Wild weather across the weekend in Northern NSW is likely to force the peak of the season for 1111 (Opi) growers. It’s hard to gauge what has happened to the remaining crop after the rain, as it’s the first day most farms will start to harvest again, but we expect some damage across the crop.
So, how much rain was there last week across Northern NSW and Central Coast? In short, there was a lot. Looking at the below, it seems like the heavy rain and strong winds didn’t want to go past the QLD border. The highest rainfall for the country was all recorded in the Northern Rivers, with McLeans Ridges recording 280mm in the last week.
Looking at this week, rain continues to cause a few issues. While it is not forecast to rain as much as we experienced this weekend, it will be enough to cause a few problems with harvesting for some farms.
Far North QLD (FNQ)—Continuing on the closeout of their season, we see production fall back again week on week. Quality from the region has been ok, and whilst we have seen a couple of isolated issues in consignments for this time of the year, it’s within expectations. FNQ will be experiencing warmer daytime temps all week with 29-33 max temperatures expected all week, but no rain.
Coffs Coast NSW – It’s hard to gauge what damage has been caused at this early stage. But I would expect there to be an impact. As noted above, we are expecting some further rain this week and there will be disruptions to harvest. Quality of fruit from this region will be heavily scrutinised.
WA Production – With additional fruit coming, we have had to move the wholesale price of premium blueberries back to ensure we keep the volume moving through. Looking at the upcoming weather, the start of the week is warm but it will see a cool change at the back end of the week in the North of Perth. The Southern growing region is still experiencing perfect berry growing and harvesting weather in the coming week with very little rain expected.
Strawberries – As noted above, they have dropped week on week for production; however, we have indicated that prices have dropped on the East Coast this week. I expect retail in QLD and NSW to be closer to $3 in the coming week, with wholesale prices increasing starting tomorrow. With school back in QLD and VIC (later in the week), we can expect demand to return to these states. But with Blueberries offering better value to customers (in terms of pricing) in the short term, demand might take a little longer to strengthen. WA Southern production will ramp up in the coming weeks and will coincide with the significant production still coming from the North. With the warmer weather and the plants getting on, we are likely to see some quality issues arising from these growers.
Raspberries / Blackberries—Whilst I did comment above that Raspberries are on the up, we also have to note that this is off a small base. Five growers in the MB group have started their Spring crop, and we see this increase daily when they are harvesting. Please ensure that you have booked your audits, and when you get a confirmation/s, please forward the email to our compliance manager, Sean Buss. Blackberries are in a similar place to Raspberries with volume starting to increase; we expect it to continue to rise slowly in the next couple of weeks before the season kicks in.
