Hugh Schuitemaker, Murray Pioneer
Riverland stone fruit growers have seen “large amounts” of certain crops wiped out at a critical time, following last week’s heavy rainfall.
The Riverland received prolonged rainfall from Saturday 23 November to Monday 25 November, with 50mm recorded in Renmark.
Summerfruit SA executive officer Tim Grieger said the rain would economically impact growers that were currently harvesting.
“We all appreciate a good rain, and we all need it of course – especially the farmers – but the reality is that it does do a lot of damage, in terms of stone fruit, depending on timing,” Mr Grieger said.
“Some were halfway through harvesting a variety, and pretty much lost the other half of that variety.
“(The rain) causes fungus to grow, damage to the skin, and the fruit becomes unmarketable.
“A little bit of rain is generally not too much of an issue… but when you had what we had, where it was constant, that causes a lot of damage.”
Mr Grieger said apricots were particularly vulnerable to rain damage.
“Many growers have seen a large amount of their (apricot) crop destroyed as a result,” he said.
“A lot of growers that dry their product would be affected as well. It’s just the timing of the rain event and the sensitivity of apricots.”
Chaffey MP Tim Whetstone said the damage to stone fruit further added to challenges surrounding horticultural production seen in 2024.
“The most disappointing (aspect) we’re seeing… is growers have spent a full season growing that fruit, and it’s almost ready for harvest, and they just missed it by a whisker,” Mr Whetstone said.
“Some earlier varieties have been harvested, and that’s happy days, but a large amount of the seasonal stone fruit has been severely impacted by weather and is now on the ground.
“There are so many issues we’re dealing with at the moment… we are a food bowl, but at the moment, people are looking into that food bowl and seeing a lot of heartache.”
Mr Whetstone said recently announced support measures targeted at droughtimpacted farmers should be expanded for the horticulture sector.
“It would be pertinent for the (State) Government to expand that support program to horticulture as a whole, as well as agriculture, and make sure they put sufficient funds there to support another industry that has fallen under the vagaries of weather impact,” he said.
This article appeared in the Murray Pioneer, 4 December 2024.
