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Advice on Publications Available.[This article appeared in the Country Times, Gympie, Queensland following the presentation, above; it was written by Peter and Bevly Hughes]
NOT so many years ago growers were advised to specialise and get big or get out - now the talk is about diversification and niche marketing.
Rob Fletcher and Brett Reisenleiter from the School of Land and Food at the University of Queensland Gatton College gave growers attending the 10th Annual Berryfruit Conference some advice concerning diversification.
Dr Fletcher said, ‘Too often the diversification chosen is a triumph of HYPE over HOPE. You have to be able to separate the two.’
HOPE: Hatching Out Profitable Enterprises.
HYPE: Hampers Your Progress Everytime.
The first step in the process is why diversify? The most common answer is: to be able to continue farming. The next question is how? The logical answer is into new rural industries.
Dr Fletcher listed 10 points in ascending order of importance which growers have to ask themselves about new rural industries:
• are you a contented person?
• is the new crop to be a business or hobby?
• what do you enjoy doing?
• what is your commitment to a new industry?
• is information easily available?
• what product will you be producing?
• is it saleable?
• can it grow on your property?
• is there a group involved?
• are you a member of the group?
Each question has to be answered favourably before proceeding to the next. If all have been answered correctly then it may be time to consider an experimental production planting.
‘Some of those points are important enough to bear repeating especially the group situation. You are going to face enough new challenges with new crops and groups can provide essential information and support.’
Dr Fletcher asked growers thinking about diversification to take their time and not to rush into any situation.
‘Time and money spent in investigation is certainly well spent. Many crops take years to mature or require a large dollar investment. You are dealing with your and your family’s future.’
It is important for growers to consider their current farming system and lifestyle and also the reason for going into a new crop. Growers should ask themselves what is the product from the new industry.
‘Define what you hope to produce and set goals,’ Dr Fletcher said. ‘If you don’t aim you have no hope of hitting the target.’
At all stages throughout the decision making process and even after new crops may be growing, achievable benchmarks should be created. Benchmarks give an indication of current progress. They can also indicate that the best course may be to cut losses.
‘Don’t be afraid to cut and run if the new venture does not look like working out. You may lose something but it will be less in time, money and your confidence than if you hang in.’
To get away from the HYPE presentation of many new crops Dr Fletcher urged growers to do their own market research.
‘At Gatton College we have developed a program called DOOR-Marketing (Do Our Own Marketing Research) to assist growers.
Growers can work through the programme and evaluate potential crops. New crops that do not warrant further investigation can be identified.’
The importance of not getting emotionally involved with any project was stressed as this can cloud judgement.
The School of Land and Food at Gatton College produces The Australian New Crops Newsletter which gives background information on a range of potential crops.
Story by Ann Lloyd, Queensland Country Life, 29 April 1999
Farmers curious about growing new crops should only gamble what they can afford to lose, and should steer well clear of the industry’s charlatans.
That is the advice of University of Queensland Gatton College lecturer in crop improvement Rob Fletcher who told last week’s 11th Australian Plant Breeding Conference in Adelaide that the whole aim with new crops should be to produce a product which people were ‘busting a gut to buy’.
Dr Fletcher, who defines a new crop as a crop new to an area, also warned that new crops often caused ‘anticipointment’ - or a combination of anticipation and disappointment.
This arose because there was little reliable information on new crops, profits took a long time to eventuate, and new crops were high risk gambles.
‘We gamble because it’s exciting and exhilarating and we think we’re going to make a lot of money,’ he said. ‘I would suggest though that it’s probably better to gamble with horses or lottery tickets.’
According to Dr Fletcher, new crops introduced successfully to Australia since 1950 include cotton, mushrooms, lupins, sunflower, broccoli, soybean, melon, canola, triticale, avocado, macadamia, chickpea, mango, kiwifruit and almond. New crops accounted for 67 percent of the $55 million average annual increase in gross value of all crop production between 1949 and 1992.
‘The factors that have been important in that increase have been plant improvement, that is, plant breeding plus associated improvements in management practices,’ Dr Fletcher said.
Currently in Australia there was a great number of what could loosely be termed new crop breeding programs: in agroforestry; native foods; bamboo; beverages; cereals; culinary spices, herbs and condiments; essential oils; fibres; floriculture; forages; industrial crops; landscape species; legumes; medicinal herbs; nuts; oilseeds, pesticide crops; root crops; soil stabilising crops; starch crops; sugar and sweeteners; vegetables; and windbreak crops.
‘But mainly the activity is propagation, increasing the material to sell to unsuspecting individuals who are curious about something that’s entirely new and different,’ Dr Fletcher said.
‘If there’s any selection involved, it’s invariably of those plants that grow better, not the plants that produce a product that people want to buy.’
‘In fact in some cases, I think it’s selection for those that propagate the easiest.’
He believes that plant breeders need to be surveying the extent of genetic variability available, rather than ‘crossing everything that moves and trying to do high-powered genetic engineering.’
In work conducted by a Gatton College student on a property 140 kilometres west of Cairns, for example, only four good trees had been identified from a population of about 3500 seed-derived cashew trees.
Crops currently under investigation at Gatton included Echinacea angustifolia, ginseng, red papaya, birdseed millets, geranium, amaranth and cashews.
The problem with new crops however was that there were ‘ratbags trying to rip off’ curious farmers.
‘My advice always is not to wrestle with pigs,’ Dr Fletcher said. ‘You get dirty and they enjoy it.’
Any claims made by authors in the Australian New Crops Newsletter are presented by the Editors in good faith. Readers would be wise to critically examine the circumstances associated with any claims to determine the applicability of such claims to their specific set of circumstances. This material can be reproduced, with the provision that the source and the author (or editors, if applicable) are acknowledged and the use is for information or educational purposes. Contact with the original author is probably wise since the material may require updating or amendment if used in other publications. Material sourced from the Australian New Crops Newsletter cannot be used out of context or for commercial purposes not related to its original purpose in the newsletter
Contact: Dr Rob Fletcher, School of Land and Food, The University of Queensland Gatton College, 4345; Telephone: 07 5460 1311 or 07 5460 1301; Facsimile: 07 5460 1112; International facsimile: 61 7 5460 1112; Email:
r.fletcher@mailbox.uq.edu.au[
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