ACE OPEN DAY
ACE orchard a valuable resource for growers
ADELAIDE Plains grower Domenic Cavallaro was on the ABA board when the experimental and demonstration orchard was first being proposed . He ' s now part of the ABA committee that manages the ACE orchard . “ I ’ ve always been a champion of the concept of the ACE orchard and its aims in providing research sites for industry and also for industry to be ahead of the game in terms of new technologies and the ability to trial in an area that represents a commercial site but doesn ’ t interrupt commercial growers who have a business to worry about .” Mr Cavallaro participated in the field walks at the open day and was pleased with how the orchard is developing . He said it ’ s a credit to farm manager Anthony ‘ Wocky ’ Wachtel and assistant manager Melissa Macfarlane . “ They ’ ve done a really good job of getting the growth , so that next year is going to be back to back good yields and that ’ s really important
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Corporates can ' t afford to second guess , they can ' t afford to change to a new rootstock or variety unless it ' s proven , and the ACE orchard is bridging that gap .
because if we are going to have an area where we are doing trial work it needs to be representative of what ’ s happening commercially ,” he said . Mr Cavallaro plans to return to the ACE orchard with some work colleagues and take a closer look at some of the other trials . “ Independent trials that are replicated are really important because that ’ s a way of actually validating new technology or new science that ’ s coming through ,” he said . “ It really takes the guess work out of the trial data that you view sometimes ,” he said . Personally , Mr Cavallaro said he ’ s most interested in the variety trials ,
- Adelaide Plains grower Domenic Cavallaro
especially self pollinating varieties and how they work with rootstocks . “ Being able to visualise what the tree looks like and the research data that ’ s there , we are not second guessing . Corporates can ’ t afford to second guess , they can ’ t afford to change to a new rootstock or variety unless it ’ s proven , and the ACE orchard is bridging that gap ,” he said . Mr Cavallaro said the almond industry is ahead of the game in regards to new technology and research . “ Macadamias for example , they ’ re just envious that there ’ s this access to research and demonstration . They ’ d love to have something like the ACE orchard in that industry as well ,” he said .
Professor John Fielke from University of South Australia had his new separator for almonds on display at the open day .
Hort Innovation ’ s Nicole Dimos Byrnes , Adrian Hunt , Madison Hosseinzadeh and Corrine Jasper in the ACE orchard .
RIGHT : University of Adelaide ’ s Thomas Lines buried five pairs of underwear in the ACE orchard at the open day . He ’ ll check on them in a year to gauge the health of the soil , as part of his cover crop research .
LEFT : PIRSA Chief Executive Professor Mehdi Doroudi addresses the crowd at the ACE Open Day .
8 In A Nutshell - Summer 2023 Vol 24 Issue 4