On a recent trip to Mildura, Victoria, FreshPlaza was invited to Colignan Park, owned by Tania and Adrian Chapman. On the farm they have 121 hectares which are mostly citrus. Previously there were also avocados, grapes and figs on the farm but the drought in 2008 meant some hard decisions had to be made and these are no longer grown.
Tania is one of the biggest Valencia growers in the region, some of which go for juicing. "We are replanting slowly since the drought focussing on new citrus varieties to meet the changing taste of the global consumer," explains Tania. "We are waiting to get some Tango trees and have already planted quite a few M7s. We also grow Late Lanes, Kirkwoods and Powell."
The M7 is a new variety discovered by a local grower and is a very early Navel known for its great eating quality and colour. "The first Navel of the season was always the Navelina, but the eating quality and colour is not as good as the M7, so it is great to start our season with this M7. It is perfectly round, tastes good and travels well."
On the farm in Midura they have an almost year round supply of citrus. There is a permanent staff of five and in the height of the season they will employ as many as 60 back packers each day. Tania is an ardent opposer of the backpacker tax which is making the headlines just now in Australia. "Back packers are an essential supply of labour for us in horticulture in Australia, around 40,000 of them come to pick fruit each year. If the high tax rate is introduced it will be disastrous for the Australian economy. Not only do the back packers pick our fruit but they also contribute around 3.5 billion dollars to our economy when they spend their wages, while other sources of labour send all their wages back home. Like all wage earners the back packers should pay tax but not this proposed amount. I cannot see many people in the agricultural sector voting to keep this government if they go ahead in increasing the tax rate for back packers."
It is expected to be a pretty normal season for Australian citrus, in terms of crop load and fruit size, it has been dry so rainfall last week was very welcome. Colignan Parks sends all of the citrus to be packed and marketed by MFC in Mildura. A lot of the citrus is destined for the Asian markets or, KCT (Korea, China, Thailand).
Citrus is the largest fresh produce exported from Australia, with a focus on quality, good, clean sweet fruit. "Whilst The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement among twelve Pacific Rim countries which was signed on 4 February 2016, is not expected to help increase citrus exports, as we already have access to most markets around the globe and the recently negotiated FTA’s are seeing a steady decline in tariffs, it is great to see all of these countries working together on global trade, building stronger relationships is the key to ongoing and increased future trade, and that’s what the Australian economy needs to grow," concludes Tania.
