Celebrating an Australian first – National Agriculture Day (Edition 20) - Cherry Hill Coolstores | Seed grading, cool storage, cutting and bulk unloading of seed potatoes

WHERE DID 2017 GO? WE’RE NOT SURE BUT HERE’S A RECAP OF WHAT WE’VE BEEN UP TO FOR THE LAST FEW MONTHS OF IT!

We have completed all commercial crop cutting and will be wrapping up (pun intended, ho ho ho) the remainder of the seed in the next week or two. We have some big stories to tell of our fishing trip in Weipa, Kevin discusses seed producing practices, we let you know about the event we held for Australia’s first ever National Agriculture Week, and you will meet Gayleen who joined our cutting team this season.

This edition is a real treat. The team at Cherry Hill Coolstores

IN THIS ISSUE


Season Report	A Week in Weipa	National Agriculture Day	Introducing Gayleen

Read on for these great articles and much more…

SEASON REPORT

Merry Christmas!

The Spring season had generally good weather for planting, although a little dry, the forecast rain will improve growing conditions. We are now finished cutting all commercial crops, with the remainder of seed to be completed by mid-December. 12,000 tonne of seed was cut and dispatched for the 2017 calendar year.

We are proud of our staff’s effort and really happy with the way all potato seed is looking for this year. Well done to all.

We would like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and hope you all enjoy the festivities with your loved ones.

Best wishes,
Wishing you the best, Andrew, Brenden, Pam and the team at Cherry Hill Coolstores.

CHERRY HILL COOLSTORES SEED GUARANTEE

Our Seed Management Services. Cherry Hill Coolstores will guarantee our services on Seed Growers seed. If you buy someone else’s certified seed, which is presented to Cherry Hill in good condition, and it breaks down, we will replace our cutting and services at no charge.

This guarantee specifically refers to seed piece breakdown (i.e. rot), and refers to seed which is delivered directly to Cherry Hill Coolstores from the seed paddock for chemical application, coolstoring and cutting. In order for this guarantee to be valid, the Buyer must make claims within 24-hours of the seed leaving Cherry Hill Coolstores and before planting.

In order for this guarantee to be valid, the buyer must make claims with 24 hours of the seed leaving Cherry Hill and before planting.

View more about our guarantee here.

A WEEK IN WEIPA

Cherry Hill Coolstores, McCain and Simplot enjoyed a “boys trip” away up north.

In August, Andrew and Brenden, took their annual fishing trip to Weipa in far north Queensland, on board a Weipa Houseboat.

The 8-day trip was part fishing, part bonding. With Darren Nicholls from Cherry Hill, they also brought many potato colleagues with them including Rod Smith (McCain), Andrew Van Den Berg (Agronomist), Richard Hardstaff (grower and contractor), Angus Galloway (Simplot) and Craig Ayers, the only non-spud person (BOC Gases).

Fishing was tougher this time than it was 4-years ago, they still managed to feed themselves every day with the fish they caught. However, the hammerhead shark was not good eating, it was as tough as nails and worse than eating rocks!

Strong tidal changes in the area can be a challenge. Andrew (with his navigation skills constantly being questioned) managed to get stuck on the mud flats for about four hours, but Brenden held off the eager search party, knowing they’d be fine.

The local town of Weipa is an industrial area, with mining company Rio Tinto employing many locals, including 30% aboriginal.

The crime rate in the area is very low, and alcohol abuse is also very low. The local indigenous people being very community-orientated, looking after each other well.

If you’re looking for a cheap top-end fishing trip with your mates, they all highly recommend checking out the weipahouseboats.com.au. For the hire of the boat (sleeps up to 10 people), airfares, food and drinks, plus a couple of nights hotel accommodation – the total cost per person was $2,500.00. Amazing value!

Steve from Weipa Houseboats is available as a fishing or hunting guide.

Pictured: L-R/Top-Bottom: 1. Richard Hardstaff with a decent size catch 2. Angus Galloway shows his prize 3. Brenden relaxing  4. Darren Nicholls and catch 5. Rod Smith’s super effort 6. Andrew and his days result 7. Dusk is a great time to catch 8. Craig Ayers pride and joy! 9. Stunning sunsets to end the day 10. Brenden and friend 11. On the water at Weipa 12. Stuck on the mud flats!

NATIONAL AGRICULTURE DAY

Tuesday 21 November 2017.

Rick Webb, the Agribusiness Manager of ANZ Devonport, generously hosted the National Agriculture Day at the Cherry Hill Coolstores this year.

A mix of growers, clients and suppliers of Cherry Hill Coolstores attended and celebrated together over a beer and a sausage, in glorious pre-summer conditions. Andrew Langmaid was delighted to be interviewed by Margot Kelly from Tasmanian Country Hour, as part of the day’s celebrations (pictured left).

The Background – An Australian First!

We were thrilled to be involved in Australia’s first ever National Agriculture Day, which was held on November 21 this year. 50 events were held around Australia, including one at our very own establishment, as mentioned above! It was an honour to be part of sharing agricultures story with the nation.

Australian Farmers (an online community for the farming sector) reported that ‘AgDays’ online and media campaign had around 4000 people join in the discussion, which reached the eyes of 9 million Australians. Wow. Take a look below at some of the gorgeous images shared on Instagram celebrating the day (to see more visit Instagram and search for #nationalagday):

A SLICE OF LIFE AT CHERRY HILL

This edition, we unwrap everything you need to know about Gayleen Ray from our cutting room.

At the start of the season this year we welcomed Gayleen to the cutting crew. Gayleen, a friend of Tamieka who also works with us, came with a bounty of agricultural experience having worked previously at Broun’s Coolstore, Premium Fresh, Harvest Moon and Edgells (now known as Simplot). A local, Gayleen was born in Devonport and grew up in Burnie. She now lives in Latrobe and is enjoying her first season working with the other girls, in the cutting room. Gayleen is happy to rotate about the various roles on offer during the day.

A quiet and friendly demeanour we could tell Gayleen had a good sense of humour too. When asked if she had a nickname, Gayleen replied, “Not that I know of!”
In her spare time you can find Gayleen enjoying a drink at the pub with friends, in the garden relaxing or gardening, or cooking up a mean storm in the kitchen! Her three cats Holly (a 22 year old female Tortoiseshell), Flossy (a grey and white female Persian) and Sooty (a black and white boy) keep her busy too. Flossy and Sooty were young orphans who

Gayleen has saved and adopted into the family. Christmas will be a busy time of year for them all, as they will be moving house over the Christmas and New Year Break.

Pictured: Gayleen Ray.

Read more about our staff here …

SEED PRODUCTION DISCUSSION

Cherry Hill Coolstores operates in between the farmers and the processors.

We must achieve good outcomes for both, to enable our facility to stay viable and to help the industry grow and deliver a good product to the markets.

With these goals in mind, we would like to raise some important points of which we rely on others to get it right. They may not realise that if not adhered to, they may cause negative outcomes.

There are some procedures and habits still being used which have detrimental outcomes on seed line. We would like to highlight them and ask growers, transport operators, contract sprayers and agronomists to help us improve outcomes.

Listed here are some of the practices we would like improved:

A copy of the agronomy growing history of the crop being delivered for storage
A copy of soil tests and fertilizers applied and when carried out
If burn off is implemented – what chemical was used and the date this was carried out
Make sure crop is watered up just before burn off
Remember that freshly harvested seed must have fungicide applied within 14 hours – ensure delivery is within this time
Any foliage damage to the canopy of the growing seed crop is always a source of possible infection, which may manifest itself in storage or worse – after planting
Irrigation lanes or pivot wheel tracks should not be planted in seed crops
All seed paddocks should be DNA tested before selection
A proven agronomist should monitor seed crops through production
More fresh seed growing land should be introduced if possible

The more we know about the crop which is being delivered to our handling facility, the better able we are to achieve a good outcome. Some lines we may have to treat differently to try and counteract any compromise which could be likely.

Cherry Hill Coolstores are very happy to discuss these issues, or any other, at any time with stakeholders to try and achieve the best possible outcomes we can.

Let’s achieve the best product we can.

Merry Christmas, Kevin.

Pictured: Richard Hardstaff’s paddocks of Wisedale Pastoral, display an exceptional standard and conditions for planting (Banner), Kevin Langmaid (top left), wheel tracks (bottom right).

Kevin is now retired, however can regularly be found out at the Cherry Hill Coolstores. He lives in East Devonport and would describe himself as very happily retired with still a key interest in Cherry Hill. Andrew regularly refers to Kevin for his advice and opinions.

TESTIMONIAL … “NEVER A PROBLEM”

“We have been dealing with Cherry Hill Coolstores for the past three years and my father had been dealing with them for around a decade before us. There is never a problem and the seed quality that we are getting is improving year on year as they upgrade the technology that they are using. Our relationship will continue into the future.”

Rob Terry – Owner, Dairy Plains, Deloraine.

View more of our testimonials here.