Shepparton

What’s the best part about being a grower?
It’s really rewarding as a grower to see all the hard work that goes in day in day out, sometimes all hours of the day and 7 days a week, pay off and you produce a really good line of fruit that sells well and you get a good return. Being a grower is something you become extrememly close to but still have to have a business mind about it at the end of the day. So it’s a two-fold reason why I do what I do, one is to see the hard work come to fruition in front of you, and two, to see it then become a financially viable business. 

Why do you grow apples and pears?
We specialize in apples and pears because they grow well in the Goulburn Valley. Our family has been here as far back as our great grandfather’s generation, so this is what we’ve always produced, and it’s always produced so well. We don’t grow fruits just to sell and be done with it, it’s incredibly important for us to grow high quality fruits that we can be proud of and know that Australians are getting the best produce the country can grow. This in return makes the business more sustainable because of the trust and credibility we can create through supplying the best of what we have.   

Are you hoping to pass on the Business to your kids or grandkids?
Yes absolutely. My brother and I are 4th generation growers, so it’s been in the family for a long time.  It would be great to see the business carry on. I have one son who’s 16, so it would also depend on if this is what he wants to pursue as well. 

What has been your proudest achievement in your farming career?
To see the business expand and develop over the years has been my proudest achievement. I’m very close to it, I’ve carried on the family business so it means a lot that it continues to grow and do well. I want to do myself proud, but I want to do my predecessors proud as well. 

Quality is hard to produce, can you tell us the hard work that goes behind the cultivation and packing?
Fruit growing is a very risky business, and I think people often forget it’s a business. Young growers can have the tendency to go into this industry well equipped from a farming standpoint, but are less business savvy or have less financial management than really is required. The thing with the fruit industry is you have to outlay a lot of money to grow the crop and then hope that at the end you make a profit, which is not always the case. So being able to keep a strong hold on all things financial to ensure you produce the right level of yield to then reinvest into the crops to make sure the crops get the right nutrients, water and fertilisation will ensure consistency in quality.