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Sunday, June 15, 2025

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Fresh Fruit
News

Getting into the swing of the season

GRAPEVINES are liking the recent dry weather; most varieties have completed the flowering process and are at the setting stage. Obviously if we have a poor fruit set, we have fewer berries and overall, less fruit, but it still all looks...

25 Nov 2024
North West Farmer

Having a grape time down on the farm

THE warmer weather is great for the grapevines and hopefully the chance of further frosts has now passed, and we can dodge the summer storms that some say are ahead. Many wine regions have seen losses from the frosts last month, but it’s looking...

19 Oct 2024
Farming and Environment

Japan open for table grapes

JAPANESE consumers of Australian table grapes will have their pick of the bunch next export season, following the removal of varietal restrictions. The Australian Government this week announced a win for Australia’s table grape industry, which has...

20 Jul 2024
North West Farmer

Farms want no slugs

BIOSECURITY at our borders is the big news, but one leading researcher says there are problems just as big at the next property – or in the next truck passing through. Entomologist Michael Nash said slugs and snails were problems on the...

02 Feb 2024
North West Farmer

Working smarter, not harder

A WEB-based app enabling the risks of downy and powdery mildews in vineyards to be monitored remotely from a computer or mobile phone is hoped to save growers in the Murray Valley and Riverland in SA thousands of dollars. Murray Valley Winegrowers...

02 Feb 2024
Environment

Rain and humidity challenge grape growers

Mildura-based grape industry consultant and former Agriculture Victoria research scientist Dr Bob Emmett and Australian Wine Research Institute senior viticulturist Robyn Dixon talk to North West Farmer about the seasonal challenges...

21 Jan 2024
Most popular
Fresh Fruit

Molly finds a growing future

ROBINVALE’S Molly Black is an enthusiastic volunteer ambassador for the region’s table-grape industry. She has no hesitation talking it up to anyone who will listen, promising if you pass through any time between January and May, she...

15 Dec 2023
Fresh Fruit

Avo dips over as harvest begins

TIM and Katrina Myers have been high-profile avocado growers on the Murray through thick and thin. That’s through droughts, floods, pandemics, global financial crises, good crops and, well, and the not so good. But now things are back on the...

26 Aug 2023
Fresh Fruit

Table grape season ends on a high

THE Australian table grape season has concluded on a positive note despite an ominous early season. Australian domestic and export sales for 2023 made a marked recovery on the previous two years, despite climatic events affecting producers in several...

07 Jul 2023
North West Farmer

Vine virus being closely watched

LAST year’s detection of grapevine red blotch virus remains an open incident while the situation is being assessed. The first vines infected with GRBV are believed to have arrived in Australia in 1969, or earlier, and there are now...

12 May 2023
North West Farmer

Testing vital to avoid sour grapes

Time of harvest is one of the most critical and challenging viticultural decisions for table grape producers. Assessing grape maturity requires experience to ensure sampling is conducted appropriately, and genuinely reflects the maturity of the...

18 Jan 2023
Fresh Fruit

Young board members come with fresh ideas

Robinvale table grape grower Don Albanese is only 45 but he’s hoping to use his appointment to the Australian Table Grape Association (ATGA) board to encourage more young farmers to get involved. Don says the table grape industry is in a bit of...

16 Dec 2022
North West Farmer

Nervous wait for growers

GROWERS with inundated grape vineyards face a nervous couple of weeks as they wait for floodwaters to recede so they can check for diseases. Vineyards producing early-maturing varieties are most at risk, but an early recession of...

03 Dec 2022
North West Farmer

Family’s vineyard future looks grim

GROWER Joe Callipari says he might have to make the hard decision to not redevelop his family’s vineyard in Nichols Point after it was inundated last week. Mr Callipari said 99.9 per cent of the vineyard was overwhelmed with water that was likely to...

02 Dec 2022
North West Farmer

On watch for downy mildew

Grapevine columnIt’s simply a crazy season, enormous disease pressure, regular heavy downpours and a high level of frustration. Downy mildew’s goal is to defoliate the vine’s foliage and disintegrate the bunches in the process, and this year...

25 Nov 2022
North West Farmer

Reducing risk of fungicide resistance

SOME of the key management factors in reducing the risk of fungicide resistance include:• Monitor fungicide resistance: The early detection of resistance increases the chance that its development can be managed and stopped. It is therefore...

18 Nov 2022
North West Farmer

Spray coverage in focus

MORE than 50 table grape growers and industry service providers converged on Mildura and Euston last month to enhance their spray application knowledge. Participants heard from New Zealand spray guru David Manktelow and the...

04 Nov 2022