Successful Australian workshops on vigour management in the cherry tree

31 Mar 2025
1226

Australian regional updates and vigour management cherry workshop success

This month, we’re shaking things up a little for our state roundups with an on the ground update of the vigour management workshops.

From late February to early March, the extension and communication project welcomed Ronald Vermeulen from the Netherlands to share his knowledge on managing vigour.

Here’s a recap of the workshops held across the states.

Tasmania

The Tasmanian workshop was held at Reid Fruits’ Plenty Orchard and hosted by Sam Smee and the Muir’s team.

Discussions centered on key learning outcomes from the season, including the control of rust mite and alternaria.

Warm conditions led to an early start for growers, making irrigation management crucial for maintaining quality.

After the presentations, growers were divided into two groups and rotated through different orchard sites, including Reid’s nursery, as well as the pergola and double-table canopy systems with Ronald.

 

1a. Image left: Ronald pruning the pergola system at Reid’s Fruits.
1b. Image right: Andrew Hall from Reid's Fruits giving an industry update at the Tasmanian workshop.

South Australia

The South Australia (SA) workshop was held at Flavell’s Fruit Orchard.

The discussion centred around learning outcomes from the narrow orchard project this season and climate adaptation with Bloom Fresh, and the current dry conditions in SA and the resultant poor water quality.

After the indoor presentations, growers toured the orchard where Darren Graetz and Andy Flavell updated the group on the narrow orchard system demonstration trial.

Following this, Ronald then demonstrated pruning and management on a double tabletop system.

 

2a. Image left: Narrow orchard system demonstration trial in SA.
2b. Image right: Ronald presenting to SA growers.

Victoria

The Victorian workshop sold out with almost 80 growers attending the day at Agriculture Victoria in Shepparton.

Inside, growers heard presentations from Ronald on vigour management and the pergola system, Cristian Ferrari on protective cover systems and Jess Fearnley-Pattison on the extension and communications project.

Growers were then led by Dr Alessio Scalisi and Dr Ian Goodwin on a tour of the Tatura Smart Farm, looking at different protective cover structures for cherries, including the Valente systems and solar panels.

The group then moved to Montague’s orchard where they were shown the new plantings on site and options for managing vigour on the upright fruiting offshoots (UFO) system.

3a. Image left: Dr Alessio explains Scalision at the new narrow orchard systems trial site at the Tatura Smart Farm.
3b. Image right: Cristian Ferrari from Valente speaks to the Victorian growers about protective covers for cherries.

New South Wales

The workshop tour finished with over 50 growers attending the New South Wales (NSW) workshop in Young.

The workshop was held at the Young Golf Club, where Ronald gave his vigour management presentation and Jess Fearnley-Pattison provided an update on the extension and communications project.

Tim Holley from Muir’s gave a season overview and Clare Bedfield from NSW DPIRD gave an update on the Farms of the Future program.

After lunch, Solferino Cherries hosted an orchard walk with Ronald investigating the management of vase trees using soil moisture probes in the orchard.

4a. Image left: Ronald presenting in Young, NSW.
4b. Image right: Ronald pruning the vase system at Solferino Cherries.

Source: Jessica Fearnley-Pattison / NSW DPIRD, Australia


Cherry Times - All rights reserved

What to read next

How cold treatment works for shipping cherries to China

Post-harvest​

30 Oct 2024

One of the restrictions imposed by the Chinese authorities concerns the packaging warehouse, which has to establish how to apply differentiated fruit handling throughout the process, from receipt to packaging and storage of the cherries.

Dwarfing rootstocks show epigenomic differences in the grafted cultivar

Rootstocks

16 Jan 2025

The study conducted at the University of Guizhou (China) aimed to investigate the impact of the dwarfing rootstock ‘Pd1’ (Prunus tomentosa) on sweet cherry ‘Shuguang2’ shoots. To achieve this goal, morphological observations were conducted.

In evidenza

Impacts of spur thinning on Lapins cherry orchards: growth and fruit quality

Production

10 Oct 2025

A field study in Chile on Lapins cherry trees reveals that spur thinning does not always improve fruit quality but can significantly affect vegetative growth. In-depth analysis on yield management, leaf area ratio, and seasonal climatic conditions in modern orchards.

From Chile to the world: 120 million crates of high-quality cherries are targeted

Markets

10 Oct 2025

The Chilean cherry industry aims for 120 million cartons of high-quality cherries. Focus on reputation, alternative markets beyond China, and growth in Europe and the United States. Claudia Soler outlines the strategy to enhance the consumer experience and strengthen global expor

Tag Popolari