The news has been positive of late with Citrus Australia keen to update growers on what is to come next. 

The organisation will do so at its inaugural Citrus Juice Forum, which will be held in Leeton on May 1. 

According to Citrus Australia, citrus juice is enjoying a price resurgence.

In the past two seasons, growers have received higher returns for juice varieties including Valencia oranges.

This forum in Leeton will aim to help growers understand this price rise and evaluate whether they should plant juice varieties.

Citrus Australia’s chief executive officer Nathan Hancock said growers were all wanting to know one thing.

“Growers are asking me is this long term?” he said.

“What should I plant? Are we going to see these prices continue?

“And it’s not just growers, processors are reassessing their situation, they’re asking how many trees are there? What’s the real cost of production? Are growers profitable at these levels?”

According to Mr Hancock it’s a change which had to come.

“Growers could not afford to invest in juice varieties at the returns they were receiving, they kept trees if they had them in regions such as the Riverina,” he said.

“However, in other regions we have seen a large decline in Valencia orange production in favour of navel orange or mandarins.”

At the forum, Citrus Australia will present tree census data which reveals the decline in production base and lead a discussion on the merits of investing in the juice sector.

“The Australian citrus industry is a very successful industry,” the chief executive said.

RELATED

“We have seen a year-on-year increases in exports of fresh citrus, growers are experiencing good returns and there’s been a surge of investment back in to orchards.

The program includes presentations about the Australian and overseas markets, new varieties, other research and orchard and business management.

The forum will be held from 8.30am to 4pm at the Mia Club. It is a free event, but participants must register to attend.

To do so visit https://www.citrusaustralia.com.au/uncategorised/2018-citrus-juice-forum-registration or by call (03) 5023 6333.