They say, ‘the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree’, and the Montague family has proven that to be true.

It all started with the patriarch Bill in 1948. Fast forward to now, and his grandson Scott has been busy learning about the orchard, packing, distribution, sales and marketing. As much as we all love a Granny Smith or Red Delicious, the family is continuing to crunch into new ground, introducing consumers to new varieties such as Jazz, Envy and Eve.

Montague managing director, Scott Montague, is as passionate about apples as his father and grandfather before him. In fact, the primary land they farm on, 40 minutes from Melbourne, has become a sentimental place.

“We’ve built a memorial on one of our mature dams. It’s got a lot of wildlife, surrounded by apples trees and the memorial is for members of our family who are no longer with us. It’s a really peaceful spot,” Scott shares.

Bringing the Red Delicious to Australia

The farm has been in the family for 75 years. “Same land. We have expanded out but it’s where we started. It’s where it all began.”

Bill, the patriarch, actually started growing vegetables and supplied local hospitals with fresh produce. Apples came later, and he became one of the first people to introduce Red Delicious to Australia.

Of course, apples have come a long way since the Red Delicious and these days, the Montagues travel the world to find new and exciting ways to produce fruit.

Those travels have allowed the family to introduce some new varieties to shoppers, which is what drives Montague. “We get to eat fruit all the time that is so innovative and offers different flavour profiles,” Scott explains.

It’s so much more diverse than going in and getting a red or green apple.

He feels the apple industry hasn’t been as sophisticated as other industries in celebrating diverse flavour profiles. He’s made it his mission to provide that and is educating people about the options on offer.

Exotic apples and on-farm taste testing

Encouraging people to try those new varieties is the challenge, which is why, the family offers on-farm taste testing at the Narre Warren property. “There are two apples that are great for me. One is Ambrosia – it’s very new to Australia. The sweetness and the light density of the flesh is amazing.

“We launched that during the pandemic, so it’s been a very challenging time to get it out to consumers. It’s also pretty hard to go past Jazz and what it delivers – it’s a sweet apple with a tangy background.”

A fairly ground-breaking new variety, which isn’t available yet, is the Kissabel Apple, that features a red flesh.

It’s part of a breeding program out of France. Again, it’s all natural.

“It’s from crosses with normal apples and crab apples. The original crab apples have a red flesh and that’s where it comes from,” Scott explains.

These red fleshed apples also feature a variety of skin colours including red and green. The feedback has been exceptional, especially from chefs who are excited at the prospect of how it would present on a plate.

Montague has developed a profile on consumer tastes and all innovations are based around three keys factors – sweetness, balance and flesh density. They map those factors out and add different flavour profiles around that. “It’s got to be a really special piece of fruit as to why a consumer would pick it up over what they’re already getting.”

Cutting through the cucumber competition

Apple farmers are now competing with a lucrative wholefood snacking market with baby carrots, mini tomatoes, and bite – sized cucumbers all proving immensely popular. Maintaining relevance is crucial. Success is also about meeting consumer expectations beyond taste.

Scott says sustainability is demanded by the market. At the Narre Warren farm, 100% of the water is reused for agriculture, they have solar, and energy used for refrigeration also goes back into heating. But it’s some of the food waste initiatives that really standout.

Thankfully, in the world of apples, there’s big demand for juice, so waste is not a huge issue. However, Montague also grows stone fruit and that has required a bit more imagination. If the fruit doesn’t make a first – grade box, it goes straight to landfill.

With some creativity, Montague has developed a plum puree which Peters Ice Cream is utilising for a sorbet. They are also in discussions with other companies about using waste as a biofuel.

From fires, to floods, to the pandemic – it has been a roller coaster of a few years for Scott and his family. What’s amazing to see is the true belief he has in his work, despite the hardship.

To give them this piece of fruit, blow them away in terms of the flavour, it’s what drives us.

“When you see people eating good fruit and getting excited about it again, it’s really great. It’s just a long way to get it there! But we get to go to work and sell fruit. It’s such a healthy product. It’s good for us. It’s good for the community.”

Scott’s goal is to bring back a surprise on someone’s face when they crunch into a new type of apple. So, if that’s you, please get in touch and let us know!

Hear more stories like this by subscribing to the Telling Our Story podcast on iTunes (or wherever you listen to podcasts) and follow podcast host Angie Asimus on Instagram for more updates.

The post The apple doesn’t fall far on this farm appeared first on AustralianFarmers.

The Kids to Farms program

Through excursions to farms or incursions in the classroom, NSW Farmers Kids to Farms program enables school kids to learn where their food comes from and how a farm works.

Recently, the program has been given additional funding to expand the number of schools able to participate in the program. To close the gap and help mitigate financial barriers that prevent schools from accessing the program, grants of up to $1,500 will be available for excursions conducted between 12 July 2021 and 17 December 2021.

In NSW alone there are 38 registered farms schoolchildren can visit under the government program, including farms in:

Western NSW

Central West

Riverina

North Coast

New England

Illawarra and Southern Highlands

Victoria’s Velisha Farms reveals the story behind our veggies

Werribee horticulture business Velisha Farms and the Victorian Farmers’ Federation are changing the way Victorian school children engage and think about horticulture by offering primary schools across the state the opportunity to go behind the scenes of Velisha Farms and learn first hand about where their food comes from.

The program, which is funded by the VFF, aims to give young people a positive and holistic look at the everyday operations of farming, opening up the conversation about food, horticulture and sustainability.

The program also hopes to inspire young girls to consider a career in agriculture by showcasing women in roles along the supply chain.

The post Farmers open their gates for firsthand look at life on the land appeared first on AustralianFarmers.

Fast forward to 2021 and more than 28,000 hectares of citrus are grown by about 2000 farmers, every year, in almost every state and territory!

More than just pretty face!

Australian citrus fruits not only look fresh and bright, they have amazing health benefits! Aussie mandarins, oranges and limes, are packed with Vitamin C and rich in antioxidants and just what the doctor ordered to help ward off miserable winter colds!

The lunchbox winner!

Mandarins are available from April to October and are predominately grown in Queensland. The most popular variety is imperial and it’s easy to see why: with little-to-no seeds and a mild sweet flavour, this easy to peel variety is the perfect on-the-go snack or lunchbox filler.

Naval grazing

The naval orange is Australia’s most popular orange variety and is produced in three southern growing regions: the Murray Valley, the NSW Riverina and the Riverland of South Australia. With a sweet and juicy flavour, navels make a great halftime sporting pick-me-up and should be the go-to for your freshly squeezed breakfast OJ!

Lemon lesson

Although available all year round, Australian-grown lemons are predominately in season and readily available between June and August. Keep an eye out for firm to hold lemons at the supermarket – they’re the best to take home!

To learn more about the benefits of these citrus varieties, head to Citrus Australia.

The post Fend of the winter blues with Aussie citrus appeared first on AustralianFarmers.

Three main varieties reign supreme – Packham pears (account for approximately 60% of pear production), Williams pears (20%) and Beurre Bosc (10%).

Picking season is at the start of the year, from January through to March with pears hitting the shelves as early as April.

Here Australian Farmers explains more about the humble pear:

1. When is a pear ripe?

Pears ripen from the inside out, and while some varieties of pears change colour when ripe, others show little or no change in colour.

To check if a pear is ripe, press the flesh gently near the stem.

If the flesh gives a little, the pear is ripe and ready to enjoy.

If you like a sweet, crunchy pear, it can be eaten straight away. If you like a softer pear, then leave it for another day or two.

2. Can I speed up the ripening of pears?

If your pears are not quite ripe, try these handy ripening tips:

• Place pears in a paper bag and keep at room temperature. This traps the ethylene gas the pears emit, encouraging them to ripen faster.

• Keep them in the fruit bowl with bananas or apples, which also give off ethylene gas that encourages ripening.

• To really speed up the process, place pears in a paper bag with a banana.

3. How should I store my pears?

Unripe pears

Pears should be stored at room temperature to allow them to ripen. Check them daily so they don’t become overripe.

Ripe pears

Once pears are ripe, they will stay fresher and last longer when stored in the fridge. Refrigeration helps delay the ripening process. Avoid stacking ripe pears to prevent bruising.

For more information about Australian pears and to explore a range of pear recipes, visit the Australian Pears website.

The post Tips on how to choose, ripen and store supermarket fresh pears appeared first on AustralianFarmers.

On average Australian farmers grow 17,000 tonnes of fresh blueberries that have an approximate farm gate value of $300 million.

Of these blueberries, 75% are sold fresh within Australia with the remaining exported across the globe and processed as a frozen product.

In Australia, blueberries are predominantly grown in Northern New South Wales around Coffs Harbour with a majority of production occurring across the summer months.

Blueberries are also grown across areas such as Western Australia, South Australia, Queensland, Victoria and Tasmania to ensure that consumers are receiving fresh Australian blueberries year-round.

Ever wondered how blueberries end up on our supermarket shelves?

In many cases, the blueberries in your hands today may have been in that field yesterday somewhere in regional Australia. It’s an incredible journey – made even more so because blueberries must be gently hand-picked and treated with extra special care.

Organisations such as the Australian Blueberry Growers’ Association work hard to ensure the most plump, juicy and fresh blueberries are delivered to your local supermarket or fresh produce market each day.

New blueberry plants are grown from small cuttings taken from established bushes. These cuttings are planted in trays, which are placed in fog houses for the first couple of months – where the plants bask in warmth and humidity, and get off to a strong start.

Once the cuttings have developed good roots, they are replanted into larger pots. For the next three months, these small blueberry plants require plenty of T.L.C. – full sun, daily watering, and a weekly dose of liquid natural fertiliser.

After about five months, when the plants are about 30cm tall, they are ready to head out into the open field. The grower typically spaces the bushes 1 metre apart in long rows. It takes 2-3 years before the bush is ready to produce flowers and fruit for the first time and 6 years to reach ‘full maturity’.

Being the delicate little morsels they are, fresh blueberries must be carefully hand-picked by people who know how to spot a perfectly ripe blueberry. Depending on the variety, most bushes are picked every 5 to 7 days. During peak harvest, farms require many extra pickers to cope with the large number of ripe blueberries.

From the field, the fresh blueberries travel in picking crates to the air conditioned packing shed. Here, they are carefully inspected for fruit quality and transferred into the familiar ‘clamshell punnet’ packs.

Only the plumpest and largest fresh blueberries pass the quality test. Fruit unfit for sale is removed.  Much of this is frozen or sent to processors to make into other blueberry products.

The punnets are then individually weighed to ensure they contain exactly the right amount of fresh ripe blueberries, and are then packed into cardboard trays and cooled to 4 degrees C.

From here, they are loaded onto a refrigerated truck to ensure they arrive at their destination just as fresh as when they were picked.

These trucks could be headed for wholesale markets in capital cities, independent fruit shops, supermarket distribution centres – or even the airport where they are air freighted to Asia, Europe and America.

All this often happens within 24 hours of picking…so you can enjoy the freshest blueberries that Australia has to offer!

Find more great information about Australian blueberries as well as a range of delicious recipes via the Australian Blueberries website.

The post From farm to supermarket shelves in 24 hours, the journey of fresh Aussie blueberries appeared first on AustralianFarmers.

If you’re coming from overseas, wanting to extend your working holiday visa or an Australian wanting to experience life on the land, these top tips will get you closer to the farm work you’re after.

1. Explore Australian farm jobs

Australia’s agriculture sector is currently facing a significant labour shortage, making now a great time to consider farm work.

From fruit picking to working on a cattle station, Australian agriculture has a wide range of jobs on offer. On the Australian farm jobs page, we’ve summarised the agricultural employment services available to help assist job seekers. To search the Australian farm jobs page click here.

From Suhttps://farmers.org.au/news/5-tips-to-find-australias-best-farm-jobs/?fbclid=IwAR35buL71CARDofILHl3XUw_vjzkdkpLxKvRQk6rSxnG-yIQ8-ZTuZcVOK4nday 1 November, Australians can access up to $6k if they head to rural and regional Australia for farm work. Assistance of up to $2k is also on offer for visa holders who have the right to work in Australia. For more information, click here or visit the Job Search website.

There has also been a temporary change to Youth Allowance eligibility for those  working on farm.

2. Start looking early

Leaving your job search to the last minute can seriously limit your chances of securing seasonal work as all of the keen beans may have filled the farm jobs you want.

Start looking on:

• hostel notice boards,
• local information centres
• Gumtree,
• Websites such as Harvest Trail or Fruit Picking Jobs,
• Job search sites such as Indeed, Seek or Jora or
• Facebook pages such as Fruit Picking Jobs which often post job vacancies.

Note: Make sure you research the farming companies and ensure their ABN is real to avoid scams.

3. Research and timing is key

Different fruits are ready for harvest at efferent times in the year and in different locations around the country. It’s a perfect way to see the country while earning money.

Australia is a massive place with a wide variety of horticultural options, so timing your travels and job search around a particular commodity or location requires some research.

Here are some examples of peak harvest times around the country:

4. Find a farm job to suit your skills

If the outdoors and physical labour are not your cup of tea it is good to remember that not all farm work involves physical work.

Employment in a farm business can include (but is not limited to) work in packing sheds, data entry, lab work and cleaning.

Tailor your application to suit your strengths and interests. Be honest as to why you’re looking for that kind of farm work and your availability time frames.

5. Understand your rights

Overall, people who do agricultural work in Australia have a great experience – meeting new people, working outdoors and putting money in their pockets.

We want to ensure that everyone has that experience, so if you are concerned about whether your employer is meeting their legal obligations you can check out this handy checklist by the National Farmers’ Federation and Produce Marketing Association.

Want to make a career in Australian agriculture?

We would love to have you! Our industry is such an exciting place to be as we work to feed a booming global population.

There are a huge number of career options available both on-farm and in service industries like research, technology, processing and more.

Not sure where to start? There is a great website called CareerHarvest, which can match your interests to different jobs in agriculture. It will also point you towards education and training opportunities around the country.

Need more information? Let us know your questions in the comments below and we’ll endeavour to provide some answers!

The post 5 tips to find Australia’s best farm jobs appeared first on AustralianFarmers.

Winter crops are annual crops sown in autumn and are ready to harvest in spring or summer.

Here is what winter looks like around farms in Australia…

Grains

Wheat barley and oats are Australian farmer’s favourite winter grains!

However this year winter crop production is expected to be down. The Rabobank Australian 2019 Winter Crop Outlook said it would be ‘against all odds’ for Australia to return to average grain production in the 2019-20 season. This is due to the dry start to the winter cropping season meaning ‘sub-optimal planting window’ for important cropping regions.

Oils

The Australian oilseed industry produces about three million tonnes of oilseeds annually – 600,000 of those tones are consumed locally.

Australia’s major oilseed crops – canola and cottonseed – account for 90 per cent of local production.

Australia supplies more than one million tonnes of canola seed (15-20 per cent of the world’s canola trade) to Japan, Europe, China, Pakistan and other international markets annually.

Pulses

Pulses such as lupins, chickpeas, lentils and fava beans are now make up 10 per cent of the three major cropping regions of Australia.

Pulses are relatively new to Australian soil with the first crop, navy beans, planted in Queensland in the 1940’s to feed the US troops during World War II.

Australia produces an average of 2.2 million tonnes of pulses from more than 1.8 million hectares.

Vegetables

The Australian vegetable industry represents more than six per cent of the total value of Australian agriculture at $3.45 billion with more than 2,300 vegetable farm businesses.

More than 90 per cent of all fresh vegetables sold in Australian supermarkets are grown right here in Australia with potatoes coming in at the number one winter vegetable commodity with more than 1.3 million tonnes grown for human consumption a year!

Tomatoes (426,000 tonnes), carrots (318,000 tonnes), onions (277,000 tonnes) and head lettuce (128,000 tonnes) trail potatoes as the most common vegetable commodities grown and sold in Australia.

Thanks to Australia’s varying climates and geographical benefits of the array of vegetable growing regions around Australia, the vegetable industry can maintain year-round supply, meaning there are very few fresh veggies imports into Australia.

Fruit

The Australian fruit industry is produces around 2.66 million tonnes a year valued at more than $5 billion.

The most popular fruit grown in Australia is by far citrus, particularly oranges with Australian farmers producing around 746,297 tonnes a year.

Citrus fruits thrive in cool climates and are the biggest winter fruit commodity export in Australian agriculture.

Bananas, apples and melons trail not far behind as the most productive fruit crops grown in Australia ($798 million).

The post Australia’s 5 favourite winter crops appeared first on AustralianFarmers.

Not having 50 acres, machinery and farm employees shouldn’t stop you from having a winter crop in your backyard.

This season farmers have just finished planting veggie crops like beans, cabbage, carrots, onions and potatoes. It shouldn’t matter where you live in the country, there is a veggie (or herb) crop that will thrive wherever you are!

Cool climate veggies

If you’re living in Victoria or Tasmania where the climate is quite cool you can grow a variety of veggies like beetroot, broad beans, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, broccoli, spinach, onions, potatoes, turnips and silver beet.

You can even grow herbs! Try planting chives, coriander, garlic, mint, parsley, rosemary, shallots and thyme over winter.

If frost is a problem try planting your veggies above ground in a container and try to give them as much exposure to sunlight as you can during the day.

Temperate regions

Broad beans, English spinach, green beans and peas are the perfect veggies if you’re living in Sydney, coastal New South Wales and some parts of Victoria.

You can also grow coriander, garlic, marjoram, oregano, parsley, thyme and winter tarragon in these regions.

Dry areas

Inland areas of Australia can get quite cold, therefore tomatoes, lettuce, cauliflower, broccoli, beans, peas, turnips and all types of herbs are your best friends.

To preserve water use mulch and grow your veggies above the ground in container.

Tropical and Subtropical areas

Subtropical regions like northern NSW and south-east Queensland are best suited to growing broad beans, lettuce, onions, peas, radishes, spring onions and spinach in winter.

If you live in Northern Queensland, the Northern Territory, or northern parts of Western Australia your winter climate is usually like most of Australia’s summer, therefore the list of veggies and herbs you can grow is much longer.

As well as most of the vegetables we’ve mentioned, you can also grow pumpkin, sweet corn, sweet potato, tomatoes and zucchini. You can also grow herbs like basil, coriander, garlic, parsley, and winter tarragon.

General tips for growing winter veggies

• Expose the vegetable plants to as much sunlight as possible.
• Try ‘companion planting’ to deter pests. You can do this by planting a vegetable in one row and a strong smelling herb that repels garden pests in another like oregano, basil, lavender or sage.
• If you only have a small space like a courtyard or balcony, most winter vegetables can grow in pots, and peas and beans can climb a lattice and take up little space.

The post Become a backyard farmer this winter appeared first on AustralianFarmers.