Two sweet Victorian orchard offerings as cherry season begins

The first Tuesday in November is generally known for the horse race, but Victorian orchardists know that day as the official start of the cherry season.

There are just the two cherry orchards currently listed for sale in Victoria.

There is a 10-hectare orchard situated on the Murray Valley Highway at Wyuna for $480,000.

The property is dubbed The Big Cherry (pictured above).

John Lilford, the Hinchliffe + Greed Real Estate Kyabram listing agent, says the majority of the orchard is of different cherry varieties, along with apricots and apples.

He says the property boasts a large air conditioned display area for the sale of fruit and jams produced from the orchard and two large cool rooms used for storing fruit for the market.

At Wandin in the Dandenong Ranges there is a seven-hectare cherry tree orchard (pictured above).

“All together there are about 3,500 cherry trees,” says listing agent Alex Simule of Russo Thomas Smith and Co Dandenong.

There is a creek is running through the farm and two large dams.

Ainslie, a 21-hectare property at Young in NSW, has been listed with a $395,000 asking price through LJ Hooker agent Christian Rowan. It comes with 160 cherry trees, 1,620 plum trees and 680 fig trees, the only sizeable fig farm in the district.

It has growers’ market potential, Christian Rowan says.

In 2008 the Australian cherry industry – a small agricultural industry – had an estimated 700 growers spread across all states excluding the Northern Territory.

The Dandenong Ranges ranks as the key production area within Victoria along with the Young, Orange and Bathurst regions in NSW, the Mount Lofty Ranges and the Riverland area (SA), the Huon Valley (Tasmania) and the Bridgetown and Mt Barker areas (WA).

Cherry trees grow on most soil types except heavy clays provided that the soil is friable and well-drained, however, they do not tolerate water-logged soil.

As cherries blossom early, the fruit buds are sensitive to spring frosts just preceding and during the opening of flowers.

The Australian cherry industry predominately focuses on the domestic market, particularly the mainland, with only 10% to 15% of the national crop currently exported.

Cherry production by state across Australia (ABS 2008)

In 2002 the industry was worth $54.5 million to the Australian economy.