UNCERTAINTY: Yenda grower Peter Cremasco inspects his crop after recent rainfall. He says quality could drop if rain persists. Picture:...
UNCERTAINTY:
Yenda grower Peter Cremasco inspects his crop after recent rainfall. He
says quality could drop if rain persists. Picture: Anthony Stipo
The Bureau of Meteorology recorded more than five millimetres of rain at the airport weather gauge on Wednesday.
It might not seem like much but it spells disaster for growers like Peter Cremasco.
“We’ve had such a good, dry season,” he said.
“The last thing we want is the rain and humidity that we are getting.”
The humidity at Mr Cremasco’s Yenda property on Wednesday was sitting at 98 per cent.
With harvest well under way for Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area growers, rainfall is not needed for at least the next six weeks.
The problem with rain during picking season is the damage it causes to crops.
Mr Cremasco said it caused the berry to split, which creates disease and a lower grade crop.
“Everything could be damaged and totally rejected by the graders,” he said.
“Growers are very anxious and apprehensive.
“This is what we have worked towards for the last 12 months and to see it washed out by rain at the end would be devastating.”
Growers have reported low prices for crops due to a saturated market.
Prominent grower Darren De Bortoli, managing director of De Bortoli Wines, told The Area News this week lower quality wine was pushing down overall prices and depriving growers of revenue.
Mr Cremasco said the pricing situation was so bad that the cost of production could outstrip return.
He said the cost of repeated sprays to the crop was not worth the low return, with the initial spray washing away in the rain.
“We have to weigh up our options,” Mr Cremasco said.
The wet weather is predicted to continue on Friday and Saturday, with a chance of a thunderstorm and showers.
Weatherzone, which is owned by Fairfax Media, predicts drier spells will take hold into February, with rainfall falling close to the monthly average.
“It’s a bit of a mixed bag at the moment," meteorologist Ben McBurney said.
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