Sebastian Calderon, Hugh Schuitemaker, Murray Pioneer
A senior local wine industry figure says some Riverland grape growers will experience “devastating” damage to vineyards from frost conditions.
The Riverland recorded its lowest-ever Spring temperatures on Monday night and Tuesday morning, after near-zero temperatures were also seen last week.
CCW Co-operative chairman Jim Caddy said damage to vineyards in areas vulnerable to frost would be assessed during the week.
“There is damage, there’s no two ways about it,” Mr Caddy said.
“There were two frosts. One (late last week) certainly did some damage in known frost areas, and there will be damage from (Tuesday) morning’s frost, which was about a degree cooler.
“It’s going to be devastating for some growers, there’s no doubt about that.”
Almond Board of Australia production committee chairperson Peter Cavallaro said “it will take a week for any damage from the recent frosts to be visible in almond orchards”.
“We are aware that some growers will be making assessments early next week and if there is minor damage, the almonds may drop to the ground later in the growing season but this can be identified now if growers take samples and cut them open,” Mr Cavallaro said.
“Any crop that is frost affected will fall from the tree.”
Growers located in frost-prone areas can use different types of fans to push warm air into their orchards to prevent future damage.
Mr Cavallaro recorded -2C on his orchard, at Walker Flat, on Monday nigh, but said that those conditions failed to last for long periods.
“The frost fans were coming on for about 20 minutes at a time,” he said.
“We are bracing for potentially more frost events, especially if the dry conditions, clear nights and lack of rain continue.
“The latest frost I received at Walker Flat occurred on 7 October around a decade ago and that event resulted in a 30 per cent loss of crop,” Mr Cavallaro said.
Chair of Citrus SA Mark Doecke said “frosts haven’t been long or cold enough at the moment to see any damages, but we have our eyes open as more low temperature nights can happen.”
“Oranges are burnt from the inside due to the low temperatures and can be easily damaged if we don’t take prevention measures, because one frost can damage a whole crop overnight,” Mr Doecke said.
This article appeared in the Murray Pioneer, 18 September 2024.
