Yarra Ranges fruit picking farms lose produce and profit as lockdown cuts visitors
Thousands of dollars worth of fruit is rotting away as Yarra Valley growers lost 95 per cent of their business in the Victorian coronavirus lockdown.
Outer East
Don't miss out on the headlines from Outer East. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Tonnes of Yarra Valley fruit is going to waste with lockdown preventing growers from selling their stock.
U-pick farms that rely on tourism are facing the very real possibility of thousands of pieces in fruit rotting in the fields and going to waste.
Victorian coronavirus restrictions have stopped visitors to the Yarra Ranges visiting farms and picking their own produce to take home.
Rayners Orchard is a family run farm, growing various kinds of seasonal fruit all year round.
The farm has a shop and a cafe, and also runs tours and allows visitors to pick and pay for their own produce to take home.
In February this year a group of valley growers, makers and farmers joined forces to encourage visitors back to the area after a 70 per cent drop in overseas tourists since the Victorian bushfires and then the coronavirus outbreak.
But more than six months later grower Len Rayner said his business had taken a huge hit with tourism counting for 95 per cent of their business — and 80 per of that was international visitors.
Mr Rayner said he had lost an estimated $100,000 in business during lockdown.
“U-Pick is the backbone of our business,” Mr Rayner said.
“We’ve wasted an enormous amount of fruit and we’re just about to drop two loads of mandarins on the ground.”
He said they could not donate the produce because it would only increase their losses.
“The orange trees are dripping with fruit,” he said.
“The oranges can stay there a bit longer but if we can’t open then they’ll waste as well.”
Mr Rayner said the damage of lockdown had been done as blood oranges lay rotting on the ground.
“You can’t walk without stepping on fruit,” he said.
And for many of these farms, it’s not labour they need with the lack of tourism that had hit businesses in the Yarra Ranges.
Mr Rayner said he recently advertised a job which in the first hour had 20 applicants.
“I have employed a woman who is a physio. She’s grossly over-qualified but desperate for work,” he said.
He said other nearby businesses had also felt the brunt including other U-Pick businesses through Silvan and Wandin, and Tesselaar Nursery, which had to cancel three festival events.
“We can’t sell fruit wholesale,” he said.
“We have one or two customers stop at our shop a day.”
He said deliveries had grown and the business was had taken out four ute loads of produce to customers on Wednesday.
“We’ve worked hard than we ever have in the past 15 years and it’s getting us nowhere.”
He said while the business would not go under, it had been a difficult time.
MORE: BOY IN SERIOUS CONDITION AFTER ACCIDENT IN OLINDA
DOZEN TODDLER DROWNING DEATHS PROMPTS URGENT WARNING