Invitation to Join the Future Orchards Business Development Program – 2010

October 2010 | Apple and Pear Australia Limited | Future Orchards® Business Development Program invitation

This invitation marks the expansion of Future Orchards® beyond its established in-orchard activities to include a formal Business Development component. APAL describes the program as being for growers who want to work on their business, not only in their business.

OrchardNet was introduced as the core block-level database, allowing growers to enter orchard information, analyse performance and make confidential interstate and national comparisons. For the 2010/11 program, growers were asked to nominate at least two blocks, preferably Gala and Cripps Pink, and provide setup details, two years of crop history and a target yield.

The invitation is an important historical record of the Future Orchards® approach to combining technical orchard management with measurable business performance. It establishes the data-driven framework that later Business Development Group newsletters continued to build on.