Projects

The Yarra Valley Seasonal Work Hub has been created to help connect local horticultural businesses with job seekers searching for employment. Our hub is packed full of useful information for both job seekers and growers.

Growers can register and upload their seasonal jobs on the site.

Job seekers can search and apply for seasonal jobs in the Yarra Valley area.

The website is based in the Yarra Valley and will only advertise positions available locally. Both growers and job seekers have the support of the Seasonal Workforce Coordinator to help guide and support you through the season.

This project has been made possible by generous support from the Victorian Sate Government through the Seasonal Workforce Industry Support program.

A Fruit Fly Regional Coordinator has been appointed in the Yarra Valley to help protect horticultural production and keep the area fruit fly free. While many methods are used to control fruit fly, the critical factor is people working together.In the current Action Plan, the role of the Regional Coordinator is crucial for ensuring industry, community and government cooperate to effectively manage fruit fly.

Bronwyn Koll has been employed by Agribusiness Yarra Valley to work directly with the fruit fly Regional Governance Group which includes representation from major horticultural producers, local and state government, and community members from the area. Bronwyn’s two year appointment is part of the $6.7 million Managing Fruit Fly – Regional Grants Program to provide a coordinated and collaborative approach to fruit fly management across the Greater Sunraysia, the Yarra Valley and the Goulburn Murray Valley.

Agribusiness Yarra Valley received funding from the National Landcare Program to run farm walks to highlight the benefits of ‘composting under vines’ in field trials at Helen’s Hill Estate. The aim of the project was to conduct ‘composting trials for soil health and resilience improvement in vineyards in the Yarra Valley’. While the trails were conducted on a vineyard, the findings and applications are relevant to a wider range of orchard fruit.

A program of soil trials along vineyard rows, using compost and mulch material to better understand the soil temperature fluctuations, weed suppression and overall soil biology improvements was implemented.

Co-ordination with local organisations including winery Helen’s Hill Estate, TVS, compost supplier Enviromix, and soil scientist and data collection by Declan McDonald SESL.

Our project concept was originally based upon research done in South Australian vineyards, on creating native vegetation insectariums to increase the abundance and diversity of beneficial insects. The research was proven to work and cost/benefit analysis showed it to be a worthwhile IPM practice.

The concept of planting flowering native vegetation to provide nectar and habitat for beneficial insects is a simple farm practice that can be achieved with relatively low cost. The potential economic gain easily counteracts the short-term outlay with long term financial advantages with reduced labour and pesticide inputs.

Our project aimed to replicate this research, using native plant species from the relevant Ecological Vegetation Classes (EVC) to not only increase the biodiversity of beneficial insects but also increase the extent of locally appropriate native vegetation on a farm.

Four native vegetation insectarium trial sites were secured in the Yarra Valley. They included a nursery, strawberry farm, vineyard and orchard. A planting program of native indigenous insectary plants was undertaken in the Autumn of 2017 and trapping was conducted in Spring Summer and Autumn of 2017 through to 2019. Four events were held over the period of the project, including a field day and farm walk, presentation to the strawberry industry, a specialist entomology workshop for the participating landholders, and workshop tailored to the needs of the nursery industry.

Farmers, lifestyle and residential landholders alike are about to get some much-needed assistance with rabbit control to help reduce soil erosion and improve native vegetation cover in the Wandin & Silvan area. Agribusiness Yarra Valley has received funding over a two period for on-ground pest animal control to manage soil erosion and improve native vegetation cover in the Silvan-Wandin area.

This is a great opportunity for neighbours, both farmers, hobby farmers and residents to work together to decrease the rabbit population and improve native vegetation and diversity. The project aims to encourage neighbours to work together on the issues by providing them with sufficient information and skills to better control the pest animals and continue to improve native biodiversity.

Reducing the rabbit population will greatly benefit the environment by reducing erosion under tree roots and along creek banks which also results in sediment run-off into nearby waterways. Rabbits denude both native vegetation, local crops and gardens. Remnant areas of native vegetation will receive assistance and new plantings with suitable native vegetation that increases native biodiversity, and will have much higher survival rates with decreased rabbit populations.

Seasonal, or casual, labour to pick and pack crops, and carry out other intensive management practices, such as pruning, is a key input for the majority of horticultural producers in Yarra Ranges. The main crop sectors that rely on seasonal labour include wine grapes, orchard fruit (eg. apples, cherries); berry fruits and vegetables. Seasonal labour is such a critical input that the viability of many farms would be severely at risk if a reliable supply of labour could not be maintained. Some growers have lost considerable amounts of income when they have been unable to find sufficient seasonable labour.

Previous research in the region has found that up to 5,000 workers were needed daily for five months of the year to carry out high labour requiring tasks. Much smaller numbers were needed during other months.

This same research identified that a key issue for the sustainability of the workforce was the high reliance on workers from ethic groups, thought to be predominantly Vietnamese and Cambodian, transported from Melbourne by contractors in order to meet seasonal labour demand. Research conducted in 2006 found an estimated 75% of seasonal labour came from this one source, so that questions have now been raised around the potential risks to the future labour supply of such reliance and how this can be best managed or mitigated.

The commencement of a feasibility study to assess the viability of a recycled water pipeline scheme to deliver water from Lilydale and Brushy Creek treatment plants to irrigators in the north-west section of the Shire of Yarra Ranges. The survey of growers in the area defined in the last Newsletter, who have a stream diversion licence, or registered or licenced farm dam, with an allocation of 10 Ml or more, or use potable water for irrigating, was undertaken. Another 90 landholders have an allocation of less than 10 ML, but this only accounts for 370 ML out of a total of 6,300 ML allocated.

The broad results of the survey were as follows:

80 landholders were surveyed from 114 contacted, a response rate of 70%. As a number of messages were left for the other 34 landholders, it was assumed they were not interested in using recycled water.

The number of landholders wanting water, and the volume to be taken, declined significantly as the annual price to be charged rose from $100 per ML to $1,000 per ML. Fifty landholders wanted almost 2,000 ML at $100 per ML, while only 9 wanted 335 ML at $1,000 per ML.

At the realistic price of $300 per ML, 42 landholders wanted 1,465 ML of recycled water. North of the Yarra River 10 landholders wanted 295 ML. The total allocation held in this area is 2,000 ML. South of the Yarra River 32 landholders wanted 1,070 ML of recycled water. The total allocation held in this area is 4,300 ML.

The demand for recycled water was quite a bit less than had been anticipated, based on requests for action on a pipeline scheme received from industry bodies and individual businesses over the last 12 months. As a result of this survey, it has not been possible to devise a pipeline route that can include areas north of the Yarra River, as the water required in this area is not sufficient to justify the cost of a pipeline from Lilydale. South of the Yarra River a pipeline route of about 20 km length supplying around 20 landholders with over 700 ML of water has been devised, for which a business case for Government support may be able to be developed.

In developing the business case, the consultants will now undertake a full benefit cost analysis of the project, including economic, environmental and social issues. The results of this will be known in the next couple of months.

Sustainable Farm Families is an initiative of the Western District Health Service, Hamilton, delivered in partnership with the Department of Primary Industries. The aim of the program is to address the health, well being and safety needs of farming families.

The Yarra Valley pilot project is looking at three areas of the larger Yarra Catchment, the Stringybark, Olinda and Woori Yallock Creek sub-catchments. A range of industries and agencies primarily through a steering committee with representatives from a number of horticultural industries, ABYV, Port Philip and Westernport Catchment Management Authority, Shire of Yarra Ranges and Melbourne Water were involved.

The purpose of this project is to promote the importance of education and training for the agricultural industry in the Yarra Valley. Two sectors, the fruit and berry growers and those industries who value add to the fruit grown in the region, will be targeted for a pilot project.

CAB has received $36,000 funding from the Victorian Agribusiness Networks Program to examine the viability of establishing a shared kitchen/storage facility in the Yarra valley. Most food processors in the valley and surrounding areas are micro-businesses. Many are currently located in temporary units on rural properties or in locations not suitable for large-scale production and storage. They do not have the scale to fill larger orders, which leads to insufficient cash flow to have the finance to invest in large kitchen/warehouse facilities. Yet the Yarra Valley is increasingly gaining a reputation for fine wine and gourmet produce and is attracting buyers from national and international retail chains as well as specialised health and gourmet businesses.

Another project for which CAB has received funding from the Victorian Agribusiness Networks Program is Building the Relationship Between Agriculture and Tourism. This project has been identified by the Agribusiness Forum Chairs as one with Statewide significance. It has been developed from identified trends in both the tourism and agribusiness sectors and builds on the learning gained through the Regional Branding and the Building Harmony with Rural Neighbours projects.

There is a major need for seasonal workers in the wine, orchard fruit and berry industries particularly for harvesting the crop. The berry industries not only have intensive needs for labour to reharvest the same areas a number of times per year, but also their needs are more time sensitive as there is no room for flexibility in picking times compared to some other crops. Much of the labour needs are met locally, and from the suburbs of Melbourne, but there is a critical and increasing need to meet a shortfall from seasonal workers and backpackers as they move around Australia.

Many people have shifted to rural areas, particularly close to Melbourne and large regional centres, often with unrealistic views of the lifestyle they will enjoy and their responsibilities as landholders. On the other hand, farmers have been used to doing things how and when they want, even though what is accepted practice has often changed over the years. The conflicts that can arise from this situation have resulted in what is commonly known as the “right to farm” issue.

This project has developed from a key recommendation in the Economic Development Strategy prepared by the Shire of Murrindindi for 2003-06. This strategy was prepared with wide and extensive industry consultation of all agricultural sectors within the Shire. After public exhibition of the strategy throughout the Shire for three months, it was adopted by the Council in March 2003.

Public concerns that chemicals and nutrients, particularly nitrogen, are polluting the Yarra River and ultimately Port Phillip Bay, and urban rural fringe conflict with traditional farming practices makes the Yarra Valley an ideal place to pilot the concept of a regional EMS. Government concerns about declining biodiversity and other catchment wide issues will also be addressed through the project.

Yarra Ranges is characterised by high yields per hectare by small farming businesses. There is a diverse range of industries including vegetable, fruit, grapes/wine, floriculture, nursery, and livestock production. Our industries are facing changes brought about by global impacts on the market place, the pressure of environmental concerns including water and pest management, and the need to improve business practice.