Peter Dickie Tribute
The prune industry mourns the tragic accidental death of our colleague and friend Peter Dickie.
Peter was not only a prune and grape producer, but also served the district as a contract machine harvester for olives and prunes.
Peter was chairperson of the national body, APIA, from 2002 to 2007. These were years of difficulty for the Young district growers and years of expansion for the prune industry in the MIA.
As a member APIA’s Industry Advisory Council, Peter was enthusiastic and passionate about research and development.He was always keen to share his knowledge and experience and always had the time to listen to others and patiently work through problems.
Peter was actively involved in the local Yenda community as a Director of Yenda Producers for 16 years, a supporter of St Therese Catholic School and also of the Yenda Catholic Church. For many years Peter together with members of the St Therese School community, grew vine rootlings from cuttings which were sold the following winter to raise funds for the school and church.
We remember fondly his integrity, his energy and capacity for work and his positive outlook. A true genteman at all times, Peter will be very much missed by the industry.
Our heartfelt sympathies are extended to his wife Patricia, and children Simon, Mark, Erin, Robert Stephen.
Cheryl Heley, Chair, Australian Prune Industry Association
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Greater growing area raises size of Chile's plum harvest
FOODNEWS Friday February 29 2008
CHILE's plum harvest started last week, and producers declare themselves satisfied with both volume and quality of fruit. Chile's agriculture ministry reckons current prices of varieties suitable for juice production to be in a range of CLP35 000-45 000 for 450kg, which means an average price of US$0.19/kg.
Plum varieties appropriate for drying are currently being sold at around US$0.40/kg. Producers expect to have between 50 00055 000 tonnes of plums harvested, a 20-25% increase from the past season.
"The amount of fruit obtained per hectare is the same, but we had a wider terrain dedicated to plum cultivation this year," FOODNEWS was told. In addition, Chile's plum cultivation is going to expand by another 75% in the next few years, according to projections released by SNA, Chile's agricultural association. That is good news for Chilean processors, as 99% of the crop goes to the industry for drying and concentrates. However, although raw material volume has risen, the price of processed product is growing too, by approximately 15%.
The market really appears to be brisk for both concentrates and dried fruits. Plum juice is quoted at US$1.05/lb or US$2.30/litre.
Medium/large dried plums (50/60 size) are presently US$3.20/kg, up from US$2.80-2.90/kg fob in 2007.
Medium size (60/70s) dried plums are sold at around US$3.00/kg.
When asked the explanation for such a rise in price, a producer said "One reason is definitely the surge of production costs: energy, labour and other expenses are much higher this year." He also added: "Chile's prune industry mainly works with exports: over 90% of our product goes for export. That is why our quotations are related to our main competitors' situation. We all know that California is out of stock because of the appalling crop they have had in the previous seasons, and Argentina has seen an important reduction in its raw material supply."
Argentina's position is not as good as Chile's. More than 95% of Argentina's plums are produced in the region of Mendoza. Over 80% of the crop goes for processing: but while some producers sell the fresh fruit to the industry, others process the fruit themselves and put the finished product directly on the market.
Forecasts released at the end of last December by the Agricultural Development Institute of Mendoza estimate a fruit volume of 100 000 tonnes, compared with 110 000 tonnes registered in 2007.
However, because of the bad weather of the last few months, those figures are currently assumed to be far too generous.
"The frosts and especially the frequent hailstorms that took place during an excellent flowering time ruined a very promising crop," FOODNEWS was told. "It is very rare to see persistent precipitation at this time of the year in this area, but we had 15 days of uninterrupted rain lately, and that rotted many fruits."
Prune exports unaffected by shorter crop
FOODNEWS Friday February 22 2008
CALIFORNIA's dried plum crops suffered last year as a result of the severe droughts that hit the state. In a twist of fate, it seems that in 2008, it may not be droughts destroying crops, but the rain.
Kathleen Retourné writes: Ever since 2004, when the Californian dried plum industry reported the smallest crop recorded since 1918, the industry has been working to stabilise the market and retain their position as the key player.
Estimates based on the California Agricultural Statistic Service (CASS) showed that 2007 had a below-average production compared with the previous five years (FOODNEWS 30 November). In November 2007, the Prune Marketing Committee unanimously agreed there was a reduced crop, with an overall crop estimate of 80 000 (short) tons.However, this did not affect exports and 2007 saw an overall export increase. Recent figures show that 2007 Californian exports reached 60 320 tonnes, compared with the previous year's 44 910 tonnes - an increase of 34%.
Japan remained the main buyer, although it imported slightly less than 2006 (-6%). Europe, however, increased its imports quite dramatically. Russia increased its imports by a massive 1 075%, meaning it is now the USA's third-largest dried plum importer. Other European countries that significantly increased imports were Germany (+91%) and the UK (+51%).After the storms hit California in January 2008, news reports stated that the prune crop had been badly hit. However, industry insiders are quick to point out that, although the storms did damage some prune crops, it was not to the extent that is sometimes being reported.
Anne Mooney
Industry Development Officer
Any questions please don’t hesitate to contact me on0423 389 685 or 02 63913873 or