Ranges Trader
Tuesday, 28 March, 2023
Community support for Kallista township group
Volunteers out in force before Aston by-election
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Mail Monbulk Football Club members inducted as league life members
Australian Idol contestant goes out with a bang
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A Star News Group Publication
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Farmers go batty By Tyler Wright
Colin Wood grows chestnuts on his farm in the Dandenong Ranges, while growing fruit in Pyramid Hill near Bendigo. 325354 Picture: STEWART CHAMBERS
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Local farmers say they are feeling the brunt of grey-headed flying foxes migrating south, with the destruction of fruit crops playing a part in the growers’ decision to either sell up and relocate. Fourth generation fruit grower Alan Upton made the decision to sell his fruit farm on Maroondah Highway Coldstream three years ago to instead work as a beef farmer on a property in Yarra Glen; in part due to the impact animals including the Australian native flying fox, or fruit bat, were having on his produce. “My great grandfather started in Langwarrin in 1908, my grandfather then bought a property in Wonga Park in 1922 which I grew up on and never knew what a fruit bat was there, never lost an apple or a pear or a peach to [them],” Mr Upton said. “From 1987 we moved to Coldstream, and then in and about 2010... we were introduced to the problem of fruit bat damage in the fruit trees.” Mr Upton said he began finding half chewed fruit on the tops of trees, with the bats chewing on the fruit flesh at night time. “The value of the fruit actually on the tree is probably not $5 a kilo like you see on the supermarket shelf when it reaches retail level, but the cost is more on your mental well being,” Mr Upton said. “You’re dealing with all sorts of other pests and diseases throughout the growing season, and this one just fills in the 24 hours a day that your fruit’s under attack, and it has a very wearing effect on your mental ability to cope with it all.” Continued page 3
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