Australian Stonefruit Grower Magazine Issue 2 August 2016 | Page 21

Feature
The USA now
produces around
1 million tonnes
of stonefruit annually.
Less than 10% of this
is exported, with the
vast majority grown for
domestic consumption.

Central Valley deep

According to the USDA, by the middle
of the 18th Century peaches were so
plentiful in the USA that they were
commonly mistaken for a native fruit!
Most stonefruit are grown in the
deep soils of the Central Valley, in the
region reaching from Visalia in the
south, to Fresno in the north. This
area produces 75% of the peaches and

company’s carbon footprint and
reliance on the grid for power.

virtually all the nectarines grown in

Despite these efficiencies, other

the USA.

practices remain traditional. Trees are

Perhaps, surprisingly, many farms are still

usually pruned to open vase shapes; growers

family-owned operations – just really large ones. There

have not shifted to more intensive, mechanised trellising.

are also a number of co-operative marketing groups. For

Labour costs are lower in California than Australia, which

example, Mountain View Fruit Sales brings together 11

allows the Californian industry to employ a very large,

farming families under the “Summeripe” branding. Many

mostly Latino, workforce.

families are multigenerational orchardists who can trace
their history in the region back 100 years or more.
Until relatively recently, many of the orchards in the

Plum jobs

One of the key differences between the Australian and

Central Valley were furrow irrigated. This was possible

Californian industries is the larger portion of the industry

due to the flatness of the landscape, as well as an abundant

that produces plums. Plums represent around 30% of the

supply of irrigation water supplied by snow melt in the

Californian stonefruit industry, compared to around 15-

nearby Sierra Mountains. It is this, combined with a vast

20% of that in Australia.

network of irrigation pipes and channels, which has turned

There is a huge range of plum varieties grown, many

what is essentially a desert into one of the worlds great

the result of private breeding programs. This is another

food bowls.

key difference between the Australian and Californian

However, concern about sustainability is finally

industries, with the large producers almost all having their

resulting in major changes. Recent years of drought have

own breeding and development programs, as well as trial

seen growers switch to more efficient irrigation practices.

orchards for promising new cultivars.

Although the 2015–2016 season
provided a return to more normal
snowfall and welcome flows into rivers
and aquifers, most growers now use
sub-surface irrigation systems. They
also use recycled water in packing
operations.
Solar panels are also a common
sight. For example, the huge Wawona
packing operation is 75% solar
powered, using 5 acres (2ha) of suntracking solar panels to reduce the
summerfruit.com.au

Quality control officers sampling fruit on arrival at the packing shed.
Photo: J. Ekman

august 2016 | Australian Stonefruit Grower

21