RECENT wet and humid conditions may have not have been to many people's liking, but they're helping Myrtleford and district's multi-million dollar hops industry thrive.
Hops Products Australia (HPA) Victorian farm manager Aaron Bailey said the season in the Alpine valley has been a good one so far.
“We’ve just finished training the hop plants around the coir strings with the help of 35 casual staff, and the hops are now in a stage of rapid growth, and on track to reach the top of the wire trellis prior to Christmas,” he said.
“The dry and cold winter created the perfect conditions for dormancy which is exactly what the plants need to yield cones in spring/summer.
“Up until a few weeks ago, it’s been reasonably dry which has allowed us to complete all farm operations as scheduled.
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“We started irrigating three weeks earlier than normal, but have since received over 200mm of rain in the past few weeks.
“Fortunately, we haven’t experienced any flooding as yet, and the hop plants are loving the wet and hot conditions.
“This has resulted in rapid growth that will result in better resistance to pests and diseases, which will allow us to supply high-quality hops to the domestic market from May 2025.
“We now need some hot summer days in the coming months to really maximise yield and quality, ideally with some intermittent rain events so we don’t have to rely too much on irrigation.
“There’s always a risk of high winds, hail or flooding adversely impacting yield as we get closer to hop harvest in March, so fingers crossed we continue to have the weather on our side.”
Vignerons, orchardists and berry growers have also been faring well.
Growers across various rural industries in the Alpine Shire say spring and early summer conditions are helping produce the goods.
Alpine Valley Vignerons president Stef Antonello said so far the early frosting hasn’t effected too many vineyards.
“We’re used to wet conditions and most growers know what they’re doing so disease hasn’t stuck its ugly head up yet, everything is looking on track,” he said.
“We’ve had three great vintages in a row and it looks like this could be the same.
“The rains came after flowering so it hasn’t effected the fruits.
“Everything is looking great at this stage, we just need a dry, cool end of season so, come February/March, the rain can go away.”
Alpine Berries' Nathan Mirt said this year’s crop is also looking to be a good one.
“We started picking last Monday and we’ve seen lots of fruit on the bushes which is great,” he said.
“The rain and humidity has made it a stop-start week so far and it does make it difficult to pick in.
“The warmer conditions have meant the blueberries are able to ripen and the rain delays that so it’s been a bit of a juggling act; observing berries to see when they’re ready and then getting in before the rain.
“Compared to cherry farmers, who I feel quite sorry for, blueberries don’t split or get mould so we’re very fortunate in that respect.
“The ideal weather now would be sunny days and no rain, for the next month especially.
“More rain would throw an obstacle to our season, we’re used to it because it does happen but we just don’t want a repeat of the last two weeks.
“We’ll pick now right through to mid-February and our main crops until mid-January and then it will get a bit lighter and more manageable."
Local apple growers have also said everything is looking good.
“Whilst the rain was more than enough we’re still looking good,” one grower said.
“Now our main job is thinning and making the crops nice and clean and opening the trees up.
“We’d like to see it dry up a bit, it’s easier to dry fruit when you can irrigate and govern the water the trees get, but the deluge of rain over the last fortnight that’s out of the question.
“There’ll be no irrigation until after Christmas so a dryer season would be good.”
