Re-establishing the Apple Isle moniker

SOME leading Tasmanian orchardists are reversing a long decline in apple production with new plantings.

Andrew Smith, a fourthgeneration fruit grower in the Huon Valley, this week started planting 10,000 new apple trees while major producer Hansen Orchards is also growing more apples.

Figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics reveal the value of the state’s apple production in the 2015-2016 financial year increased 28 per cent to $45 million.

In the 1960s, when Tasmania was known as the Apple Isle, the state was exporting more than six million boxes of apples a year to Britain and Europe.

However, in the early 1970s exports dried up and growers’ financial difficulties forced the State Government to sponsor a tree-pulling scheme from 1972 to 1975. Many Huon farmers took advantage of the scheme and almost 700 Tasmanian orchard owners left the industry over a decade.

Mr Smith’s family business R&R Smith is planting the new trees in the Calvert Bros orchard at Ranelagh it recently bought.

The orchard is also being converted to organic pro- duction in line with Mr Smith’s 55ha home orchard at Grove.

His greatgrandfather, William Smith, started growing fruit at Glen Huon,his grandfather Ron Smith set up the existing orchard at Grove and his father Ian Smith also worked in the business.

The new plantings reverse a trend of converting orchards.

“We are planting the new trees with support from Woolworths and to meet the growing demand, especially for organic,” Mr Smith said.

He said his family had been supplying Woolworths with organic produce since 2006.

“Demand has continued to grow significantly with 2012 being a record year,” he said.

Mr Smith, who is also cofounder of Willie Smith organic cider, said he would also be planting another 12ha of c id e r apple varieties to meet growing demand. The former Calvert Bros orchard at Ranelagh is 30ha and harvests about 2800 bins of apples a season. It grows five varieties: gala, fuji, pink lady, envy and the crimson fiero. Mr Smith will be leaving for Europe next week to try to secure new apple varieties for the orchards. Ranelagh orchard manager Scott Price said this week’s new plantings would mainly be pink lady and gala.