Australian Stonefruit Grower Magazine Issue 4 April 2017 | Page 17

Feature being allocated visas according to size and type of farm. Also, both permanent and seasonal labour comes from Arab and Druze villages, about 90 minutes’ drive from the Golan farms.” What are the major costs of Due to the mild climate, the harvest season lasts longer, starting in mid-April and coming to an end in December. “I work with an outside packhouse located in the Hula Valley, about an hour’s truck drive from the orchard,” Jon said. “There are a number of other growers from my moshav who also work with this packing house. However, on my moshav there are also production? Jon Nathan is definitive a number of growers who have their about this. own packing house and marketing “Water and labour,” he said. “Labour is in pruning, thinning and of course, picking. Fruit size is very important so there is large emphasis on structure. They grow large areas, and they are self-sufficient. “For smaller sized units, like mine, the structure of thinning, done manually where no mechanical or chemical the packing house we work with is suitable for our needs, options are available.” and provides an excellent marketing solution. There are Would private ownership be the most common orchard instances where the packing house buys the whole of the ownership? And how does orchard ownership work on crop from the farmers in other areas but this is not the case a moshav? Are there many kibbutzim (pluralof kibbutz) with us. growing stone fruit? “In the moshav sector the orchards are generally “The packing house packs a volume of about 15,000t p.a. and altogether markets a total of 25,000t, some of privately owned the land being part of the allocation to the which – plums for example – is picked and packed into trays settlement by the Israel Land authority,” Jon explained. in the orchard and also fruit is sold in bins. They pack and “There are also kibbutzim growing stonefruit.” market stonefruit, pipfruit, avocado and pomegranates What is the packhouse situation for you? plus a small amount of citrus fruit. There are between 80 to 100 growers, some of them from kibbutzim working with the packing shed. “The packing shed representatives maintain close contact with the growers during the growing and picking season in order for both sides to achieve maximum results.” How does the pack house pay you? Do they take ownership of the fruit on arrival in the packhouse? Do they pay for quality such as size and cosmetic appearance? “When the fruit arrives at the packing house it is initially documented, and registered and put into cool store,” Jon said. “Each bin has a barcode label with the grower’s name, with the fruit and variety printed on it. It is then dealt with according to marketing strategy and orders for fruit in the marketing department. “In my case, fruit is sorted, graded and packed and sold Labour for pruning, thinning and harvesting comes from Arab and Druze villages, about 90 minutes’ drive from the Golan farms, as well as foreign workers mostly from Thailand. summerfruit.com.au on my behalf. “Good colouring pays more and blemished fruit, less. The difference in price between sizes can also be quite significant. April 2017 | Australian Stonefruit Grower 17