Tree Crop News

General

Big buzz about bees: More young people turn to backyard beekeeping

More young people are turning to beekeeping and in parts of Victoria there are even waitlists to own a hive.

Macadamias - General

Record Macadamia orchard sale hits Belgian sweet spot

Belgian sugar producer Finasucre has acquired Australia’s largest portfolio of macadamia orchards in a deal worth almost $60 million.

Mangoes

First Aussie Mangoes for the Season Reach US

NT mangoes have made the lengthy but successful journey from Katherine to Los Angeles.

Fruit Fly - General

Blue Light From LEDs Can Rot The Brains Of Fruit Flies, Study Finds

The blue light that emanates from every smartphone and fluorescent bulb isn’t thought to be great for our health, particularly the health of our eyes. But a new study in fruit flies suggests that blue light can even be harmful to brains and speed up ageing — again, in fruit flies. There’s a very long way to go before we could assume the same is true for people.

Pome fruit

Cider expansion supported by new supply

The burgeoning local cider industry is set to benefit from a new cider apple supply block at the NSW Department of Primary Industries (DPI) Orange Agricultural Institute.

General - Water supply & irrigation

Water Infrastructure Rebate extended

Permanent plantings will be included in the On-Farm Emergency Water Infrastructure Rebate in Qld, NSW, SA, Tasmania, and the ACT, and can be retroactively applied to new bores and dam de-silting installations from 30 June 2019. Eligible farmers can claim 25 per cent of expenses up to $25,000 as part of a $13.2 million injection from the federal government.

Mangoes

Customer-centric approach proving successful for growing fresh produce retailer

As the peak Australian mango season gets closer, a leading produce retailer is looking to build on its growing popularity with consumers. Earlier this year, Harris Farm Markets finished well ahead of the major chains in a supermarket satisfaction survey conducted by CHOICE, finishing only marginally behind South Australian-based Foodland in second place. Harris Farm Markets, produce buyer Carlo Ceravolo told mango industry members that competitiveness between the retailers benefits the whole fresh produce sector.

General

Australian horticulture exports perform strongly

A prosperous 2018/19 season for Australia’s horticulture industry sees an increase in nut, fruit and vegetable exports.

Mangoes - General

Mango industry in race to adapt to climate change

The Top End's mango industry is worth $122 million a year but the sector is under threat from climate change, industry figures have warned.

General

Freshcare appoints new CEO

Australia’s industry-owned assurance standard for horticulture, Freshcare, has appointed Benjamin Wash as its new chief executive.

Disease & weed control - Fruit Fly

Researchers making fruit flies twice as 'sexy'

Australian researchers have developed a new type of fly food that can help double the number of "sexy" sterile Queensland fruit flies being reared in laboratories.

General

Sting in the tale of bees in ‘crisis’

For the urban hipsters who dressed up as bees in this week’s Extinction Rebellion rallies, it is indeed serious: environmental challenges to honey bees might mean a future shortage of almond milk lattes.

General

Mango season in full swing

The 2019 Australian mango season is well and truly underway. A total 406,000 trays, each with seven kilograms of fruit, were dispatched to market last week.

Stone Fruit - Marketing & export

Strong crop size to boost volumes for Australian stone fruit exporter

The introduction of new varieties into production is expected to increase crop size and lead to bigger export volumes in the 2019-20 season for a leading Australian stone fruit exporter.

Citrus - Disease & weed control

Citrus Australia launches protective screenhouse to prevent HLB

Auscitrus has strengthened its capacity to protect the nation’s budwood supplies from disease, focusing specifically on any future incursion of HLB, with the completion of its new protective screenhouse.