Technical Support for Growers
9 March 2023The cyclone hit at the worst possible time for most of our region's growers. They had trees laden with fruit and had already incurred all the costs associated with getting through to harvest.
The damage caused is now creating some extremely complex decisions for growers to make as they consider the feasibility of saving trees and removing debris from their properties. There is so much uncertainty (and huge cost) to navigate.
A “flood taskforce” has been assembled with representation from technical experts from across the industry. This group has been developing technical advice as well as visiting orchards to assist with developing bespoke strategies for land owners. Initial work has been done “pro-bono” but this is clearly not sustainable.
With your support our Charitable Trust has agreed to underwrite an amount of $50K to ensure the continuity of this time critical work. We have also lodged an application with the government which we hope will unlock funding to enable a longer term strategy to be developed. We don't want cost to prevent growers from getting the advice they need - they have enough on their plate at the moment.
Thanks again for your support.