THE first half of 2017 is expected to be a challenging time for the winegrape and horticulture industries in SA, with many growers still recovering from hail and flood damage.
Wine Grape Council of SA executive officer Peter Hackworth expects grape prices to increase in 2017 due to a 10 per cent hit to supply caused by a hail event which struck the Riverland in November.
“We want grape prices to rise because people are having to put on a lot more preventative sprays and pesticides because of the prolonged wet weather we had into late spring,” he said.
“That will probably mean the crop will be down in 2017 and likely to be down in 2018 because the following year’s bud will be affected by that extended cold.”
Mr Hackworth said big challenges facing the wine industry in 2017 were coping with Wine Equalisation Tax rebate changes and strengthening national representation for grapegrowers.
“We’ve seen the establishment of Australian Vignerons and the big challenge is to get the rest of the nation on-board,” he said.
“SA funds about 95pc of that body and the big challenge for Australian Vignerons is to secure funding from other states so it can become a truly national body.”
Some growers faced total crop losses from the Riverland hailstorm, which Mr Hackworth said was a major lowlight of 2016.
Positives included the continued growth of the national wine summit, which was held at Adelaide Oval this year, collaboration between winemakers and grapegrowers, and continued growth of exports to China.
“Another positive has been the high winter rainfall,” Mr Hackworth said.
“That has really helped to recharge aquifers, which has been really important because it reduces the pressure of having to purchase water and has helped keep temporary water prices down.”
Last year was one of mixed performance in the horticulture industry, according to Horticulture Coalition of SA chair Susie Green, with 2017 likely to be similar.
“The first half of 2017 could be quite challenging,” she said. “We’ve had storms in the Riverland and flood damage in the northern Adelaide Plains.
“Apples and pears have been impacted by storms so I don’t think we’ll see production as high as in 2016. In other sectors of horticulture it’s likely to be a good year – in areas which haven’t been hit with bad weather.”
Ms Green said the overall value of the almond industry continued to grow in 2016, while tomatoes, potatoes and citrus also performed well.
Recognition of the Riverland pest free area into China for nectarines and continued export growth were noted as highlights.
Ms Green said there were several key horticultural issues to focus on in 2017.
“Ensuring we’ve got continued access to good quality water is critical,” she said.
“Maintaining high biosecurity standards and ensuring we remain free of fruit fly is important. In periods of oversupply there’s growers doing it tough so we also need to diversify our markets to ensure profitability across the industry.”
