RAINFALLS across the region peaked at 16mm between 9am and 3pm yesterday on top of 15mm in the 24 hours prior.
But for farmers across the Mallee, it was a nuisance rather than a blessing.
Marco Ierace owns and operates diamond Ridge Fruit Pty Ltd at Tresco and said that brown rot was now a concern.
“We generally want winter and early spring rain ideally. Our ripening fruit will not do well with this recent rain so our job now is to get it off as quick as possible before brown rot becomes an issue,” he said.
“We will get a few days grace before it starts to set in so we will be working as fast as possible to save the ripe fruit and spray the remainder to minimise and delay the effect of brown rot so it doesn’t get out of hand.”
While the recent rain is poor news for the current ripened fruit it is quite welcome for the tree itself and after Christmas varieties will benefit from the hearty drink provided in the rains.
With trade agreements in China still unclear and a flood of fruit into this years market, fruit farmers will see a drop in local prices.
Mr Ierace noted that early season prices are already down on previous years and attributes it to the high volume of good quality fruit in the region.
For more on this story, pick up a copy of Friday’s Guardian (November 6).
