It takes two to mango for the Marr family of Trentham Cliffs in the NSW Sunraysia

A WINNING father and son team are proud of their “last mango” status, writes SARAH HUDSON.

Tree believer: Ryan Marr on his family’s mango farm at Trentham Cliffs in the NSW Sunraysia region.

WITH its red desert earth and Mediterranean climate, Mildura is not known for growing tropical fruit.

But here on the Marr family’s 45ha property at Trentham Cliffs, just over the Murray River in the Sunraysia region of NSW, are 2500 mango trees, the largest mango farm in the district.

Ryan Marr, who works with his wife Tracy, and parents Glenn and Sue, said the Mildura region was as far south in Australia as mangoes could be grown, with the crop appearing in the area in the past two decades.

“It’s marginal but there’s huge potential,” Ryan said. “On paper the money should be there — because it’s the last mangoes for the season in Australia, when the price is highest.

“But not everyone here has been successful. Frost is the No.1 issue here.”

Trading under the brand Trentham Fresh, the Marr family has about 1800 Kensington Pride trees, harvested in mid-February and currently being sold to a Sydney supermarket chain. The remaining Honey Gold is harvested in March and April and marketed through Pinata Farms brand.

Ryan said when Queensland experienced a wet season, mango growers were unable to store fruit for long and so prices for his mangoes could reach up to $60 a tray. In a dry Queensland year they can be about $27 a tray. “A mango tree at five years of age is the worst-ever investment, at 10 years it’s a pretty good investment and at 15 years it’s great,” he said.

PRIDE OF FLEET

WHEN the Marrs bought the 45ha in 2010, there were already established Kensington Pride trees, the oldest now 16 years, with new plantings over the past six years and 800 more trees being planted this year.

As such there is no consistent yield, with full mango tree production around year eight.

In addition, the Marrs grow 22ha of hass avocados (with a few other varieties for pollination), yielding between 8 tonnes/ha and 40 tonnes/ha depending on the season, harvested in August and September and marketed through Simpson Farms to Woolworths and Coles.

They grow 5ha of winegrapes — cabernet and shiraz — harvested in February and sold to local wineries. Ryan said because prices were low they planned to eventually remove wine grapes.

Finally, they also produce 4ha of imperial mandarins, yielding 40-50 tonnes/ha in June and July, sold direct to mainly to the Sydney wholesale markets, a Sydney supermarket chain and Woolworths.

Ryan grew up on a small grape property in Robinvale, which the family sold in 1999. He then studied mechanical engineering in Melbourne, and Glenn ran an irrigation installation company.

In 2010 the pair decided to go into partnership and buy the Trentham Cliffs property, initially as an investment and “to have some fun”.

“We wanted high ground, deep loamy soil and our own pump on the river for irrigation to grow avocados,” said the 31-year-old. “This property was perfect but larger than we wanted and it already had mangoes and avocadoes on it.”

PLANT PLUS

GIVEN the size of the land, they are still in the process of expanding plantings.

New mango trees — sourced from either Queensland or at a local nursery, Victorian Citrus Farms — are planted at a height about 1m in November.

From the outset, they require high maintenance. Each tree has a 1.8m-high shade house posted around it to protect it from wind and sun.

Trees are planted in mounded ground with the soil heavily fertilised because “there’s nothing in our soil apart from a bit of calcium”. Young trees receive monthly fertiliser applications and soil is tested annually.

Trees begin yielding around age two, or 2.5-3m in height, with any fruit prior to that time discouraged through pruning to allow the tree to put its energy into limb growth rather than fruit formation.

Ryan said the major problems with growing an immature mango tree were frost and wind, as well as water and nutrition.

In contrast, growing a crop requires water and managing extreme heat. If heat hits in November-December, for instance, after fruit set, it will damage the fruit and mangoes will be as small as broad beans.

Hay set around the tree’s base limits evaporation and weeds, while herbicide use also stops weeds, which can increase the risk of frost damage.

Frost is damaging to mango trees for a number of reasons, one of which includes freezing the sap, which bursts the cells and the wood dies.

The Marrs use frost fans, and some sprays, alongside certain pruning techniques, to keep weeds at bay.

SPRAY JOB

MANGOES receive overhead sprinklers for both frost and heat. With Glenn’s background in irrigation, the farm is set up with best practice, latest technology irrigation automation, especially handy for avocados, which have shallow roots and need constant watering.

Ryan monitors evaporation and soil moisture to a 1m depth across the farm through a series of 16 capacitance probes and eight tensiometers.

Using software on his computer, connected to his smart phone, Ryan has automated all irrigation systems, able to turn on and off, even fertigate, via his phone. Overhead sprinklers are turned on avocados and mangoes — one for every four trees, 8m high in the air — shooting a mist of water over the canopy whenever the temperature is above 35C. Micro-sprinklers irrigate the farm’s trees at their base.

In the past two years they have built two new packing sheds — one 500 sq m and the other 400 sq m — packing their own fruit, as well as fruit for other growers.

The Marrs, who have a staff up to 15, recently added new equipment including grading technology that uses cameras, as well as equipment, to wash, brush and desap mangoes.

Ryan said even though there had been hurdles over the past six years, he’d rather farm than have an office job any day. “It’s a good feeling to plant something, grow it, box it and then get money. Even though I’m not trained in plants, I really enjoy working with them.”