By Tyler Wright
With the destruction of fruit crops playing a part in the growers’ decision to either sell up or relocate, local farmers say they are feeling the brunt of grey-headed flying foxes migrating south.
Fourth generation fruit grower Alan Upton made the decision to sell his fruit farm on Maroondah Highway Coldstream three years ago to instead work as a beef farmer on a property in Yarra Glen; in part due to the impact animals including the Australian native flying fox, or fruit bat, were having on his produce.
“My great grandfather started in Langwarrin in 1908, my grandfather then bought a property in Wonga Park in 1922 which I grew up on and never knew what a fruit bat was there, never lost an apple or a pear or a peach to [them],” Mr Upton said.
“From 1987 we moved to Coldstream, and then in and about 2010… we were introduced to the problem of fruit bat damage in the fruit trees.”
Mr Upton said he began finding half chewed fruit on the tops of trees, with the bats chewing on the fruit flesh at night time.
“The value of the fruit actually on the tree is probably not $5 a kilo like you see on the supermarket shelf when it reaches retail level, but the cost is more on your mental well being,” Mr Upton said.
“You’re dealing with all sorts of other pests and diseases throughout the growing season, and this one just fills in the 24 hours a day that your fruit’s under attack, and it has a very wearing effect on your mental ability to cope with it all.”
Eventually Mr Upton purchased a machine which rolls out netting to drape over his trees, with the cost of permanent netting estimated to cost him $80,000 per hectare.
“The pressure of netting and not being able to successfully grow fruit unless it’s under netting was very frustrating and it made the decision pretty easy when the opportunity came [to semi-retire,]” he said.
Dandenong Ranges based nut and fruit grower, Colin Wood, said farmers should be provided a subsidy for part of the cost of netting.
“I don’t grow fruit here anymore. I’ve given up. When I came here 27 years ago, I got all the fruit under the sun, but since then, between the fruit bats and rainbow lorikeet and the like, it’s gone,” Mr Wood said.
Mr Wood bought a property in Pyramid Hill near Bendigo five years ago in order to continuing growing produce, while continuing to harvest chestnuts and hazlenuts in the Hills.
Destroying the grey-headed flying fox is illegal in the state – but Mr Wood said there should be more support for farmers from the state and federal governments and lobbying groups to manage the species – which can fly up to 40 kilometres to feed.
“It’s completely wrong and something should be done about it,” he said.
