Join us at APAL’s June 2023 Future Orchards® Winter Series

Monday 12th June to discuss young tree performance and strategies to increase block profitability.

Guest Speakers

Jonathan Brookes, Horticulture Consultant & Director of AgFirst will use data to review last year’s results, improve the profitability of young trees and plan for the season ahead.

Paul Vogelaar, Orchard Manager with Kiwicrunch in Hawke’s Bay, NZ, will discuss his approach to fruit growing and developing and redeveloping orchards to ensure their profitability.

Hosted at Steve Atherton’s orchard off the Donnybrook Boyup-Brook Road will focus on:

• Setting targets for young trees

• Strategies to maximise young tree growth

• The economics of planting a new block and time to return on your investment

• Pruning strategies and planning for next year’s crop

• Overhauling underperforming blocks

Join us for the next series of export workshop presentations from the APAL Trade team. Jenny Van de Meeberg and Justin Smith will explore the export space for WA apple growers.

This workshop will focus on important export registration and compliance information. This workshop is critical for growers intending to send to protocol markets in the coming season.  The APAL Trade team will also cover market development activities and updates on current market access work.

This workshop is open to interested WA growers, pack-house managers and marketers.

Pomewest, Stonefruit WA and Donnybrook Orchard Improvement Group (DOIG) have combined funding to deliver an exclusive Disease Modelling Project for pome and stone fruit growers this season.

Workshops will be presented on how to best manage the impact of black spot and powdery mildew in apples, pear scab and brown rot for stone fruit. 

The aim is to improve the local knowledge and understanding of these diseases, and enable better preventative and control measures using the disease modelling support system RIMpro.   

1. Horticultural advisor Marcel Veens has been engaged as the guest presenter at the workshops.

2. Plant Pathologist from the DPIRD Bunbury office, Andrew Taylor,will be providing pathology support throughout the project.

RIMpro

RIMpro is a decision support system that models a wide range of pests and diseases of fruit trees. The tool is based on disease models developed and tested by scientists in production regions around the world. Growers connect their weather stations to the system, and RIMpro’s models use the localized weather forecasts to simulate disease development in the coming hours and days. This assists in decisions over management of diseases, for instance, whether the risk is high enough to warrant a fungicide application or whether it can be postponed for a future time.

Weather Stations

There is funding available from DOIG to support Donnybrook growers to install a weather station to run the RIMpro model and share the modelling with the group.  Each grower with a weather station running RIMpro will have their own account with real time weather forecasts, with other weather station members connecting to form a user group to share model outputs.  Forecasting results and modelling outputs to be shared across the wider group, if the network can be established.

Please RSVP to Susie Murphy White and to access more information.

Pomewest, Stonefruit WA and Donnybrook Orchard Improvement Group (DOIG) have combined funding to deliver an exclusive Disease Modelling Project for pome and stone fruit growers this season.

Workshops will be presented on how to best manage the impact of black spot and powdery mildew in apples, pear scab and brown rot for stone fruit. 

The aim is to improve the local knowledge and understanding of these diseases, and enable better preventative and control measures using the disease modelling support system RIMpro.   

1. Horticultural advisor Marcel Veens has been engaged as the guest presenter at the workshops.

2. Plant Pathologist from the DPIRD Bunbury office, Andrew Taylor,will be providing pathology support throughout the project.

RIMpro

RIMpro is a decision support system that models a wide range of pests and diseases of fruit trees. The tool is based on disease models developed and tested by scientists in production regions around the world. Growers connect their weather stations to the system, and RIMpro’s models use the localized weather forecasts to simulate disease development in the coming hours and days. This assists in decisions over management of diseases, for instance, whether the risk is high enough to warrant a fungicide application or whether it can be postponed for a future time.

Weather Stations

There is funding available from DOIG to support Donnybrook growers to install a weather station to run the RIMpro model and share the modelling with the group.  Each grower with a weather station running RIMpro will have their own account with real time weather forecasts, with other weather station members connecting to form a user group to share model outputs.  Forecasting results and modelling outputs to be shared across the wider group, if the network can be established.

 Please RSVP to Susie Murphy White and to access more information.

Donnybrook Food and Wine Festival Long Table Lunch

Held at Orchard 1Sixty and hosted by the Licciardello family this event showcased Donnybrook produce to over 175 guests last Saturday afternoon.

As a major sponsor, Pomewest was able to promote apple and pear industry with produce featuring on the menu.  Again, we managed to engage with a consumer focus highlighting the importance of supporting local producers, the WA varieties and gave exposure to all the local horticultural growers over the weekend.

Thanks to the Donnybrook Food and Wine Committee for engaging with the industry to support this great event.