Cherry growers from across Australia and overseas came together for the NSW Cherry Season Launch at Hotel Canobolas on Friday.
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Attendees included cherry and other fruit growers, industry associates including representatives from government departments, Horticulture Innovation Australia representatives and industry suppliers and investors.
NSW Cherry Growers Association president Fiona Hall said the event was a networking opportunity for the whole industry.
“The whole idea of the day is to give growers an opportunity to get together just before the season,” Ms Hall said.
“The season should start in a few weeks. There’s not many opportunities for everyone to get together or even for buyers to get together.”
Ms Hall said while conditions have not been ideal for cherry growing, Orange has not been affected as much as other areas, such as Adelaide.
“The whole winter has been very wet and there’s been a lot of areas affected with the rain around pollination time,” she said.
“Our season is a bit later so our pollination peak didn’t get that wet, cold weather.”
Ms Hall said while she did not have an exact figure, she expected consumers would pay a lot of money for cherries this season.
“We’re going to have very expensive cherries this year because it’s all supply and demand,” she said.
“If people want them on the Christmas table, they’re going to have to be paying quite nicely for them.”
NSW Cherry Growers Association vice president Scott Coupland said he was optimistic about this cherry season.
“Spring has been a bit iffy, not all blocks have set up well but overall it’s going to work out okay,” Mr Coupland said.
“It looks positive, tree health is fine, crops look okay and the outlook looks good.
“Once the weather clears we’ll get some large fruit.”
Cherry Growers Australia president Tom Eastlake said Friday was about building relationships for those within the cherry industry.
“The cherry industry is in an enviable position in terms of our market access priorities,” Mr Eastlake said.
The day consisted of networking with a focus on building relationships in the industry and opportunities for discussion on a broad range of issues currently facing the industry as well as a question and answer session.
Visit www.nswcga.com.au for more information.