. Chemical control options are limited, with products being either not compatible with biocontrol of other key pests or not currently available in Australia (Spinosad) or facing problems with insecticide resistance. So, the main control options for us are cultural (management).

The project will produce a final set of recommended cultural control practices and estimated costs for implementation in the Australian context.

We commenced the project (MT18010) to try and develop IPM compatible control options for SWD that maximise the use of cultural control options so that if SWD arrives in Australia it can be tackled within an IPM framework.

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Who is who in Horticulture today Jane Richter

Hort Innovation horticulture.com.au

According to the latest edition of the Australian Horticulture Statistics Handbook (2018/19), total Horticultural production is worth $14.4bn at farmgate.

This is more than for Cattle and calves ($13bn) and for livestock products such as wool, milk and eggs ($10bn) across the same period (ABS, 2020), yet until recently Horticulture was simply not ‘well connected’.

Hort Innovation is Australian horticulture's main Research and Development Corporation (RDC), investing government and industry levy funds in R&D and marketing on behalf of most current horticulture crops.

Each industry is allocated to a team within Hort Innovation who manage the levies collected from growers, advise upon and facilitate the investment in new R&D projects and who manage marketing programmes for those industries with a compulsory marketing levy.

The peak industry bodies do not receive grower levies except for voluntary levies.

Horticulture is a complex beast, made up of over 35,000 individual businesses, many of whom are family farms employing just family members.

The industry produces over 100 different crops, in every state and territory of Australia and has over 50 active ‘peak industry bodies’ (PIB), state crop and regional grower groups representing the interests of horticulture farmers.

Hort Council nff.org.au/nff-horticulture-council Originally formed in early 2018, the Hort Council is a nationally representative dedicated, united and tailored body representing the best interests of Australia’s production and ornamental horticulture sectors.

Then there are the Research and Development Corporations (RDC) responsible for investing the compulsory and voluntary levies that are collected.

Although Hort Innovation is the RDC for most horticulture crops, one crop Ginger falls under the Agrifutures RDC instead.

It was formed as a part of the National Farmers Federation, and now has a part-time paid Executive at the helm – Tyson Cattle - who has been seconded part time from his role at AUSVEG.

When you add the various Commonwealth statutory service agencies and government departments that play a part let alone the private companies that are intertwined as service delivery partners, it is understandable to feel slightly lost.

The body was established to ‘strive for more efficient, effective, cohesive horticulture policy and advocacy that affects all Agriculture at the national level’.

There are currently 22 full members of the Hort Council which includes most of the large horticulture Peak Industry Bodies (PIBs), with other smaller PIBs represented via their membership of a state body that has full membership, for example, NSW Farmers or Growcom. Berries Australia is a full member of the Hort Council.

In this summary, we will attempt to identify just who is who in horticulture today. Firstly, let’s introduce a few of the key players:

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Voice of Horticulture (VoH) voiceofhorticulture.org.au

PHA members include most major plant based agricultural industries, the Australian Government and all state or territory governments. Membership of Plant Health Australia is unlimited and inclusive and is available to peak plant industries and government.

The company has a national office located in Canberra and is run by a team of specialist staff and a skillsbased Board.

Voice of Horticulture is a member-based organisation that represents horticultural growers and businesses across fruit, vegetables, nuts, mushrooms, turf, nursery plants and cut flowers.

Originally formed in 2014 as the Horticulture Task Force, VoH was to set up to actively promote the development of horticulture and horticultural resources.

Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority apvma.gov.au

Following the successful formation of the Hort Council, VoH is in the process of transferring members across to being represented as a full member of the Hort Council or being represented via a state agriculture body.

The APVMA is an Australian government statutory authority established in 1993 to centralise the registration of all agricultural and veterinary chemical products into the Australian marketplace.

Most of the APVMA’s operational income is collected from registrants of pesticides and veterinary medicines.

Registrants pay application fees to register products, and an annual fee to maintain product registrations.

Registrants also pay levies based on the annual wholesale sales value of registered products.

Australian Fresh Produce Alliance freshproduce.org.au The Australian Fresh Produce Alliance (AFPA) is made up of a number of Australia's major fresh produce growers and suppliers including most of the large companies in Australian berries; Costa Group, Perfection, Driscoll’s, Pinata Farms and Fresh Produce Group.

The APVMA not only registers and approves all agvet chemicals in Australia but also sets MRLs for these chemicals. Levels are set based on how much of the chemical is needed to control pests and/or diseases.

The product's chemistry, metabolism, analytical methodology and residue trial data are also assessed as well as the potential impact on the environment.

The AFPA was established to ‘be the first choice industry body that retailers and government go to for discussion and outcomes on issues involving the growing and supply of fresh produce’.

The AFPA has a set of focus policy areas: packaging, labour, market access, product integrity, pollination and water security.

Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) foodstandards.gov.au

Plant Health Australia planthealthaustralia.com.au Plant Health Australia (PHA) is the national coordinator of the government-industry partnership for plant biosecurity in Australia. PHA was established in 2000 as a not-for-profit company, to service its members.

Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) is a statutory authority in the Australian Government Health portfolio. FSANZ develops food standards for Australia and New Zealand. FSANZ assesses agvet chemical residues in the diet and works closely with the APVMA on these assessments. FSANZ is also responsible for considering requests to harmonise MRLs with international limits.

PHA is the custodian of the Emergency Plant Pest Response Deed (EPPRD; current version as of 30 April 2020). This is a formal legally binding agreement between PHA, the Australian Government, all state and territory governments and national plant industry body signatories. It covers the management and funding of responses to emergency plant pest (EPP) incidents, including the potential for owner reimbursement costs for growers.

In Australia, state and territory food regulatory agencies monitor and enforce the Food Standards Code including MRLs. They undertake surveillance programs for agvet chemical residues in food and also monitor the use of agvet chemicals by food producers.

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Austrade austrade.gov.au

DAWE Levy Management agriculture.gov.au/ag-farm-food/levies

The Australian Trade and Investment Commission (Austrade) is a Commonwealth Government agency connecting Australian businesses to the world and the world to Australian businesses.

The Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment collects, administers and disburses agricultural levies and charges on behalf of Australia’s primary industries.

With over 80 offices around the world, Austrade team members consisting of country experts, industry specialists, and trade and investment analysts, help Australian businesses big or small to navigate complex overseas markets and make it easier for them to go global.

Revenue that is collected from a levy or charge can be directed to biosecurity preparedness and emergency plant pest responses, marketing, research and development and residue testing.

Each industry has a different formula for calculating and collecting levies, as well as a unique allocation of funds collected across the different allowable investment areas.

Austrade services are delivered online, in person or via partners, such as the TradeStart program delivered by advisers located within state and territory governments, and industry bodies.

Some levies are collected at the first point of sale post farm gate and others are levied on nursery plants at the beginning of the supply chain.

HARPS www.harpsonline.com.au

The important point to understand is that levy invested in R&D is matched $ for $ by additional Commonwealth Government funds up to a maximum of 0.5% of the gross value of production of the industry.

In 2012 Horticulture Australia (now Hort Innovation) Ltd initiated a project to harmonise food safety certification requirements for the major retailers in Australia.

The result of this project is the Harmonised Australian Retailer Produce Scheme (HARPS).

Hort Code of Conduct www.accc.gov.au/business/industrycodes/horticulture-code-of-conduct

The initial HARPS project was funded by Horticulture Innovation using across-industry levies and funds from the Australian Government. The scheme is voluntary and application for certification is open to all fresh produce businesses that supply the major grocery retailers.

The Horticulture Code of Conduct is a mandatory industry code prescribed under the Competition and Consumer Act 2010. The Code aims to improve the clarity and transparency of trading arrangements between growers and traders in the horticulture sector.

HARPS has resulted in the alignment of the major grocery retailers in Australia to accept a suite of food safety standards that will allow growers and packers to complete a single audit against a single standard that will satisfy all retailers, rather than multiple audits against multiple standards.

Horticulture growers and traders must comply with the Code. The Code applies to growers and traders.

Traders can be either a merchant or an agent. The Code does not apply to purchasers of horticulture produce who sell directly to consumers such as the major grocery retailers.

The major grocery retailers participating in HARPS are ALDI, Coles Supermarkets, Costco, Metcash (IGA) and Woolworths. The HARPS Standard Version 1.0 was released in October 2016. To date over 3,000 audits have taken place across the growers and suppliers to the HARPS participating retailers.

The Code prohibits growers and traders from trading in horticulture produce without a Horticulture Produce Agreement that specifies certain matters.

The Code now contains penalty provisions. Not complying with a penalty provision could result in the ACCC taking court action seeking a financial penalty for the breach, or issuing an infringement notice.

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WHO'S WHO IN HORTICULTURE TODAY & HOW THEY INTERACT FSANZ

APVMA

HOME AFFAIRS

BORDER FORCE

AUSTRADE

DAWE

Matched funding for R&D Advocate on behalf of farmers

SERVICE DELIVERY PARTNERS

HORT INNOVATION

Complusory Levy

R&D

NFF

AFPA

Voluntary Levy

MARKETING ABGA

PEAK INDUSTRY BODIES

HORT COUNCIL

Berries Australia

STATE AGRICULTURE GROUPS

Members of AFPA: Costa Group; Perfection Fresh Australia; LaManna Premier Group; One Harvest; Fresh Select; Mackay's Banana Marketing; Montague; Freshmax; Driscoll's; Rugby Farms; Pinãta Farms; 2PH Farms and Fresh Produce Group.

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Blitzing blueberries: it’s biosecurity time!

Margaret Uloth, Plant Pathologist, Plant Biosecurity & Sustainability, Department of Primary Industry and Regional Development and Laura Fagan, Development Officer, Plant Biosecurity & Sustainability, Department of Primary Industry and Regional Development

Pest reporters around Western Australia are gearing up for the state’s annual pest and disease surveillance campaign, the Biosecurity Blitz 2020. The Department of Primary Industries & Regional Development (DPIRD) initiative runs from 19 October to 16 November 2020. The public are encouraged to participate by reporting interesting insects, plants or animals using the MyPestGuide™ Reporter app.

To participate, simply download the MyPestGuide™ Reporter app, get outside, take photos of interesting organisms and send them to the department during the blitz period. Experts from the department will view and respond to all Biosecurity Blitz reports, providing an identification and information about the organism back to you through the app.

This means that the public can help support the Western Australian horticulture industry generate greater returns on investments.”

DPIRD Plant Pathologist Margaret Uloth said while reports of all organisms were welcome, there would be a focus on blueberry rust in this year’s Blitz.

“We want to gather evidence to show that the disease is still absent from Western Australia. We have developed a blueberry rust activity which asks for photos of any kind of spots on blueberry leaves and provides blueberry rust information and images.”

“We would like as many blueberry reports as possible, so take photos of your berry plants, even if they are super healthy. These reports are important to show our freedom from blueberry rust.”

DPIRD Development Officer Laura Fagan, said receiving a large number of reports over a concentrated period provided valuable data to support the department’s ongoing biosecurity efforts.

The Biosecurity Blitz provides us with a snapshot in time of the state of our environment.

You can make reports using the MyPestGuide™ Reporter app for iOS or Android, or by submitting a report through the community website: mypestguide.agric.wa.gov.au/reporter

“The more reports we get over this period, the better as it gives us a broad understanding of the kinds of insects, diseases and weeds we have around us, which is critical to detecting and preventing the establishment of new exotic pests. “Biosecurity Blitz 2020 reports also support the department’s ongoing surveillance efforts to demonstrate freedom from exotic pests and diseases, which underpins access to essential trade markets.

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To find out more and view the available activities visit the Biosecurity Blitz 2020 website: agric.wa.gov.au/biosecurity-blitz

Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development

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Capture images of organisms during Biosecurity Blitz 2020. Photo credit: Stock image

Blueberry plants are of particular interest

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Polytunnel length key to providing consistent climate for plants and pollinators Claire McCrory, Berry Industry Development officer, Rubus & Tasmania, Fruit Growers Tasmania

Protected cropping systems are increasing in popularity to manage environmental risks and produce a consistent quality product with a longer harvest window over the year.

This protected environment results in a difference of temperature, wind, humidity and light throughout the length of the structure.

In north Queensland blueberries, the pollinator demographic consisted almost entirely of honey bees (1,762), with sweat bees and stingless bees not detected in significant numbers. Bee species were most present and active near the ends of each tunnel, with fewer bees operating near the warmer centre of each tunnel.

Other foraging insect species including hoverflies, houseflies and butterflies were also occasionally observed visiting blueberry flowers within the tunnels.

Horticulturalists from Costa Group Maurizio Rocchetti and Derek Wright have observed changes in pollinator activity along tunnels and corresponding gradients in fruit size and quality. A collaboration with researchers from University of New England led a study investigating the effects of polytunnels on bee visitation and fruit quality, based in Corindi NSW and Walkamin, QLD.

Tunnel impacts on fruit quality Ensuring adequate pollination is a high priority for berry growers, since fruits are a result of pollination of berry flowers. Guaranteeing pollination in blueberries can be tricky, as blueberries vary from self-fertile to self-infertile depending on cultivar. Increasing pollination in blueberries is reported to increase fruit weight and shorten fruit development times.

Blueberry quality was shown to be significantly better for plants located at the ends of tunnels and related to visitation by honey bees. Greater visitation by honey bees resulted in higher average berry weights and berry yield per plant. The total fruit yield per plant was also higher on plants situated at the ends of tunnels also as a result of the increased visitation by pollinators.

Pollinator behaviour in tunnels The internal microclimate of a tunnel has implications both on pollinator presence and behaviour. Blueberry and raspberry tunnels demonstrated warmer average temperatures and lower wind speeds with increasing distance from the edge of the tunnel.

Managing pollination in raspberries, blackberries and other Rubus sp. berries was also shown to be important for maximising fruit quality. In most Rubus species, each berry flower is composed of 100-125 pistils, each requiring the transfer of pollen to create a mature seed. These individual structures form a drupelet, and 75-85 drupelets are needed to form a complete berry.

Raspberry fruit quality was most impacted by higher tunnel temperatures, and an average of seven visits by a honey bee was shown to be required for high quality, symmetrical raspberries with few or no defects.

For raspberries in Corindi, pollinators were mainly honey bees (total of 5,698) followed by stingless bees (2,034) and sweat bees (250). The warmer centres of raspberry tunnels had fewer visits by honey bees and stingless bees. However, the warmer tunnel centres didn’t deter the wild native sweat bee species Homalictus urbanus which provided fewer yet consistent visitation to flowers across the length of tunnels.

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This means that good pollination and a lot of bee activity is critical for ensuring commercial quality fruit and avoiding crumbly, misshapen second-grade fruit. In this study, visitation by sweat bees was shown to reduce crumbliness and there was also a weak, yet significant link between good fruit quality and visitation by stingless bees.

Managing tunnels for consistency The tunnels used in the study were 100 metres in length and showed variations in temperature and humidity between the ends and centre of the tunnels.

Honey bees are already the main species used in managed hives, however stingless bees are increasingly being used in managed pollination.

Raspberry tunnels at the Walkamin site in Queensland.

Photo credit: Mark Hall

Pollination researchers suggest limiting poly tunnel lengths to ensure a more consistent climate and allow fly-through of all pollinators, since both honey bees and stingless bees were found more often at the edges of tunnels rather than in the centre. Shortening tunnels would achieve more consistent conditions throughout their length, improve airflow and reduce heat stress on both pollinators and plants.

Growers using longer tunnels can also look to encourage native bee species Homalictus urbanus to improve pollination performance. In this study, it was found that these ground-nesting bees were actually nesting at the base of the raspberry plants in built-up, bare earth.

Native stingless bee on raspberry flower.

Photo credit: Jeremy Jones

A simple strategy to encourage sweat bees to occupy tunnels would be to provide a habitat by ensuring there are similar areas of bare, mounded earth within raspberry tunnel structures. The sweat bees also demonstrated little sensitivity to temperature variations across the length of the tunnel, providing important pollination services in areas avoided by other bee species.

The article, Bee Visitation and Fruit Quality in Berries Under Protected Cropping Vary Along the Length of Polytunnels, is published in the Journal of Economic Entomology and can be viewed via this link: academic.oup.com/jee/article-abstract/113/3/ 1337/5809826

Honey bee on blueberry flower.

Photo credit: Jeremy Jones

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Pinata Farms first year of production in Tasmania Claire McCrory, Berry Industry Development officer, Rubus & Tasmania, Fruit Growers Tasmania

Tasmanians love seeing the BerryWorld raspberries in the supermarket knowing that the fruit is produced locally. The packaging design is attractive, and the distinctive heat-sealed punnet holds the fruit securely. Pinata Farms now have 1,010 ha under cultivation nationwide producing mangoes, pineapples and berries.

Background (1960’s – present)

Expansion into berries

Brothers Gavin and Stephen Scurr began their independent farming careers in 1992, establishing Pinata Farms in Wamuran, an hour’s drive north from Brisbane. Pinata was originally a pineapple producing company, a natural crop choice for the siblings as they grew up farming pineapples. Their father Geoff Scurr recalls earning 80 cents an hour in the 1970’s to work on his father’s pineapple farm and the toils of carrying harvested pineapples out from the field on his back. Pinata Farms became the largest producer of pineapples in Australia.

Woolworths supermarkets approached Pinata in the late 1990’s to talk about entering the berry category, as they were looking for a secure supply of strawberries.

The decision to grow strawberries wasn’t easy and was carefully weighed up against the high amount of labour required to produce the crop and the intensity of the substrate system. Despite this, access to a secure supply contract for Woolworths was highly attractive, and the brothers agreed to explore strawberry production.

Pinata began growing winter strawberries in 2000 at their homesite in Wamuran, now growing the varieties ‘Fortuna’, ‘Red Rhapsody’, and ‘Sundrench’.

In 2013, Pinata began summer strawberry cultivation in Stanthorpe with the variety ‘Albion’. This site was chosen for its higher altitude of 990 metres, lower humidity, and lower minimum temperatures. The cooler nights are key to removing the heat from the berry fruits prior to the new day.

In the 1990’s, changes in import regulations meant that imported pineapples began entering Australia.

It was sensible to begin to diversify into other crops to spread any risk which would arise from the loss of market share to imported products. It was at this time that the siblings expanded their operation into melons and mangoes.

In the early days, the transition to berries was a steep learning curve. Time was of the essence; berries were not as robust as pineapples and moisture management was critical for success. The input requirements for temperate berries were a stark contrast to pineapples; a tropical field crop with a biennial fruiting cycle. In addition to this, were the challenges posed by farming in each of the individual climates at each production site.

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Partnering with BerryWorld Today, Pinata Farms is the Australian partner of BerryWorld Group, a multinational, based in the UK creating BerryWorld Australia. Pinata is the sole grower in Australia of the exclusive BerryWorld strawberry and raspberry varieties and focuses solely on fruit production.

The Stanthorpe and Wamuran sites allowed for yearround production of strawberries until 2018, when water shortages in the Stanthorpe region meant that strawberry production was no longer possible. The same year, Pinata further expanded the berry category into BerryWorld raspberries which remained in production at both sites.

BerryWorld Australia is responsible for marketing and the interface with consumers, and licences eligible commercial nurseries to provide Pinata with plants propagated from BerryWorld’s certified motherstock.

Pinata Farms first connected with BerryWorld in 2014 when some of their team travelled to Australia on a business expansion tour. A relationship started and over the next 6 months a joint venture was formed to produce BerryWorld strawberries in Australia.

To continue year-round raspberry production, Pinata knew it needed to look for a southern site to complement the QLD season. Pinata decided to go south to Tasmania, searching for the most favourable climate for summer production. Surrounded by water on all sides, summer temperatures in Tasmania don’t get as high as they do in other areas of mainland Australia. Pinata ultimately settled on a site at Orielton, approximately half an hour's drive from Hobart.

From the outset, the Orielton site had a number of attributes in its favour, including its warm coastal climate with low humidity and access to an underutilised water scheme offering a secure water supply. Being located in southern Tasmania, the site is far away from other raspberry producers in the state’s north, strengthening the site’s biosecurity.

The relationship between BerryWorld and Pinata is fantastic. They are relaxed, supportive and understand there is some fine-tuning to optimise production in the Australian climate.

Lastly, the site’s proximity to Hobart ensures ready access to services and labour from Tasmania’s largest city. And let’s not forget it’s close proximity to Hobart airport makes it easy to bring in personnel for seasonal activities where required, although the extra distance to interstate freight services means freight costs are increased.

The establishment of the Orielton site took 18 months, from purchase of the ex-sheep property to the first harvest of substrate produced raspberries. Beginning a new farm brings all sorts of excitement and challenges.

A memorable challenge for the farm manager, Mark Salter, was the installation of the tunnel poles and trellis system. Unbeknown to him, the sight was home to an old glacier, leaving a sub-surface pan of stone which required help from an excavator with a hydraulic tip to pre-punch 3,000 holes for the uprights to be installed.

As part of the expansion into Australia, there has been some fine-tuning in the production recommendations to accommodate local climate and conditions. Australia has more sunlight than many other berry growing areas in the world, meaning strawberry genetics perform differently in Australia compared to Europe. The warmer weather results in smaller fruit; for instance, in strawberries a 25-gram fruit size in Europe translates to a 20-gram fruit size in Australian conditions. This is an important consideration when fruit size is a market specification.

Today, Pinata Farms’ Orielton site is a hive of activity as the site continues to expand, with new tunnels being installed regularly. There are already plans in place for introducing strawberries to the site, but for now, Gavin and his team are content to focus on growing the site’s raspberry operations.

Achieving year-round production Pinata Farms expanded into year-round production in 2015 then substrate production systems in 2016; this has involved expanding and developing new production zones across Australia.

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All images supplied by Pinata Farms.

Gavin & Rebecca Scurr at the Wamuran raspberry farm

Pinata Farms Orielton site (3ha of polytunnel raspberries)

Farm Manager Mark Salter at the Orielton site

BerryWorld raspberries are packed in heat-sealed trays

R U B U S

Rising berry stars Jane Richter, with data provided by Harvest to Home

Berries continue to be a rising star in the total fresh fruit category in Australia, with relative newcomer – the humble Blackberry – showing over 100% volume growth in the last year, albeit from a small starting base.

Sales volume of Blackberries has grown by 102.9% in the last year, but slightly less in value terms up by 92.0%, indicating a small decrease in the average price per kilo sold.

So, what does the current data tell us and how can those insights be used?

Raspberries continue to be a solid purchase for consumers with 7.5% growth in volume sales and 5.7% growth in sales value, but interestingly the proportion of total households reportedly purchasing Raspberries over the same period fell by 1%.

According to the data, 41% of households in Australia purchased at least one punnet of fresh Raspberries in the 12 months to mid-April 2020. This figure is what’s known as the ‘household penetration’ of fresh Raspberries. The next measure tells us that those households that are buying Raspberries, are buying them more frequently on average than they did in the previous year – in fact the average number of buying occasions are now at 7.2 which is more than fresh Oranges! In total terms, households are spending $37.50 on average on Raspberries during the year with a total volume purchased of 1.1kg. The final measure lets us look at how much is typically purchased on each buying occasion and it looks like consumers are still generally buying just one punnet each time they buy.

Let’s look at Raspberries first.

Strawberries are the most mature berry in the category, with 84% of all Australian households buying at least one punnet of Strawberries in the twelve months to 19 April 2020.

The Harvest to Home dashboard can be found at harvesttohome.net.au and provides a series of charts that help us to understand what is happening with individual berries with detailed data available for Strawberries, Raspberries and Blackberries, and some comparative data available for Blueberries.

Who is buying these Raspberries?

It is important to recognise that the ‘what’ is only part of the equation; this data can’t tell us ‘why’ consumers are choosing to behave in these ways. For that information, a different type of research is required.

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The Nielsen data allows us to identify several factors about the buyers; their lifestage; household income; age of the main shopper and the size of the household.

This enables us to build up a picture of the Raspberry buyer in comparison to the average fruit buyer.

Raspberry supply has increased substantially over the last 2-3 years and with this increase in supply has come with a lower average retail price, making a punnet of raspberries an affordable item for families. The lifestage analysis shows us that ‘Start-up Families’ have increased their Raspberry purchasing dramatically in the last year, as well as being the largest total volume buying lifestage with 1.2kg purchased. Half of all households with children aged 17 or less are buying Raspberries making it a firm family favourite in the making.

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What are the insights we can draw from this information?

Blackberries are booming An additional 10% of households are buying blackberries in the latest data period as compared to the year prior, with household penetration now at 29%.

As would be expected from a relatively new berry, the average number of buying occasions is still very low at just 3.2 but this can also be a factor of their availability in the market; blackberries are still only available in short seasonal bursts.

To increase sales of Raspberries there are two main avenues open; to increase the total pool of consumers that purchase Raspberries (increase household penetration) or to sell more Raspberries to the 41% of households that are already buying Raspberries (increase weight or frequency of purchase).

To encourage new purchasers, one of the marketing techniques often used is to offer consumers the chance to try before they buy. Operating tastings where the fruit is sold can be a relatively cost-effective method for attracting new purchasers to a category. Other techniques that are often used in packaged goods include money-back guarantees, mail-in discounts or even a gift with purchase; all of which are designed to offset the perceived risk of purchasing something that a consumer is not familiar with.

Much like Raspberries, it appears that consumers currently only buy a single punnet when they do purchase Blackberries. It looks like families are yet to really discover the humble Blackberry, with a skew towards the modern day SINKs and DINKs*.

Blackberries are comparatively expensive and so it won’t surprise anyone that it is higher income, smaller households and older shoppers doing much of the buying currently.

To grow the sales of Blackberries further, better availability will act as a natural driver given one third of households are already prepared to give them a go. Finding ways to get new consumers to try the Blackberries that are available will also be key; the new varieties being introduced are larger, juicier with more flavour than many consumers will have experienced in a Blackberry before so trial tactics will be essential for growth.

It is generally acknowledged that it is easier to sell more of an item to consumers that are already ‘bought in’ to the category, than it is to convert a consumer to purchasing a product they have never bought before.

With 41% of households already buying Raspberries, a simple way to increase the amount purchased could be to introduce a larger punnet size when the fruit is in higher availability. Increasing the pack size obviously sells more volume per transaction and assuming the size increase wasn’t too substantial, is unlikely to put off would-be purchasers.

This is just a small section of the insights that can be gleaned from a review of the data available at Harvest to Home. The information is updated approximately every six months with the previous year available to provide a window onto the longer term trends.

Other tactics that retail outlets often employ include offering a promotional discount for buying more punnets on each occasion – buy 2 for $X, and even using the tactic commonly found at cafes – the frequent sippers card approach to increase the number of times a consumer buys in order to gain a ‘prize’ of some kind. Generally, these latter tactics are controlled by the retailer, and in Australia retail sales are dominated by a number of large players, making a change in punnet size a logical idea to explore.

Why not check it out for yourself at www.harvesttohome.net.au

Some of the data can even help to suggest what type of social media strategy to use to help grow sales. Knowing that families with children are a key and growing lifestage for Raspberries would also suggest promotional tactics that focus on showing families quick and easy ways to add Raspberries to their everyday favourites as opposed to long and complicated ‘entertaining’ recipes that just don’t fit into a busy family lifestyle.

* Single Income No Kids and Double Income No Kids

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Mountain Blue starts an Australian blackberry breeding program Melinda Simpson, Berry Industry Development Officer, NSW Department of Primary Industries

Mountain Blue is a family owned and operated company on the NSW north coast. Mountain Blue was established in 1978 and have been producing high quality blueberry genetics for many years. More recently they have decided to diversify and consequently have partnered with the University of Arkansas to develop an Australian blackberry breeding trial on the NSW North Coast.

The University of Arkansas have a large fruit breeding program of which blackberries are the leading crop.

This program emphasises traits including flavour and sweetness, firmness, thornlessness, primocane fruiting and dwarfism.

Mountain Blue imported their first lot of blackberry seed from John Clark at the University of Arkansas in September 2018. This initial seed was open pollinated (known mother but not father), included both primocane and floricane material and was a trial to practice germinating and growing blackberries.

To date, the breeding program at the University of Arkansas has developed 41 blackberry varieties. They make around 70 blackberry crosses each year, applying pollen from one parent onto the flowers of another, generating annually around 100,000 to 300,000 seeds for planting in seedling row plots and for use in their cooperative breeding activities with companies such as Mountain Blue.

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The seed was germinated, seedlings were raised early in 2019 and then planted out in September 2019.

This first phase has 10 different populations of which they have done one primocane assessment.

In the initial stages, they are focusing mainly on fruit flavour and are tagging any potential plants that look promising so that they can propagate and assess further. The University of Arkansas is allowing Mountain Blue to make their own crosses in the future with anything that has promising characteristics.

In June 2019, Damien Clothier, agronomist at Mountain Blue, travelled to the University of Arkansas to meet up with John Clark and visit the blackberry breeding trials firsthand.

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All images supplied by Melinda Simpson, NSW DPI

Figure 1. First phase of breeding program including both primocane & floricane material.

Figure 2 and 3. Phase 2 of the breeding program consisting of 41 different populations.

From the 41 different populations, they will be looking for the following characteristics: flavour, fruit size, plant health and structure and yield potential.

Plants identified with promise will undergo further assessment and multiplication.

The aim of this visit was to assess the breeding material and to identify material that Mountain Blue would like to receive and work with in future seed deliveries.

The main attributes looked at were taste, medium to large sized fruit, high yielding plants and postharvest durability.

Initially, Mountain Blue’s breeding program is looking specifically for thornless primocane varieties that are suitable for the northern NSW/Southern QLD growing region. But future work will look at developing floricane varieties for cooler, southern regions.

Another batch of seed incorporating some of Damien’s suggestions from his June 2019 visit looking at John Clark’s own selections was sent to Mountain Blue in September 2019. This seed was germinated, seedlings grown out and 6800 blackberries were planted out in the field at the end of May 2020.

This batch consists of 41 different populations from designated crosses (known mother and known father), and because of this there is a higher likelihood of these populations showing promising attributes, compared to the original open pollinated plants.

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A key benefit of the ECO BERRY® range is that it's quick and easy to install therefore saving time and money for growers. The nylon clips allow the ability to ‘tuck’ foliage wires or strings to provide both time and labour savings, along with a greater span between the frames meaning there are less frames per hectare or tunnel to install.

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S T R A W B E R R I E S

The impact of planting timing on yield in south-east Queensland Christopher Menzel, Principal Horticulturist, Department of Agriculture and Fisheries 32% without better cultivars or times of planting with a 1.0ºC to 1.4ºC increase in temperature. Hunt et al. (2019) indicated that early sowing could increase national wheat yields in Australia by an average of 0.54 t/ha under climate change. We conducted experiments to determine whether early plantings could mitigate some of the impacts of global warming on the yield of strawberries on the Sunshine Coast. The average daily mean temperature from April to September in this area has increased by 2.0ºC over the past fifty years. The rate of warming has been greater in August and September than in April and May. The rate of warming has also been greater during the night than during the day.

Global warming will decrease the yields of many crops. These lower yields can be mitigated in some annual species by planting the crops early or late to avoid extremes of weather. We were interested in determining whether this strategy would work for strawberries in Queensland.

We showed that when the nursery plants were planted early, the bulk of the crop was produced before the weather warmed up. We conclude that planting the crop early would reduce some of the impacts of global warming on the yields of strawberries in south-east Queensland.

What we did We planted transplants of ‘Festival’ and ‘Fortuna’ at three different times over two years at Nambour in south-east Queensland.

In the first year, ‘Festival’ was planted on 31 March, 14 April or on 28 April, while ‘Fortuna’ was planted on 7 April, 21 April or on 5 May. In the second year, ‘Festival’ was planted on 30 March, 13 April or on 27 April, while ‘Fortuna’ was planted on 6 April, 20 April or on 4 May. We harvested fruit every week for an assessment of marketable yield (fresh weight).

The main scenarios for global climate change include an increase in the concentration of carbon dioxide (CO2) and an increase in average temperatures.

Researchers in China found that the average yields of wheat, rice and maize across the country decreased by 2.58% for each 1ºC increase in average daily mean temperature. These results demonstrate that many species are sensitive to small changes in temperature under global warming.

In year one, the first fruit were harvested on 9 June and the last fruit harvested on 13 October. In year two, the first fruit were harvested on 22 June and the last fruit harvested on 12 October. Mature fruit were harvested and were classified as those that were at least threequartered coloured. Fruit that were smaller than 6 g or affected by rain or grey mould or misshapen, or that had other defects (mainly other disease, surface bronzing or bird damage) were considered non-marketable.

New cultivars and changes in plant agronomy can reduce some of the impacts of global warming on the yields of crops. These include the use of better-adapted cultivars, the use of wild relatives, protected cropping and changes to the date of sowing or planting.

Hijmans (2003) investigated the benefits of different times of planting and different cultivars on the productivity of potato under various climate change scenarios. He found that average global yields decreased by 18 to

We also collected weather data at the site from the Bureau of Meteorology.

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Planting new transplants in a time of planting experiment at Nambour Photo credit: Chris Menzel

What we found

There was a strong effect of cultivar, time of planting and season on the productivity of the strawberries (Tables 1 and 2). Average total yields to mid-October were higher in ‘Festival’ (791 ± 14 g/plant) than in ‘Fortuna’ (673 ± 37 g/plant), and higher with the first time of planting (873 ± 29 g/plant) than with the second (656 ± 43 g/plant) or the third (626 ± 47 g/plant) (Table 1).

• A verage monthly maximum temperatures ranged from 21ºC to 25ºC over the two seasons, while average monthly minimum temperatures ranged from 9.0ºC to 15.0ºC. • T emperatures were lower from June to August than from September to October.

Average yields were higher in the second year (765 ± 13 g/plant) than in the first year (672 ± 33 g/plant).

Acceptable commercial marketable yields for strawberries on the Sunshine Coast range from 750 to 1000 g/plant.

• A verage maximum/minimum temperatures were 21.4ºC/10.7ºC from June to August and 24.7ºC/14.4ºC from September to October.

• T he long-term averages for these two periods are 22.2ºC/11.0ºC and 26.0ºC/14.4ºC respectively.

Early yields to the end of August reflected total yields to mid-October (Table 2). Early yields were higher with the first times of planting than with the second or third.

Between 37 to 61% of the total crop was produced to the end of August, and the proportion was higher with the first times of planting than with the second or third (Table 2).

• T he temperatures from June to August were suitable for leaf, flower and fruit growth.

• I n contrast, the temperatures from September to October were above the optimum for fruit growth.

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Table 1. Effect of cultivar & time of planting on the marketable yield of strawberries to the mid-October in QLD.

YEAR & CULTIVAR

YIELD TO MID-OCTOBER (G/PLANT) First planting

Second planting

Third planting

Festival in year one

875 ± 43

689 ± 44

643 ± 40

Fortuna in year one

827 ± 42

518 ± 31

478 ± 27

Festival in year two

966 ± 39

668 ± 18

740 ± 43

Fortuna in year two

823 ± 50

749 ± 16

643 ± 19

Table 2. Effect of cultivar and time of planting on the marketable yield of strawberries to the end of August in Queensland. Data in parenthesis show the percentage of total yield that was harvested by the end of August.

Data are the means (± standard errors or SEs) of four replicates per treatment.

YEAR & CULTIVAR

YIELD TO THE END OF AUGUST (G/PLANT) First planting

Second planting

Third planting

Festival in year one

534 ± 43 (61%)

323 ± 25 (47%)

240 ± 27 (37%)

Fortuna in year one

477 ± 32 (58%)

228 ± 30 (44%)

198 ± 20 (41%)

Festival in year two

577 ± 23 (60%)

370 ± 19 (55%)

362 ± 36 (49%)

Fortuna in year two

515 ± 37 (63%)

369 ± 15 (49%)

242 ± 21 (38%)

Implications for commercial strawberry production

There was a wide variation in the productivity of the strawberries depending on the time of planting.

The total yields of the nursery material planted in late March or early April were on average 36% higher than the nursery material planted later. Early yields were on average 82% higher in the early plantings than in the later plantings. There have been several studies reporting on the effect of time of planting on the productivity of strawberries in Florida, which has a similar production system to Queensland.

Time of planting affected the cropping of strawberries in Queensland. Planting the nursery material in late March or early April resulted in heavy crops from June to August before the weather warmed up in September and October. These results suggest that early times of plantings would reduce some of the impacts of global warming on the yields of strawberries in Queensland.

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Conclusions

Early and total yields were generally higher with a planting in early to mid-October, and lower with earlier or later plantings.

Strawberries planted in late March or early April had higher yields to the end of August than those planted later.

The average daily mean temperature was 16.0ºC from June to August and 19.5ºC from September to October.

The long-term averages for these two periods are 16.6ºC and 20.2ºC, respectively.

More than 60% of the total crop was produced from June to August when average maximum/minimum temperatures were 21.4ºC/10.7ºC.

Higher temperatures decrease fruit size and soluble solids content in strawberries, decreasing marketable yields and fruit quality.

The rest of the crop was produced from September to October when average maximum/minimum temperatures were 24.7ºC/14.4ºC.

Planting the crops in late March or early April resulted in heavy crops before the weather warmed up.

We concluded that planting the crop early would reduce some of the impacts of global warming on the yields of strawberries in south-east Queensland.

Higher temperatures under global warming will decrease the yields of strawberries in many locations.

Planting the crops early would offset some of these impacts on productivity.

There is not likely to be an issue with frost in most of the growing areas along the coast.

Strawberry farm in south east Queensland.

Photo credit: Chris Menzel Acknowledgements: The Queensland government has funded the research through the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries. Many thanks to the Florida Strawberry Growers’ Association (FSGA) for financial support, and to Shane Mulo and David Innes from DAF for helpful comments on the article.

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S T R A W B E R R I E S

Australian Strawberry Distributors — A Family Affair Dr Angela Atkinson, Berry Industry Development Officer, VSIDC

The Ripepi family has been growing strawberries in the Yarra Valley for three generations, and now have farms in both Victoria and Queensland.

In this article, Jim Ripepi, General Manager of ASD, talks about how it all started, and how the business has evolved over the decades.

They continued to expand, leasing extra land in Silvan, and buying farms at Seville and Catani. They also added a farm and distribution centre in Queensland enabling ASD to supply their customers all year round. More recently, the family has purchased a 300 acre property in Coldstream, which is where all their Victorian strawberries are now grown.

Jim’s grandfather, Gaetano Ripepi, came out to Australia from Italy in 1959, and worked for the Board of Works originally, saving up to bring the rest of his family, his wife and children, out in 1961.

For two years the family worked on other farms in the area picking strawberries, amongst other farm work.

Eventually, the family bought their first farm, 10 acres in Mt Evelyn, and grew strawberries, beans, carrots and other produce. Jim’s father, Rocco would sell their produce at the Queen Victoria Market, outside growers would later ask Rocco to market their produce for them, starting the family’s involvement as wholesale agents and distributors.

The Coldstream property also has a farm gate shop, Yarra Farm Fresh, stocking fresh Yarra Valley produce and products.

On setting up the Coldstream farm, the Ripepi’s started to plan an expansion into protected cropping and hydroponics. In 2017, a small scale one acre trial was set up, with strawberries grown on tabletops under Haygrove tunnels.

Rocco purchased the farm in Wandin in the 1980’s and Jim and his brothers grew strawberries on that farm.

The company’s packing and distribution facility was later built, and is still run from that property today.

Growing in this way for a couple of seasons enabled the farm managers to understand the differences between growing in the field and growing in substrate under cover, where understanding of irrigation and nutrition control are crucial.

The Ripepi’s have been supplying Woolworths since the 1980s when it was known as Safeway. As the supermarkets grew, Safeway demanded better quality fruit and larger quantities, so the family started to grow more of their own fruit to help satisfy demand.

After this trial, it was decided to invest in a Cravo retractable roof greenhouse, to have more control over growing conditions, particularly over the summer months in Coldstream, where temperatures can often be in the high 30s to 40s.

In the early 1990s, Rocco and his brothers Joe and Tony (who has since passed away) formed the company which would become Australian Strawberry Distributors (ASD).

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Figure 1. The Cravo greenhouse Photo credit: Angela Atkinson The cover chosen for the roof of the greenhouse is not clear, but is a diffuse plastic, which stops transmission of UV light in the hotter months.

Figure 2. Table tops under construction, showing the diffuse roof material Photo credit: Jim Ripepi

Figure 3. On a hot day the roof is opened 50cm in each bay to allow venting, while blocking UV Photo credit: Jim Ripepi

The object of the retractable roof is to minimise heat and high UV light in summer, while being able to open the roof in milder weather conditions and let in natural sunlight. On warmer summer days the roof is mostly closed, leaving a gap of about half a metre open in each bay to vent the greenhouse, letting hot air escape.

On a pleasant day, for example in spring, the roof is opened completely allowing natural sunlight in, so they have the advantage of growing in a greenhouse, or naturally, when weather conditions are favourable.

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Figure 5. Roof completely closed Photo credit: Jim Ripep

Figure 4. Roof completely open Photo credit: Jim Ripepi Opening and closing the roof is computer controlled and can be controlled off site from a phone or tablet.

The roof takes two minutes to completely open or close, so the roof can be closed quickly if bad weather is forecast. The walls of the greenhouse can also be raised and lowered automatically when required.

Figure 6. Side walls open Photo credit: Angela Atkinson The main advantage of this growing system has been a huge increase in the quality and pack out of 1st grade, quality fruit. In the Cravo greenhouse, the pack out of first grade fruit has increased to 90%, compared with around 70% outside in the field, according to Jim. There are virtually no seconds in the greenhouse grown fruit.

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What this means is that irrigation is directly in response to the transpiration of the plants, that is, how much water the plants are using up. The system takes into account conditions that can affect the transpiration of the plants other than light, such as increased humidity which reduces transpiration, or increased wind which can increase the transpiration rate.

This was the overall goal, not to extend our growing season, but to increase the quality and pack out of our strawberries. We are now able to market our fruit overseas as our strawberry quality is more consistent than our field crops.

This gives a more accurate indication of the water needs of the plants than just using light accumulation to control the frequency of irrigation. The fertigation/ irrigation system can also be controlled from a phone or tablet.

Figure 7. Strawberry crop Photo credit: Jim Ripepi In addition to the greenhouse infrastructure, there are innovations in place for controlling all aspects of the growing environment.

Fertigation is controlled by a Priva NutriJet system, which automatically adjusts pH and EC levels in the irrigation lines. The frequency of irrigation throughout the day is determined using a Priva moisture balance system. This differs from the most common form of irrigation control, which usually uses a combination of time and light to control irrigation frequency, where light accumulation, or radiation sum is used to determine when plants are irrigated.

Figure 8. Priva moisture balance scales Photo credit: Jim Ripepi Because of the location of the greenhouse on the river flats of the Yarra in Coldstream, run off from the greenhouse had to be contained. All runoff from the tabletops is collected and pumped to storage tanks, where it is then used for irrigation of the field grown strawberries. All rain fall is collected in a dam and used to irrigate the hothouse crops.

This means that on a bright, sunny day irrigation is more frequent. In contrast, the moisture balance system that ASD is using consists of scales that continually measure the weight of the substrate bags, starting irrigation when the bag weight decreases to a set weight.

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As well as setting up innovative production systems, ASD has also been sourcing workers through the Seasonal Worker Program since 2018, as a way of ensuring a stable workforce. They employ 80 workers from Timor each year, and have been happy with the program.

IPM FOR BERRY CROPS Experienced Consultants and Producers of high quality Biological Control Products for Integrated Pest Management Programs in Strawberries, Raspberries, Blackberries and Blueberries

According to Jim, the ability to guarantee access to this workforce each year is important in a business of the size of ASD. Normally these workers would come to Australia for 6-9 months during the season, then return home until the next season.

With COVID-19 this year, the workers have been able to extend their visas and move to other regions for work during our off season. They will return to ASD in October.

The workers also prefer working in the new Cravo greenhouse. It is warmer in winter when they are planting, and in summer it is cooler inside as the roof material blocks the heat and UV rays.

Because the environment inside the greenhouse is cooler in summer, the workers don’t get as tired as they do outside in the heat, where work, health and safety can also be an issue in hot weather.

There is also the advantage that work can continue when it is raining.

KEY PESTS

The greenhouse is around 4ha in size, and while the majority of ASDs production is still in the field, the investment in the greenhouse is proving to be worthwhile for the business moving into the future.

BIOCONTROL SOLUTION

TWO SPOTTED MITE

PERSIMILIS

CALIFORNICUS

THRIPS

CUCUMERIS

ORIUS

FUNGUS GNAT / THRIPS

HYPOASPIS ‘M’

HYPOASPIS ‘A’

Also supplying a range of beneficials for Whiteflies and Aphids.

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S T R A W B E R R I E S

Profile: SA Organic Strawberries Lobethal, South Australia Dr Angela Atkinson, Berry Industry Development Officer, Victoria & South Australia

Plamen Paraskevov and his wife Sonja Bognarova grow certified organic strawberries in Lobethal, in the beautiful Adelaide Hills.

Plamen studied agronomy at the Agricultural University in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, before specialising in organic farming,through undertaking a Master of Science from Wageningen University in the Netherlands. After graduating, he worked on a number of international projects funded by the European Union, focused on introducing organic farming practices to Central and Eastern Europe.

In 2001, Plamen moved to Australia while Sonja followed in 2008. Plamen worked with NASAA (The National Association for Sustainable Agriculture Australia) in several capacities, including as an organic inspector and on the inspection review committee.

He also helped convert farms to organic production, including a vineyard, Temple Bruer Wines, and a broadacre farm, AW Go Organics, before setting up some trials to start his own small organic market garden.

Their first small block of organic strawberries was planted in the 2010-2011 season, and the strawberry plantings slowly grew from 1 acre to a planting now of 25 acres of certified organic strawberries. Plamen says it was a rocky road to get to where they are, and it continues to have its ups and downs, although they are far more experienced now to deal with problems that come their way.

From the beginning, all the crops they have grown have been organically certified, and they say they would not consider any other production system. They believe that growing organically is viable enough to be a profitable production system for commercial production. This is in contrast to the often-held perception that ‘organic’ is a bit ‘hippie’ and is restricted to local markets where high prices are often paid for produce that is not great quality.

Plamen and Sonja aim to supply supermarkets with quality produce at a reasonable and affordable price, and with the expansion of their organic strawberry production, they now are direct suppliers to Woolworths and Coles.

Plamen, Sonja and their Rhodesian Ridgebacks, Katie and Adria. Photo credit: Angela Atkinson

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The farm at Lobethal in the Adelaide Hills. Photo credit: SA Organic Strawberries

One of the biggest issues in organic farming, not just for strawberries, is the lack of commercial quantities of certified seedlings and seeds.

At present, they are certified organic with NASAA Certified Organic (NCO). The certification process through NCO is rigorous, and for a product to be Certified Organic it must be produced in line with strict Organic and Biodynamic Standards. This includes specifying all inputs that go into producing that product, and scrutinising all production methods.

Organic producers need to seek derogations, or exemptions, from the Organic Standards in order to use conventional seeds and seedings, or in the case of strawberries, runners produced by commercial runner growers.

From his previous work as an organic inspector for NASAA, Plamen says a common mistake some producers make is expecting that the certification body will teach and guide them how to farm, or correct their methods of farming. As with any other on-farm audits, the inspector’s role is to audit compliance of the practiced farming methods, in this case to the current Organic Standards.

These exemptions are granted when it can be shown that organic plant propagation material is not available in sufficient quality or quantity.

In their production system, Plamen and Sonja use the same density of plants as conventional growers, roughly 8 plants per lineal metre, giving them optimal production while still allowing for successful disease control. The biggest challenge in organic production is weed control, especially in early spring when all plants are growing vigorously, including the weeds.

Control of insect pests and fungal diseases is also challenging, but can be managed holistically by employing a variety of methods. They have recently added an area of diverse plantings of native and other

Organically certified strawberries Photo credit: SA Organic Strawberries

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flowering plants, and vegetable crops to attract and maintain beneficial insects in the production area.

These plantings do play a role in harbouring beneficial and neutral insects and they have expanded them further with six new beds in the new strawberry area.

Soil-borne diseases such as Charcoal rot, Verticillium and Phytophthora are a challenge for the whole strawberry industry, not just those growing organically, and Plamen says they can lose a large number of plants every year to these diseases, which decreases productivity. This can be a problem with commercial production of any monoculture crops, not just strawberries, under any management system.

Plamen is working to reduce the impact of these soil-borne diseases by methodically implementing proper crop rotations and using other methods to keep them at bay.

Natural fertilisers are used to improve sustainability on farm, despite these fertilisers being bulky, and not always preferred in production horticulture. Plamen says that by using natural fertilisers they are able to achieve good levels of nutrients in the soil and don’t need to add large quantities of fertilisers through fertigation or foliar sprays.

Their business philosophy revolves around improving quality, turnover and production efficiency, which is reflected in an affordable end price for their customers.

They want customers to be able to choose organic produce because of preference, and not be deterred by the price.

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S T R A W B E R R I E S

The Common Good triumphs over COVID-19 Jane Richter

2020 will be remembered as the year when life as we knew it changed, forever. In Australia, we have fared much better than many other countries in the world, but even here we have all had to make sacrifices and miss out on parts of our lives that we had taken for granted; watching our favourite sports team, Sunday sessions at the pub, big family gatherings and even the country shows have all had to adjust to survive the new normal.

Here in south east Queensland, we have a little country show affectionately known as the Ekka. This is no ordinary show though; it brings bushies into town from far and wide to show off their cattle and their fashion, it provides a wealth of entertainment and education for Queenslanders from all over and is a much-loved fixture on our cultural calendar. And nestled at the very heart of the Ekka experience is the iconic Strawberry Sundae.

Along with the Dagwood Dog, a Strawberry Sundae is one of the must-eat show favourites and the sale of these Sundaes at the Ekka has been raising money for The Common Good for over 30 years. The Common Good is an initiative of The Prince Charles Hospital Foundation established in 1986 under the patronage of His Royal Highness, Prince Charles, The Prince of Wales, to inspire a generous community to fund lifesaving and life-changing health research that tackles Australia’s most significant chronic diseases.

When COVID-19 hit, it was critical for the team at The Common Good to pivot to a new way of getting Brisbanites connected to their beloved sundae. And that was how the Pop-Up Sundae Stalls and DIY packs were born. 15 tonnes of Lick ice cream, six tonnes of cream and five tonnes of Queensland strawberries were used in the making of the sundaes, sold either at a set of pop-up stalls staffed by volunteers across greater Brisbane or pre-ordered in DIY packs.

Assisted by the Queensland Strawberry Growers’ Association, The Common Good were able to secure free strawberry supplies from two exceptionally generous local farms. Ray Daniels from Sunray Strawberries has been supplying fruit to the Ekka for many years, so he didn’t hesitate to step forward again. Ray was joined

by Ashbern Farms, a relatively new farming business that supplies strawberries all year round from their

The iconic Strawberry Sundae Photo credit: The Common Good

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two sites in Queensland. It is due to the incredible generosity of these two businesses that The Common Good were able to push ahead with their new plans and succeed.

The Common Good announced that 90,000 Strawberry Sundaes were purchased during their Brisbane wide 10-day campaign, and hugely successful Do-It-Yourself take home pack drive.

Money raised from those 90,000 sundaes will fund 5,625 hours of critical medical research, into afflictions including heart disease, lung disease, dementia, arthritis, COVID-19 and more. This equates to three-years of research that would have otherwise been lost when Ekka was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The turnout at every site across Brisbane surpassed all expectations

Michael Hornby, CEO of The Common Good, said the support shown by Brisbane over recent weeks had been truly astonishing.

All of us at The Common Good have been truly humbled by the generosity and support shown by the growers and the people of Brisbane, and all of the love for the famous Ekka Strawberry Sundaes.

The famous Strawberry Sundaes can’t be served without the fantastic volunteers Photo credit: The Common Good

The Common Good lost up to 10 years’ of funding due to the COVID-19 crisis, however thanks to your support, we have managed to get three years of that back – and provided lots of smiles along the way.

L-R Michael Hornby (the Common Good), Ray Daniels (Sunray Strawberries), Brendon Hoyle (Ashbern Farms), Adrian Schultz – President QSGA Photo credit: Jane Richter

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S T R A W B E R R I E S

Combination treatment reduces charcoal rot and increases fruit yields of strawberry Dr Dylan McFarlane & Dr Scott Mattner, VSICA (Victorian Strawberry Industry Certification Authority) and David Oag & Apollo Gomez, DAF (Department of Agriculture and Fisheries)

National Charcoal Rot Project

Strawberry growers in California have had success with the use of metham sodium for crop termination.

Metham sodium is a fumigant with strong herbicidal properties that growers can apply through the trickle irrigation system. The advantage of crop termination with metham sodium is that it can kill some of the M. phaseolina in the old plants and/or soil. It may also scarify the surface of the old crowns and make them more conducive to treatment with soil fumigants (e.g. Tri-Form® 80, EDN Fumigas™, Chloropicrin).

Macrophomina phaseolina is a soil-borne fungus that causes charcoal rot of strawberry and kills plants (Figure 1).

Charcoal rot remains the most widespread (occurring in all states) and devastating disease in the strawberry fruit industry in Australia and has increased in importance since the phase-out of the soil fumigant methyl bromide.

For the last three years, scientists from the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries (DAF) and the Victorian Strawberry Industry Certification Authority (VSICA) have conducted a national research project (BS15005 Improved Management of Charcoal Rot of Strawberry) to identify better ways of managing charcoal rot.

Field Trials in Australia In collaboration with R&R Fumigation, Statewide Fumigation, and TriCal (California), we conducted extensive trials in Victoria to establish the application rate of metham sodium needed to kill old strawberry plants. This rate (200 L/ha) proved considerably higher than those used in California (100 L/ha), due to the heavier soil types in Australia.

One of the key findings from the research is that crop termination with metham sodium followed by soil fumigation can increase fruit yields in the following crop by 26% and profits by $0.96 per plant, compared with fumigation alone (Figure 1).

We then conducted a field trial on a strawberry farm at Silvan, Victoria to determine if crop termination with metham sodium followed by fumigation with Tri-Form® 80 (80% chloropicrin: 20% 1,3-dichloropropene) would reduce disease and increase yields in the following crop.

Crop Termination Crop termination is the practice of killing old strawberry plants (Figure 2) and turning them into soil, before preparing beds and planting a new crop.

The old strawberry crop was terminated in February 2018 with metham sodium (200 L/ha). The block was then fumigated with Tri-Form® 80 (400 kg/ha) in January 2019 and planted (cv. Albion) in February 2019.

Traditionally, growers have used herbicides for crop termination, but this practice does not kill M. phaseolina in the crowns of old plants and in some circumstances may increase it. Any of the fungus surviving in old, buried crowns is difficult to kill with current fumigants, because they do not penetrate woody tissue.

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The treatments in the trial included: (1) crop termination with metham sodium and soil fumigation with Tri-Form® 80 and (2) soil fumigation with TriForm® 80 alone (previous crop turned into the soil).

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Figure 1. Plant death caused by charcoal rot of strawberry in a field trial at Silvan, Victoria. Photo credit: VSICA

Figure 2. Plant death caused by crop termination on a farm at Wandin, Victoria. Photo credit: VSICA

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Results and Discussion Crop termination with metham sodium followed by soil fumigation with Tri-Form® 80 increased fruit yields by 26% in the subsequent crop compared with Tri-Form® 80 alone (Figure 3). The incidence of charcoal rot in the crop was low in all treatments. However, crop termination with metham sodium + Tri-Form® 80 had less disease than Tri-Form® 80 alone. Partialbudget analysis showed that crop termination with metham sodium followed by fumigation with Tri-Form® 80 increased the revenue generated per plant by $0.96 compared with Tri-Form® 80 alone (Figure 4).

controls for charcoal rot and the evaluation of better diagnostic tests to support the selection and use of the most cost-effective treatments by growers. Phase 1 of the national charcoal rot project is concluding in October this year. Given the widespread distribution and economic importance of charcoal rot in Australia, the strawberry industry needs to carefully consider additional funding support and research to further improve the management of this disease. If you would like to learn more about the project activities, contact Dr Dylan McFarlane (0408 374 233) or your local member of the project team.

Conclusions

Acknowledgements The project is funded by Hort Innovation using the research and development strawberry levy, and funds from the Australian Government. The Queensland Government, through the Department of Primary Industries (DAF), and the Victorian Strawberry Industry Certification Authority Inc. have co-funded the research. We also acknowledge the strawberry fruit growers who provided the field sites for the experimental trials.

Crop termination with metham sodium, followed by treatment with Tri-Form 80®, significantly increased fruit yields and the revenue generated by strawberry fruit, compared with Tri-Form 80® alone. There are several other methods of crop termination that have the potential to kill M. phaseolina in old strawberry crops, including microwave and biofumigant emulsions applied through trickle irrigation. These methods require further research, along with other non-fumigant

Figure 3. The cumulative marketable fruit weight per strawberry plant in a field trial at Silvan, Victoria. The bars represent the least significant difference (p = 0.05).

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Figure 4. The cumulative revenue/strawberry plant in a field trial at Silvan, Victoria. The bars represent the least significant difference (p = 0.05). The fumigation costs of the metham sodium and Tri-Form® 80 treatments were deducted from the revenue generated in those plots.

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B L U E B E R R I E S

Project Update: Expanding crop protectants for blueberry rust Melinda Simpson (NSW DPI) & Michele Buntain (TIA)

The Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture (TIA) funded via the Tasmanian Government through the “Agricultural Innovation Fund” has received funding to evaluate a range of crop protectants to provide control of blueberry rust disease (caused by Thekopsora minima).

Progress to date

The project specifically addresses issues of current concern for the Blueberry organic sector, but findings will also be relevant to conventional growers and blueberry growers in all states of Australia. The key project output will be a Minor Use Permit for a product which has been demonstrated as effective to control the rust and is safe to the crop. This will provide growers with additional options to reduce biosecurity risk and maintain both crop productivity and market access.

A thorough review has been conducted on all conventional and organic crop protection options for rust diseases. The review covered published studies and reports which included credible scientific data.

From this review, a number of products were identified and can be seen in Table 1. This is a list of possible products and is not the final approved list of products that will be tested.

Table 1. List of products identified as potential crop protection options for blueberry rust

PRODUCT

DETAILS

Ecocarb® plus

Potassium bicarbonate + potassium silicate

NUL3446

Unnamed Nufarm product (biologically derived)

Serenade® Opti

Bacillus amyloliquefaciens

Electrolysed oxidised water

Electrolysed oxidised water

Aminogro

Chitosan

Aminogro® and salicylic acid

Chitosan + salicylic acid

AgSil®

Potassium silicate

Ecocarb®

Potassium bicarbonate

Wettable sulphur

Wettable sulphur

Seasol®

Seaweed extracts

®

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Field trials in NSW Trials under field conditions will be conducted in NSW by NSW Department of Primary Industries.

The trial will consist of 3 months of fortnightly product application and disease assessment under conditions of natural infection. Trials will be assessed for efficacy of disease control by recording disease symptom development at regular intervals.

The products to be tested will be based on findings from the controlled environment trials and will include 5-6 organic products and hopefully a few conventional products as well.

Potential conventional products that may be included can be seen in Table 2.

Table 2. List of non-organic products that may be included in the trials in NSW

PRODUCT

DETAILS

Escolta®

Cyproconazole + Trifloxystrobin

Blueberry rust on leaves.

Photo credit: Rosalie Daniel

Aviator® Xpro®

Prothioconazole + Bixafen

Next steps

Veritas®

Tebuconazole + Azoxytrobin

Amistar® Xtra

Cyproconazole + Azoxystrobin

Fontelis®

Penthiopyrad

Controlled environment trials Once the list of products to be tested is finalised, pot trials will be conducted by Staphyt (formerly Peracto) under controlled environmental conditions at the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries facility in Queensland.

The first trial will be designed with at least 6 replications and the chosen treatments will be applied fortnightly.

Plants will be inoculated with T. minima spores at a suitable concentration and coverage to ensure uniform disease development in the control plants. Plants will be assessed for efficacy of disease control by recording disease symptom development to obtain “area under disease progress curves” and rust pustule counts.

The second trial will also include at least 6 replications and will include the controls, an industry standard and 5-6 of the most efficacious alternative products.

These will be tested at an increased range of rates (e.g. label rate, 2x label rate, 0.5x label rate, 0.25x label rate) to achieve both efficacy and crop safety information.

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The ABGA is funding a major marketing program — please contribute your share.

Why should I pay the voluntary levy?

How do I pay the levy?

The voluntary levies fund all of the essential activities that contribute to the growth of our blueberry industry.

Activities include, but are not limited to:

1. Prepare a statement with the following information • Grower Name • Quarter + Dates (e.g. Q2 1st Oct - 31st Dec 2019) • Number of kg fruit sold in that quarter • Amount of levy being paid • I ndicate if your agent deducts your levies (include agent name if known)

• M aintaining consumption and price after COVID-19 through a dedicated marketing campaign • R esearch & development into registered chemicals + IPM + Integrated Disease Management programs • Achieving export protocols into Japan + other Asian markets • P rogressing applications for market access to China and other countries

2. Email the statement to the Membership Officer

• Funding our Industry Development Officer • Funding our Executive Director and support staff • C ommunication and engagement with members – industry journal, e-news, website, conference

Email statement to: admin@berries.net.au The Membership Officer will send you an Invoice for payment

• P romoting positive industry stories and addressing negative media

3. Pay your levy to the ABGA account

• P roviding our contribution to Hort Innovation under the Collective Industry Fund which is matched with equal funding used for various industry projects as determined by the Blueberry Strategic Industry Advisory Panel

Account name: Bank: BSB: Account: Reference:

How much levy do I have to pay?

Standard levies are $0.05/kg fruit sold. This year there is an additional levy of $0.05/kg fruit sold for the COVID-19 marketing campaign. Total levy is $0.10/kg.

y agent deducts levies — M what do I need to do?

When do I pay the voluntary levy?

Email your statement (as per step 1 above) to the Membership Officer who will check that the agent has paid the levy.

Email: admin@berries.net.au

Levies are payable once every financial quarter:

Quarter

Period Covered

Payable by

Q1

1 July – 30 September

31 October

Q2

1 October – 31 December

31 January

Q3

1 January – 31 March

30 April

Q4

1 April – 30 June

31 July

Australian Blueberry Growers’ Association Westpac 033 10 7 181 4 71 GROWER NAME + Financial Quarter (e.g. “Joe Bloggs Q2 levy”)

What about confidentiality of the information provided?

Any information provided will be kept confidential.

I need help, who do I contact?

Wendy Morris | admin@berries.net.au | 0491 751 123

VOLUNTARY LEVIES

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SUPPORT YOUR INDUSTRY TO SUPPORT YOUR BUSINESS!

B L U E B E R R I E S

Australian Blueberries Marketing Update Jane Richter

The Australian Blueberry marketing campaign and promotions are funded solely by the ABGA voluntary levy. If you are a blueberry grower and are not currently paying any levy, please SEE PAGE 77 to find out how you can contribute to the growth drivers of your industry. purchasing has been selected for this season by the Blueberry Marketing Committee. Advertising will focus on social and digital channels, and shopping centres, and build upon the existing, successful campaign of “Bl’oo’berries” built over the last two seasons. The program will run in the market for six months from August to January 2021, with layers of activity that overlap on the peaks in supply volume.

Australian Blueberries continues to work with renowned Sydney agency Magnum & Co to help drive sales of fresh Australian blueberries. With the impact of COVID-19 on shoppers’ buying behaviour still emerging, early estimates for the fresh blueberry industry indicated there may be a shortfall in purchasing of up to $30 million this season. In the light of those predictions, an integrated marketing strategy focusing on engaging existing blueberry buyers to increase their

Let’s take a quick look back at the last season 2.2 million plays of our Health advertising in GP clinics & pharmacies in NSW, QLD, VIC & TAS

133,043 views of our YouTube videos showcasing bl’oo’berries

6066 samples given away in supermarkets with a 155% uplift in sales volume reported

659,198 unique people reached by our campaign

36,815,273 Opportunities to See (OTS) our blueberry stories in the broader media of magazines & online

Our influencers posted 30 pieces of delicious blueberry content reaching 2,318,325 people

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What will the campaign include in the 2020-21 season?

OBJECTIVES

PAID ADVERTISING

A range of platforms will be used to place our advertising against relevant keywords online – this includes YouTube and Woolworths, as well as a campaign on digital advertising panels in shopping centres in Sydney & Melbourne

In 2020, the focus target market has shifted slightly; away from attracting new blueberry buyers in order to focus on our existing heavy and medium buyers to: Position blueberries as an everyday staple fruit

SOCIAL MEDIA

Continue to communicate the health credentials

Using Facebook and Instagram to deliver our four messaging areas through both paid and organic content, focusing on the peak volume period

Focus on the local, safe provenance of fresh Australian blueberries Continue to share the versatility of fresh blueberries

DIGITAL AMBASSADORS

The execution of this years’ strategy will be all about staying top-of-mind amongst our existing blueberry buyers to drive regular purchasing, particularly in the heavily populated states of Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria. A detailed analysis has been carried out to identify the most cost-effective mechanisms to reach our existing consumers.

A three-tiered approach building long-term relationships to add credibility to health messaging and to both create new and restore lost usage occasions

DIGITAL MEDIA

What are our 4 key messaging areas?

Use new recipes and a digital recipe book to capture new email subscribers, and use a monthly e-Newsletter to remain top-of-mind with current buyers by showcasing versatility

1. Benefits — Continuing to reach more consumers with the health, wellness and beauty benefits of fresh blueberries.

2. Versatility — Making the blueberry a shopping basket staple and showcasing the multiple ways to enjoy them.

EARNED MEDIA

3. Provenance — Bringing the growers to the fore and educating consumers about locality, varieties and understanding blueberries.

Showcase the health benefits and versatility of blueberries through a range of recipes and data-led stories across a diverse range of media and audience demographics

4. Convenience — Encouraging consumers to

always keep a punnet in the fridge at home and providing them with a quick go-to solution for how to use them.

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Who are we using as digital ambassadors this season?

For this season, we have created a three-tier strategy with influencers to enable us to maximise the reach and value of our messaging and enable us to put some serious credibility behind the all-important health benefits of fresh Australian blueberries.

Tier 1 — KEY AMBASSADORS Our key ambassadors will be used during peak season, as valuable experts and assets. With their nutritional accreditation, we can rely on our ambassadors to be the voices for fresh blueberry benefits and we will also leverage them for PR opportunities as these arise.

@jshealth Instagram: 307k

@drjoannamcmillan Instagram: 18.6k

TIER 2 — PAID INFLUENCERS To bring our content pillars to life (versatility, convenience, benefits, provenance) we will work with influencers to produce content that encourages and educates their audiences on how to incorporate blueberries into their recipes and shopping baskets. We will also repurpose their content for PR opportunities as those arise, making the most of our investment.

@nourish_naturally

@dusk2illdawn

@hazel_and_cacao

@panaceas_pantry

@betterbeingsteph

Instagram: 152k YouTube: 2k

Instagram: 59.8k

Instagram: 52.2k

Instagram: 317k

Instagram: 85.9k

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winter winter 2021 2021 orders orders NOW OPEN

NOW OPEN

need plants now? ask us for remaining 2020 stock numbers

need plants now? ask us for remaining 2020 stock numbers Please email plants@moonblue.com.au or call on 03 5165 3498 to discuss your requirements.

Download an order form from our website for quick and easy ordering.

having supplied the industry with blueberry plants for over thirty years, we can offer a large number of varieties both new and old including Southern and Northern Highbush and Rabbiteye types.

Please email plants@moonblue.com.au or call on 03 5165 3498 to discuss your requirements.

Download an order form from our Our website has full variety descriptions website for quick and easy ordering. moonblue.com.au

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TIER 3 — GIFTING INFLUENCERS We will work with influencers that have a smaller, but highly engaged following and send them free fresh Australian blueberries. This will allow them to create content and incorporate blueberries into different occasions and inspire their audience to do the same. Another highly cost-effective way we can generate high quality content.

What will the paid advertising look like and when will it be in the market?

There are three main advertising vehicles being used for this season, as well as paid spend being put behind social media postings to increase their reach.

YouTube

Woolworths

Advertising placements will be bought against relevant keywords (such as “blueberries”, “healthy recipes”), with videos results served either ‘in search’ or as a 6-second video at the start of their chosen video – also known as a ‘pre-roll ad’.

The videos feature one of our Key Ambassadors, Jessica Sepel, showcasing the jointly developed Australian Blueberries JS Health Recipe Book available as a free download from australianblueberries.com.au when a consumer signs up for the e-Newsletter.

Shopping Centres

Online shopping, especially for fresh produce, is up +37.2% and time spent online has significantly increased for new and existing blueberry shoppers.

To help convert purchases at the point of order online, we have purchased display banner adverts with relevant search terms triggering them to appear both on the desktop ordering portal and the mobile one.

For eight weeks across August and September, 23 shopping centres in key areas where there is a high concentration of blueberry buyers will feature advertising on the digital portrait signs that are dotted around inside, close to major supermarkets and greengrocers.

The advertising is designed to tie in with the other creative and remind consumers about blueberries as they make their way to do their grocery shopping.

GIVE YOUR IMMUNITY A

B’OO’ST

Put a little ‘oo’ in your basket

Visit: www.australianblueberries.com.au FACEBOOK-SQUARE instagram /australianblueberries If you have any images from your farm that you would like to share, we’d love to use them in our Social Media channels.

Email: blueberries@magnumandco.com.au

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B L U E B E R R I E S

What’s the attraction of honey bees to blueberry flowers?

Sophie Parks, Melinda Simpson, Leanne Davis and Madlen Kratz - NSW Department of Primary Industries

The European honey bee (Apis mellifera) plays an important role in the pollination of blueberry flowers, required for the flowers to develop into fruits, but what has the flower got to offer this humble bee?

Furthermore, how can we protect or even enhance any bee-attractive properties that the crop may possess? These questions are being addressed as part of current research which aims to optimise pollination within berry crops.

We are particularly interested in berry crops grown under protective covers such as bird netting, hail netting and high tunnels as these structures can affect the flight path of honey bees and potentially limit pollination.

Pollination occurs when bees move through a flowering crop. A blueberry flower visit, such as in Figure 1, can result in pollen grains being released from the flower and attaching to the honey bee.

The pollen is then inadvertently transported by the bee on its visit to another blueberry flower where the pollen may attach to the stigma of the flower from the bee’s legs, head or body (Hoffman, Land and Rao, Pollinator Ecology and Management, 47:1465-1470, 2018).

Once on the stigma (a female part of the flower), the pollen grain (a male part of the flower) then enters the ovary fertilising the ova (egg) which eventually will become a seed of the developed blueberry fruit.

Figure 1. A honey bee visiting a blueberry flower Photo credit: Melinda Simpson

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The attraction of honey bees to blueberry flowers is nectar.

Unlike flowers of other species, the honey bees are less likely to be actively collecting pollen from blueberry flowers and more likely to be collecting the nectar present in the base of the flower where the nectar is produced.

Therefore, nectar-collecting honey bees are mostly responsible for the transfer of pollen among blueberry flowers.

Honey bees consume nectar as their source of energy and excess amounts are stored as honey inside the colony.

Previous research shows that at least for highbush blueberry, honey bees have to go elsewhere to forage for pollen to meet their nutritional requirements (Dogterom and Winston, The Canadian Entomologist, 131:757-768, 1999).

Figure 2. Leanne Davis, NSW DPI collecting flowers for floral assessments. Photo credit: Melinda Simpson

Part of our research aims to evaluate some blueberry varieties used in Australia in terms of how likely they are to be pollinated by the activities of honey bees.

One element of this work is assessing the morphology or the shape of blueberry flowers. It so happens that access to the nectar at the base of the flower can be limited by the shape of the flower.

Previous research with four blueberry varieties has shown that the one with the widest flower opening or throat, was more likely to be visited by bees (Courcelles, Button and Elle, Journal of Applied Entomology, 137:693701, 2013). See Figure 2.

Potentially, pollination may be improved by the selection of varieties with flowers of larger throat size or improved by breeding varieties with this characteristic.

Figure 3. A preserved blueberry flower and its throat as viewed under the microscope. The top of the stigma can be seen at the centre of the flower throat. Digital measurements allow for the throat area to be calculated as an indication of how accessible the flower opening is to its base where the nectar is produced.

Photo credit: Leanne Davis, NSW DPI

However, for the blueberry varieties used in Australia, the morphological characteristics of their flowers have not been evaluated, so this is the topic of current research. The way flower morphology is being assessed is shown in Figure 3.

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In brief, the flowers are collected in the field and placed in a vial of preservative for later assessment.

Each flower is mounted under a microscope to view the flower throat, and a digital program is used to calculate distances between the flower structures and to calculate the area of the throat. Up to 10 varieties will be assessed in this way.

Future work will assess the likelihood of honey bees visiting varieties that differ in flower shape. We will also investigate how varieties differ in terms of their pollen and nectar production, and how these factors may relate to bee activities within covered crops.

This work is part of the collaborative project Novel technologies and practices for the optimisation of pollination within protected cropping environments under the Australian Government Department of Agriculture and Water Resources’ Rural R & D for Profit Programme, coordinated by Hort Innovation.

Partners include NSW Department of Primary Industries, Plant and Food Research Australia, the University of Adelaide, the University of New England, the University of Tasmania and other representatives including the beekeeping and netting industries, and several horticultural industries (Berry, Apple, Onion, Sweet Cherry). It addresses some pollination issues that limit the optimal production of some horticultural produce under cover.

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B L U E B E R R I E S

Costa taps into local demand for berries Tapping into the increasing demand for locally grown fresh fruit, Costa Berries is one of a small number of growers producing blueberries in Western Australia. Costa operates a 40-hectare farm near Gingin, about 90km north of the Perth CBD. Areas to the north and south of Perth were investigated, with southern regions identified as potential future sites for late season production.

Costa is a leading grower, packer and marketer of fresh fruit and vegetables, with 4500 planted hectares of farmland, 30 hectares of glasshouse and three mushroom growing facilities across Australia.

A test plot was established in conjunction with the Western Australian Department of Agriculture in Manjimup, which continues to examine the seasonal timing across different varieties. To the north of Perth, the challenge was identifying a site with access to good quality water and good climatic conditions.

The Berry Category operates farms in four states including Western Australia, Queensland, New South Wales and Tasmania, enabling not only access to local markets but providing a 52-week supply of blueberries and raspberries.

George Jessett, the International Horticulture Manager for Costa’s Berry International, was involved in selecting the location. “We were looking to avoid frost, without being too hot,” George said. “When we first started growing in Western Australia, there were just a few growers scattered around Perth but it was very much a developing industry.”

Established in 2014, the first stage of the Gingin farm included 15.5 hectares of berries. In the second stage of development in 2015 an additional 12.5 hectares of blueberries were added. Since then the farm has nearly doubled in size to 40 ha.

The farm predominantly supplies the Western Australian market, with some produce also sold in South Australia during peak harvest periods.

The Gingin site proved ideal, with access to water and with a coastal orientation. Spencer Clark, the Regional Manager for the WA site, said ensuring good water quality was one of the main challenges to address.

“The water is higher in salt and iron, but we have found ways to overcome that through filtering systems and settling tanks. We’ve certainly had to learn new ways of doing things and ways to utilise the extreme conditions.

A huge positive for this site is we have much lower pest and disease pressure here than on the East Coast,” Spencer said.

Rather than shipping fruit from the East Coast, which was taking up to 5 days, the company made the decision to invest in growing the fruit locally to deliver improved quality berries to our Western Australian customers.

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The expertise provided through the Costa Berries International team has also proved invaluable in dealing with the extreme summer temperatures, which can exceed 40 degrees.

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Spencer Clark — Costa Group.

Blueberry bushes.

All images supplied by Costa Group.

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“There are a lot of similarities with Morocco, where we grow blueberries. We have the track record in dealing with those conditions and could apply that to this site,� George said.

The dry climate in summer has reduced disease pressure, ensuring a consistent and high-quality crop.

The varieties grown on the farm include a mix of Snowchaser, Kirra and Arana, a premium variety developed by Costa as part of its blueberry selection and breeding program.

Costa varieties are also in high demand around the world and are licensed to third-party growers in a number of regions including the Americas, Morocco, China and South Africa.

Costa blueberries. Photo credit: Costa Group

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B L U E B E R R I E S

Complying with New South Wales water regulations: FAQ Melinda Simpson (NSW DPI) & Bart Kellet (NRAR)

The Webinar ‘Learn how to comply with water laws – options for you and what has worked for other landholders’ was presented to berry growers at the end of June 2020. On hand to answer questions was Bart Kellet from the Natural Resources Access Regulator (NRAR). In this FAQ, we provide some of the key questions that were asked during this webinar as well as answers to some of the most common issues.

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What happens if your dam is not compliant, but it has been there for decades?

'The dam is used to hold and dilute recycled water.'

Recent advice from Coffs Harbour City Council is that farmers who receive recycled water from the local recycled water scheme are required to maintain three days’ storage of recycled water on-site in case the supply of the recycled water is disrupted.

All your dams, their locations and history are considered when the NRAR checks your compliance with ‘harvestable rights’ laws. The regulator uses information collected during field inspections and analysis of satellite imagery to understand the history of your dam.

How you store this water is your decision, but if the water is stored in a dam that also captures surface water run-off, the dam must comply with harvestable right rules or be licensed.

The NSW Government decided that dams constructed before 1 January 1999 could remain in place if they were bigger than the maximum harvestable right dam capacity (MHRDC) for the property.

If the recycled water is stored in a ring tank or turkey’s nest dam that does not capture surface water run-off, then its size is not limited to the harvestable right limit for your property. As soon as the dam captures surface water runoff either directly or by pumping run-off into it, its size becomes restricted by harvestable right rules.

However, there were a few conditions: • t he dam can only be used for stock and domestic purposes and not for irrigation of commercial crops; • the dam must be on a minor stream; and • w ater must be used on the property where the dam is located.

Can I build a ring tank or turkey nest dam without approval and does it count towards harvestable rights?

I want to fill it from roof run-off from my greenhouse and use it for irrigation.

For further details, please refer to Page 90, paragraph 6, Schedule 1 Excluded Works, Water Management (General) Regulation 2018.

A turkey’s nest dam or ring tank is exempt from harvestable rights limits and can be constructed without approval as long as the dam is used only to store roof run-off or water delivered by pipe or truck to the property, including water from the Coffs Harbour recycled water scheme.

If your dam was built before 1 January 1999, is larger than MHRDC, and you want to continue to irrigate crops from it, then you need to license it or reduce its capacity to within the MHRDC. The alternative is to leave it in place and not use it for irrigation of crops. The storage capacity of these existing dams is considered when assessing your right to build additional dams. This means that you cannot build another dam within the harvestable right for your property to irrigate your crops and leave the old dam (which is larger than MHRDC) in place.

As soon as a newly constructed ring tank or turkey’s nest dam is used to store any form of rainfall runoff then it must meet harvestable right limits or be approved.

For more details, please refer to Page 1629, paragraph 5, Schedule 2 of the Harvestable Rights Order 2006.

The NSW laws identify some types of dams that are not to be included when assessing your right to build additional dams.

What about shared dams? Is the maximum size calculated considering all properties that share the dam?

For further details, please refer to Page 1629, Schedule 2 of the Harvestable Rights Order 2006.

The water in the dam belongs to the owner of the property where the dam wall is located. If the dam wall is on two or more properties, then the water is apportioned to the properties in proportion to the surface area of the dam on each of the properties.

If you have built a dam before 1 January 1999, but its size has been increased above the MHRDC after 1 January 1999, the dam’s capacity will need to be reduced or the dam will need to be licensed. Another point to keep in mind is that a dam may be compliant with MHRDC when constructed, but may end up being too big if part of the property has subsequently been sold off. Harvestable right is based on the property area, so reducing the property area also reduces the harvestable right.

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For more details, please refer to Page 1629, paragraph 7 of the Harvestable Rights Order 2006.

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In what situation would you do a Mixed Rights Dam? Is it if you have a really large dam that you don’t want to make smaller, but prefer to regulate via a meter?

What is the process if a farmer would like to purchase a Water Access Licence but is unable to find a seller?

Option 1 Contact WaterNSW and ask if there are any sellers in the same water source as you. Also ask WaterNSW if there are other water sources from which you could purchase a water access licence.

If your dam is larger than the harvestable right for your property you may choose to authorise it as a mixed rights dam. It is a solution for a situation where the landholder doesn’t want to reduce the capacity of the dam and instead obtains entitlement to cover the shortfall between the dam’s capacity and the harvestable right.

Option 2 You may wish to search the water register yourself to identify all the water access licences for your water source: waterregister.waternsw.com.au/water-register-frame

For example, the dam is 10ML, the harvestable right is 8ML, and the shortfall is covered by purchasing a water access licence. The landholder may not be able to buy much entitlement in this situation, so a mixed rights dam is an appropriate solution. However, reducing the capacity of the dam to harvestable right may significantly compromise the water security for the farm.

You can then do a paid title search to identify the owner of each of the water access licences. This page explains how to do a title search: www.nswlrs.com.au/AccessTitling-Information. Then search the online phone directory to find contact details for holders of the water access licences.

When you make an application to authorise a mixed rights dam, WaterNSW will advise on the size of entitlement required. If an approval is granted, conditions will be applied to the approval to ensure water use is transparent and accountable, and within the specified limit (harvestable right plus entitlement).

Option 3 You can contact neighbours and landholders in your local area to see if anyone has a water access licence for sale.

Option 4 Advertise online to see if you can find a seller.

These conditions may include the requirement to install a meter. There are mandatory pumping logbook conditions attached to approvals and water access licences subject to the Coffs Harbour Area Unregulated and Alluvial Water Sources Water Sharing Plan 2009.

Option 5 Contact a water broker to assist you to find a seller.

Option 6 Buy a property with an attached water access licence that can be transferred to your current property.

Do you have to use a logbook if you have a pattern approved water meter?

Option 7

Pumping logbooks or data loggers attached to meters are required to ensure approval and that water access licence holders are complying with important approval and water access licence conditions, including the extraction limit for the water year, and the times when pumping must cease due to low flows.

Buy or lease one or more properties adjacent to your existing property to increase your harvestable right limit.

Can a bore license be converted into a dam licence?

There is no provision under the Coffs Harbour Unregulated and Alluvial Water Sources Water Sharing Plan 2009 to apply to change a water access licence from a groundwater source to a surface water source.

Conditions attached to approvals and water access licences subject to the Coffs Harbour Area Unregulated and Alluvial Water Sources Water Sharing Plan 2009 and the Clarence Unregulated and Alluvial Water Sources Water Sharing Plan 2016 require pumping logbook records to be made and kept.

For more information about NRAR please visit: www.industry.nsw.gov.au/natural-resourcesaccess-regulator

Pumping logbooks are required even if a meter is installed. However, there is a condition that states that a pumping logbook is not required if a data logger is fitted with a water meter.

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swa.gov.au/coronavirus swa.gov.au/coronavirus

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