INDUSTRY NEWS
Merbein case study : frost damage
Merbein South almond grower Luke Englefield inspects his orchard .
MERBEIN South almond grower Luke Englefield estimates he lost 10 per cent of his crop because of frosts this season . “ It ’ s not a disaster , there ’ s still a crop there ,” he said . The Mildura weather station , which is 5km from his orchard , recorded two or three frost risk events in mid September . But quantifying the amount of damage isn ’ t straightforward . “ Frost affected nuts dropped after a few days in the worst hit spots , but more dropped over the next fortnight across other parts of the orchard ,” Mr Englefield said . “ You could tell the kennels were dead from frost damage .” Mr Englefield ’ s orchard is surrounded by vineyards and some of the table grape growers are likely to have lost a significant portion of their crop due to the same frost events .
His 9ha orchard is mostly planted to Maxima and Mira . Mr Englefield said his seven year old trees have experienced hail and record rains in previous springs but this was the first big frost . “ It ’ s a massive shock each time to the tree ,” he said . Mr Englefield said he ’ s been frequently using stress mitigators in his foliar sprays to try and support the almond trees . While he ’ d like to be spraying the trees weekly , that isn ’ t something the budget will allow . Mr Englefield operates somewhat of a lower input orchard . He uses low level sprinklers and plants a cover crop , to encourage beneficial insects and maintain lower dust levels . “ Lady beetles , lacewings , spiders , dragonflies and earwigs seem to give the aphids , mites , carpophilus beetles and carob moths a hard time in my orchard ,” Mr Englefield said . He said mowing the cover crop and irrigating with sprinklers prior to the frosts has helped . While some growers have installed frost fans Mr Englefield said nothing guarantees absolute protection from frost damage , especially during extreme frosts . “ Frost fans run on diesel and they can be challenging to operate and maintain , sprinklers also have their own issues , but if the crop can be protected , the extra efforts made can be justified ,” he said . Mr Englefield said frost mitigation is definitely something that growers should be considering when they are replanting or developing orchards . “ It ’ s very easy to say but very hard to do at times ,” he said . “ It ’ s just another thing that you ’ ve got to manage .”
industry . australianalmonds . com . au
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