Kingfisher Citrus: Front and centre at farmers’ markets

THE Fisher family has transformed an orange business from being in the red to the black, by going green.

Gone fishing: Fisher family members Ronan, Mel, Glenda, Lex, Lynton and Aimee, holding Jack, with Campbell and Tayce in the front, on their citrus farm at Narrung, which supports the entire family.

THE Fisher family has transformed an orange business from being in the red to the black, by going green.

Since 1938 the Fisher family have produced citrus for wholesale markets and exports on their 113-hectare property at Narrung, near Swan Hill. But about a decade ago, drought and a rising Australian dollar forced the families — Lex and Glenda Fisher, with their two sons, Ronan and Lynton, and their families — to make a decision.

“We got to a position where we either went broke if we stayed doing what we were doing, or we changed what we were doing, or we sold out,” Lex says.

Together the family decided on change.

They cut back the less profitable orange varieties and pruned those that remained to cope with drought. They introduced new varieties of oranges — blood and seville — then four mandarin varieties, three lime varieties and three lemon varieties to broaden market appeal and expand the harvest season.

They turned to farmers’ markets to cut out the middle man and quickly realised it gave them direct access to market feedback.

Responding to customer demand, the Fishers added grapefruit, pomelos, tangelos and seven varieties of avocados to their line-up, plus onions, pumpkins, garlic and mulberries.

They now sell at 22 farmers’ markets each month, plus online. They have turned to organic principles to grow the produce, and added a 30-hectare farm at Nambrok in Gippsland for extra citrus production.

“It’s all about evening out the cash flow over 12 months,” Ronan says.

“Before I was like most farmers, happier on a tractor or with a welder in the workshop, but we enjoy farmers’ markets now because the customers appreciate the quality of the fruit,” Lex says. “We don’t have to sell it. They come to us.”