Cover story New plantings to boost industry

New plantings to boost industry

There’s a turning tide in the dried grape industry.

Corporate growers are expanding, new plantings are going in, and there’s growing potential for “hobby” growers to cash in and play their part in boosting industry tonnages.

Gary Thomas, who manages Victoria and Murray Valley Vine Improvement Association (VAMVVIA) near Wentworth, New South Wales, has given an insight into the role of his organisation and the trends he’s seeing across the industry.

Industry trends

Gary, who has managed VAMVVIA for about 11 years, says like most things, trends in vineyards are cyclical.

“The last few years we’ve done over 1 million cuttings to the nursery industry. In the last couple of years that’s been an increase,” he said.

“Four or five years ago we might’ve only done 500,000 cuttings.

“One area of vine growing dies down, and then another comes along, and then dried fruit’s taking off again.”

Gary said one of the biggest trends he’s seen is the move back to ramsey rootstock.

“Lately there’s been a lot of dried fruit that’s being put on ramsey,” he said.

“Ramsey has more vigour than paulsen and it has different characteristics that may be more drought-tolerant and may withstand wet conditions better. Every rootstock has got its set of things that set it apart from the others.”

Gary said that while Carina currants had overtaken the “old fashioned” Zante currant, and there was barely any demand for sultanas as a dried fruit variety, there had been plenty of demand for Selma Pete and Sunmuscat.

“The past couple years there’s been a bit of demand – I’ve sold every stick of Sunmuscat that I’ve had,” he said.

“There’s another one at the moment – one of the Sun World proprietary varieties I’ve got – which is very early and a heavy producer.

“A lot of growers baulk at paying royalties because they don’t really understand the process, they don’t extrapolate it enough down the chain to realise why they’re paying the royalty and what the benefits are.

“The one from Sun World … it looks like maybe you’d be able to cut it a month earlier than you would with a Sunglo, so it takes out the risk of rain damage and poor drying conditions because it’s so much earlier.

“Sunglo is a very good variety – a very high producer and it won’t split, it’s very tough, but it’s also late, and sunmuscat is a bit the same.”

Looking to the future

While trends come and go, Gary sees a big future in dried grapes.

“Most countries are having the same problems as we have – with competition, water, or old plantings – and in Australia we’ve got a reasonable domestic market that sometimes we can’t even fill,” he said.

“We still do have a good name, but if you can’t supply, it doesn’t mean much.”

He said it was vital that the industry boosted its tonnages, and he was heartened by the entry of corporate growers to the dried grape scene.

But he emphasised that corporate growers were not the silver bullet for the industry, and that both small family farms – or hobby growers – as well as large-scale growers had their role to play.

“I think the corporates are going to be necessary if you’re going to build back to a sustainable base of 20 or 30,000 tonnes,” Gary said.

“Corporates aren’t going to be the total saviour. There’s scope for smaller ones to be in the game, too.

“I personally don’t know why people with 10 or 20 acres don’t grow some dried fruit because you could do it on a weekend just about and grow it yourself. It’s more like a hobby.

“You could manage with not much outside help and probably make yourself a good side income without being too risky – there’s scope for that to happen. There’s plenty of smaller blocks around with not much on them.”

Nathan Jilbert, who himself runs a family block of dried fruit in addition to running Sunraysia Vine Nursery, said he was seeing “huge growth in dried fruit”.

“There’s a number of reasons: returns are good, I think a lot of people are seeing the old vision of dried fruit has certainly changed. A number of new varieties are heavy bearing, consistent, and rain tolerant. Together with mechanisation, it’s driving more demand and people are planting,” he said.

Nathan said if people were willing to put in the work, it was “completely possible” to grow dried grapes as a side hustle.

“Both (hobby farms and corporates) definitely have a role to play. In terms of a packing sheds wanting a1 top quality produce, that’s where I see the family farm niche,” he said.

“You can really establish a great business around your lifestyle by choosing varieties that mature at a certain time.”

Now’s the time to order

Growers have been urged to get their vine orders in now to ensure they don’t miss out.

Both Gary and Nathan said now was the time to place orders for material.

“If a grower is thinking about planting, they really need to get their order in now because they’ve got to allow the nursery to put their order in and make sure we’ve got the material and the vinifera to go on top. If you don’t do it, you run the risk of missing out,” Gary said.

“And that does happen, especially now with the demand being big with competition, you can’t always get what you want.

“Growers need to think ahead, work out their finances to pay deposits. There’s a lot going on that they have to think about, but this is the time to start thinking about it.”

Nathan said it was important for growers to be organised when it came to running their business.

“If you want to plant your vineyard next year, you really should be letting me know now, so we can organise buds to start planting,” he said.

“If you can’t afford to miss out, then get your orders in now.

“There's a bunch of exciting varieties around. Do your homework, speak to your processor about demand, include your nurserymen. The processors and grower reps have got a good handle on different varieties.”

While VAMVVIA takes its own measures to ensure material health and quality, Gary said some of the responsibility also landed with growers.

When ordering new vines, he urged people to talk to their nursery to make sure material was coming from an organisation like VAMVVIA.

“There’s VAMVVIA, and there are other like-minded organisations, like Riverland Vine Improvement Committee or Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area Vine Improvement Society,” Gary said.

“You’d hope that if they get their material from us, or someone like us, that it’s virus free, well grown and true to type. That means that if you’re buying a sultana, you know that it’s a sultana – it’s not something else.

“That’s one of the main reasons you’d ask for material from a VAMVVIA-like source; it’s got traceability, otherwise you don’t know where it comes from.”

Nathan agreed, urging growers to do their research when it came to sourcing new vine material.

“The best thing to do is make sure their rootstock comes from a tested source,” he said.

“For me, I get my stuff from VAMVVIA, which I know has been disease tested. I know where it comes from.” v Role of VAMVVIA

VAMVVIA is essentially the first step in the dried grape supply chain.

The not-for-profit organisation grows about eight different varieties of rootstock, which are cut each winter and delivered to vine nurseries across Victoria, South Australia, New South Wales and Queensland.

In addition to rootstock, VAMVVIA also grows about 25 acres of vinifera varieties for grafting to rootstock.

Nurseries will use rootstock cuttings – mostly ramsey and paulsen – and graft to their chosen variety to sell to growers.

“They do grafting or propagating of rootlings – we just supply the cuttings,” VAMVVIA manager Gary Thomas said.

Gary said VAMVVIA also acts as a repository for grape industries, and is home to “mother vines” of some commercial varieties, as well as varieties like sultana.

“If some are lost … or if you get a sudden demand for something, we can plant it up here,” he explained.

“It’s good for the industry that VAMVVIA’s there because it keeps a stock of material that otherwise may be lost to the industry.”

VAMVVIA takes its role in the health of grape industries seriously, virus testing rootstocks and vinifera each season.

“They’re all sent to AWRI (Australian Wine Research Institute) in Adelaide for virus testing, so if anything comes back with a problem, it either has to come out or be treated,” Gary said.

“Everything’s supposed to be at the top end of the health status for grafting material. That’s our premise for why we exist.”