Developing orchardists of the future pilot (LP23001)

What is it all about?

This pilot project will build on the Future Orchards extension platform, developed by APAL, for Australian apple and pear growers. The Future Orchards platform is an integrated model that links technical expertise, financial literacy, professional development opportunities, and improved knowledge about integrating market feedback into on-farm activities.

Challenge

Currently, the apple and pear industry in Australia is at a crossroads. Production on an annual basis sits at or above yearly consumption, with a significant number of young plantings yet to reach full production, and Australia does not currently have the scale required to export competitively.

Ongoing quality issues continue to hold the industry back, both from an economic perspective and a consumer experience. On top of this, there needs to be more engagement with and education for young growers to incentivise them to make a career in the tree fruit industry.

Response

This program aims to work with the industry to rectify some of the challenges facing apple and pear growers and enable the industry to accelerate and innovate, providing confidence to invest back into the industry, understand and rectify quality issues, and potentially scale the sector back into being both a domestic and export industry.

The project will focus on three key activity areas:

• Future Orchards
  • Orchard walks and extension of critical technical knowledge and a framework of financial performance analysis to participants.
  • A trial Incubator allowing growers to design and implement small-scale trials on-farm.
  • Orchard Business Analysis allowing for average costs of production to be established and communicated to growers, as well as what makes high performers different.
    
    
• Education Program
  • A training and development program targeted at younger and emerging orchard managers to ensure retention of staff and opportunities for career development.
    
    
• Quality Program
  • Collection of data and feedback on market quality, with information provided to growers.
  • Provision of insights into market data, allowing for continual improvement in fruit quality and processes.

The Future Orchards activities will build on previous extension initiatives within the apple and pear industry, with world-leading experts visiting growers to discuss and share technical skills with the group. A key step-change for the orchard walks in this pilot project will be the direct targeting of younger growers and encouraging business owners to send their staff to attend orchard walks. Engaging with the next generation of growers and their staff is a critical strategy to help influence change in businesses. It provides the potential to engage with some businesses that have been slow to adopt modern practices. Integrating other activities within this program, such as the Orchard Business Analysis (a financial benchmarking exercise), webinars and technical articles, provides additional avenues for engagement and helps to further extend development opportunities to growers and their staff.

The introduction of the follow-up to the Short Course in Fruit Production, the Technical Symposium supported by a two-day leadership program and one-day Masterclass, as well as the Orchard Walk Immersion Program, where younger staff selected for the program (by application) will travel to a selection of growing regions with the Future Orchards team in a week-long roadshow, will enable younger staff to further develop their skills across all aspects of production and business. Importantly, it will allow future leaders and business managers to network, forging strong partnerships to address current and emerging issues as a united front.

The Trial Incubator, piloted during the 2023/24 growing season, has awarded grants for eight small-scale, grower-led trials. Expanding this program will likely see significant knowledge sharing between growers, identify areas for further exploration, and upskill participants in evaluating new techniques and products and the impacts (or lack thereof) on their business’s performance.

Underpinning these initiatives, the Quality Program will give growers direct feedback on the realities and perceptions of apples and pears on supermarket shelves. Integration of this data into technical discussions and regular reporting will help growers target their orchard and postharvest management to improve the eating experience for consumers and gain an understanding of demand issues.

Benefit

This improved approach will ensure that the current and future generations of Australia’s apple and pear industry staff are engaged and equipped with the tools to adapt to current and future challenges while simultaneously identifying and developing future industry leaders.

In addition, the combination of activities in this pilot project will ensure that professional development opportunities are available to Australia’s apple and pear growers while simultaneously fast-tracking the identification and growth of the next generation of apple and pear growers in Australia.