Focus Orchards – the power of numbers

June 2014 | Jason Shields, Plunkett Orchards | Future Orchards® presentation

This presentation from Jason Shields of Plunkett Orchards focuses on the role of measurement in Focus Orchard management. The “power of numbers” theme reflects a central Future Orchards® principle: orchard decisions are stronger when growers record performance by block and compare results with explicit targets.

Useful numbers include yield, packout, fruit size and colour, tree growth, crop load, labour inputs and the costs attached to individual orchard tasks. Recording these measures makes it possible to distinguish a genuinely profitable block from one that merely looks productive and to identify where a management change has delivered a real improvement.

The presentation also supports the extension value of Focus Orchards. By sharing measured results, growers can have more precise conversations about pruning, crop load, orchard systems and investment. The practical message is simple but demanding: decide what success looks like, measure the indicators that matter, review them regularly and use the data to change management rather than collecting figures without a decision process.