Growing for your market

November 2010 | Prepared by Ross Wilson, AgFirst | Future Orchards® Orchard Walk notes

Ross Wilson’s “Growing for your Market” notes show how block-level targets can be built around the fruit attributes customers are prepared to pay for. Using a Royal Gala block owned by Brian and Shaun Witchell in southern Victoria, the resource links fruit size, foreground colour, market timing, eating quality and crop load directly to block profitability.

The notes explain that crop load is a major driver of fruit size, with a general rule that reducing fruit numbers by about 20 per cent can increase fruit size by about 10 per cent. Weekly fruit-size monitoring is recommended so growers can compare current growth with previous seasons, regional and national averages and target lines. The case-study block was managed towards a 50 t/ha target and monitored closely so additional hand thinning, irrigation, nutrition or harvest-delay tools could be considered if fruit growth slipped below target.

Wilson also discusses colour management through canopy light, vigour control, nutrition and reflective materials, as well as the influence of crop load on maturity, Brix and firmness. The central message is to define market specifications for each block first, then set crop-load, fruit-size and quality targets that maximise the proportion of fruit meeting those specifications.