Crops across Western Australia are expected to take a major hit as a result of recent unseasonal weather, with some growers reporting losses of up to 40 percent. Temperatures dropped as low as 5.4oC overnight in November following a hail storm on October 31, wreaking havoc on the agricultural industry.
Avocado, apple and cherry production has been affected in Manjimup as a result of the unseasonal weather. However, the full extent of the damage will not be known until harvest.
Apple and avocado grower Vic Grozotis said while he estimated he had lost about 30 to 40 percent of his apple crop, the hail damage done to next year’s avocado harvest was still unknown. “While this year’s mature avocado crop wasn’t affected, the new avocado flowers for the next season have been affected,” he said. “With the combination of cold nights, we won’t know the damage until February.”
Cold nights did not help avocado pollination
Avocado grower Travis Luzny said the cold nights had not helped with the avocado pollination and the early start to the season had not done growers any favours. “It really is an unknown until next season but at least we’ve had no issue that’s affected this year’s crops,” he said.
