Cherry blossom time at Reid Fruits
October is cherry blossom time in Reid Fruits' cherry orchard at Plenty in Tasmania. This season has been no exception with a magnificent show of blossom on all cherry varieties. Bee hives are placed in the orchard to ensure pollination and our staff are very busy nurturing the trees to produce the highest quality cherries.
Cherry blossom is pollinated by bees provided by one of Tasmania's professional apiarists.
Cherry blossom at Reid Fruits - October 2009
Did you know that helicopters are used to protect
cherries at Reid Fruits ?
Yes, it is true. Helicopters are used whenever severe spring frosts threaten the tender little cherries during and just after cherry blossom time. Helicopters arrive at Reid Fruits cherry orchard during daylight hours on the evening before a predicted frost and the pilots rest until called into action when the temperature drops below -1.0°C. The helicopters are guided to the coldest sections of the orchard by temperature controlled navigation lights positioned above the permanently erected bird netting which covers the entire orchard. When the temperature drops, the lights turn to a flashing red colour and the helicopters simply hover about twenty metres above the netting and push warmer air down into the orchard. During a severe frost, at twenty to thirty metres above the orchard, the air temperature can be as much as four degrees warmer than in the orchard below.
Helicopters are also used to dry the cherry trees after heavy rain in the period just before harvest. The skin on cherries that have developed a high sugar level can split open if allowed to remain wet for long periods after rain. If there is no natural wind to dry the cherries after summer rain, Reid Fruits' farm managers call in helicopters to hover over the trees to blow the water onto the ground. It really does do a great job to protect the cherries from splitting allowing only premium quality fruit to be harvested for export to valued clients around the world.
Helicopter drying rain off cherry trees at Reid Fruits - December 2008
Helicopters on frost protection standby at Reid Fruits - October 2009
Asia Fruit Logistica
Thanks you to the many old friends and new customers who visited us at Asia Fruit Logistica. Thanks to support from Horticulture Australia Limited and Fruit Growers Tasmania, Reid Fruits and partners in the joint marketing company 'Cherry Isle Tasmania' participated Asia Fruit Logistica in Hong Kong from September 2 to 4, 2009. Asia Fruit Logistica is the regions biggest fruit trade exhibition and provides a great opportunity for fruit suppliers from all over the world to display their products and to meet established and new clients. Thank you to the for coming to see us at the Fruit Growers Tasmania section of the Horticulture Australia Limited pavilion. We look forward to a profitable Tasmanian cherry season for all our valued clients.
Cherry Isle Tasmania partners Chris Knapek, Debra Reid and Ken Bell at Fruit Growers Tasmania stand Asia Fruit Logistica Hong Kong Sept 2008
Nursery Trees
The Reid Fruits company owns and operates a commercial tree nursery on its Redlands Orchard property at Plenty in Tasmania's Derwent Valley. The nursery produces fruit trees for planting in Reid Fruits orchards as well as for sale to other commercial growers. Several types of fruit trees and ornamentals are produced to fill advance orders with some stock available for immediate sale.
Each winter Reid Fruits release a limited number of Chinese Poplar (Populus Yunnanensis). These non-suckering, fast growing trees with dense attractive deep green foliage make a magnificent windbreak or environmental screen. An excellent sample of these trees can be viewed along the boundary of Reid Fruits apple and cherry orchard on Glenora Road, Plenty.
Nursery Sales
Nick Owens - Nursery Manager
Phone 0419 372 140
Email: nickowens@reidfruits.com.au
Reid Fruits
Redlands Orchard
810 Glenora Road, Plenty
An extract from a recent media article.
" Big trips cut but little treats recession-proof "
THE Japanese have cut back on luxury trips overseas and new Toyotas but even the worst recession they have faced has failed to dampen their enthusiasm for white cherries from Tasmania. Belt-tightening is not affecting the Japanese appetite for imported food. Demand for Australian produce has grown over the past year, from the biggest agricultural export of beef to the smallest, Japanese white-fleshed cherries.
Tasmanian apple and cherry producer Tim Reid has been exporting apples to Japan since 1999 and cherries since 2005. Mr Reid, whose company Reid Fruit is based at Huonville, near Hobart, is responsible for most of Australia's cherry exports to Japan, and he thinks those exports are going to grow.
We probably trebled our cherry exports this year," he said. "We've exported more to Japan this year, with the economy being down, than we did last year, simply because the Australian dollar is lower, and we have been able to be a bit more competitive on pricing." A 40-year veteran of the fruit industry, Mr Reid said fruit exporters had always done better during an economic downturn and when the dollar had fallen than during boom years. He said during a recession, people gave up big-ticket items such as a new car or an around the-world trip but they tend to spoil themselves with little treats: comfort food, a bottle of wine or some chocolates".
Last year, before Christmas, Mr Reid exported Japanese cherries to Japan for the first time. The white-fleshed cherries, which have yellow and pink skins and a sweet, slightly acidic taste, are a specialised, prized commodity in Japan. "We managed to get 17.5 tonnes of those into Japan this year, which is very small compared to the size of the market," Mr Reid said.
"We have sufficient orchard planted to increase that to 200 tonnes over the next three years."
Mr Reid is now exporting the last of his dark cherries. Some are going to Japan, but he has been surprised at where the interest is coming from. "Russia has gone crazy after our cherries," he said.
Beef is Australia's biggest agricultural export to Japan, worth $2.06 billion last year, 8 per cent more than in 2007. Meat and Livestock Australia market information manager Peter Weeks expects Japan to be a stronger market for Australian beef this year, due in large part to the fall in the Australian dollar. At the moment, our product over there is over 30 per cent cheaper than it was midway through last year," he said. "It takes a pretty big demand fall to offset a 30 per cent price fall."
Trebled his exports: Tasmanian cherry and apple grower Tim Reid says his business does better in an economic downturn Picture: Pete Mathew
