FRUIT growing might be part of the landscape in Orange, but orchardist Fiona Hall believes there is still room to do things better.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The Carnarvon Cherry Co managing director and Bonny Glen Fruits co-owner won a Nuffield scholarship on Thursday night, which will enable to her to travel internationally to study ways growers can add value to their produce and increase their profit share.
Currently, growers only earn $700 million in a $4 billion industry.
“My focus is how do we close that gap?” she said.
“We take the highest risk for the lowest return and some of that risk should be shared - there’s only so much we can do to increase our productivity, we need to go beyond that.
“The scholarship is very exciting, it’s a huge opportunity and it’s a pretty prestigious thing to win.”
Carnarvon Cherry Co already does some value adding with its cherries - most are sold unprocessed, with lower grade fruit made into cherry juice.
Ms Hall believed there were similar opportunities for apples, believing value adding on lower-grade fruit would also push prices up for the top grade produce.
“We’re pretty efficient in getting good yields, but it’s after the farm gate that I want to look at,” she said.
“Should growers just be growers or should they do their own processing?
“But it will get more refined as I go along - it’s a study thing so you don’t know what you don’t know.”
Nuffield Australia Farming Scholars will take her and six others on a six-week tour of the United States, India, Qatar, Singapore and Turkey in July where they will visit various agricultural operations and meet with high-level experts and politicians.
“It’s something I probably wouldn’t get the opportunity to do if I was doing it myself,” she said.
Then, she will embark on a solo nine-week trip to Italy, Canada, New Zealand and Eastern Europe before analysing her findings and sharing them with the rest of the industry.
danielle.cetinski@fairfaxmedia.com.au