‘This year has been the worst from what I can remember’: Cherry growers devastated after wild weather wipes out entire crops

The price of cherries are expected to skyrocket over Christmas after a recent spate of wild weather destroyed entire crops, leaving many growers with limited supplies of stock left.

Cherry growers and the state opposition are calling on the government to financially support fruit producers after recent wild weather devastated crops with businesses losing between 50 to 100 per cent of their stock.

Following last week’s sweltering heat combined with freezing conditions and heavy rainfall, some local growers say they have lost entire crops for the season, which goes from mid December to late January.

Orchardist Brenton Green is just one of many local cherry growers who has been affected, with his family business losing an estimated 80 per cent of their crop so far, as he is still assessing the damage.

Brenton Green in one of his Lenswood cherry orchards showing damaged fruit. Picture: Emma Brasier

“We were probably looking at 60 tons of cherries on average from our orchard this year,” he said.

“I reckon the crop would’ve been valued at about $600,000, so we’ve probably lost about close to half a million dollars (for the entire year) of valued cherries that are gone.

“Cherries and splitting does go hand-in-hand, but this years’ been the worst from what I can remember and I’ve been doing this for about 36 years.”

Mr Green whose family run an orchard between Lenswood and Birdwood in the Adelaide Hills, says the flow on effects will mean the cost for a kilo of cherries off the shelf is expected rise significantly.

“The cost of picking them has gone from what might be, $1.50 per kilo when things are good, now going out to $4 or $5 a kilo in picking costs,” he said.

”This year, we’ve been selling at $20 a kilo, and that probably gives us about $10 a kilo back after packing, but that’s probably wiped out now with the extra cost of packing.”

Leader of the Opposition David Speirs is calling on the state government to support fruit producers. Picture Emma Brasier

The state opposition has urged the government to either provide direct financial assistance to growers, or to fund a specific marketing campaign to encourage South Australians to buy imperfect fruit – similar to the successful ‘Hailstorm Heroes’ campaign.

Opposition leader David Speirs met with fruit producers during a visit to the Adelaide Hills on Thursday and had strong words for Premier Peter Malinauskas, calling on him to intervene.

“I have met with fruit producers in the Adelaide Hills first-hand who have been left absolutely shattered by these summer storms with some growers losing an entire season of crops,” Mr Speirs said.

“The damage bill will be in the millions of dollars and for a sector like cherries, which relies so heavily on summer trade, these storms are going to have devastating impacts for South Australian businesses and local jobs.

“Peter Malinauskas can’t just sit back and let our fruit industry wither on the vine. He needs to step up and give producers a helping hand to get back on their feet.”

Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development, Clare Scriven MLC.

Minister for Primary Industries Clare Scriven said she had met with cherry producers in recent weeks who have been affected, and that they were assessing the damage and harvesting what they could, before the state government could assist them.

“I have met fruit producers over recent weeks, and we know the impacts have varied across the state (and) producers are concentrating on harvesting fruit before fully assessing the total damage,” she said.

“The advice I have received from the Department of Primary Industries and Regions (PIRSA) is that unfortunately cherry producers are the most significantly impacted from these severe weather patterns, with over 50 per cent of the ripe fruit being no longer viable for harvest.

“However, they are continuing to harvest fruit, and the good news there will be sufficient supply available to South Australian consumers, in time for Christmas.”

The state government said affected cherry growers may be eligible for the federal government’s Farm Household Allowance.