Grove establishment best practice

® Best Practice Series

Peter McFarlane, AOA OliveCare® Administrator

The OliveCare® program is all about helping olive producers achieve quality. With that aim, the Best Practice Series of articles discusses how to increase the yield of premium EVOO through best practice management strategies from the grove to the consumer.

Grove establishment best practice

The growing appreciation for locally-grown EVOO and table olives is once again seeing new groves established, and existing plantings extended. Some growers are also replacing varietals which no longer work for their market or with their current climate. For anyone about to start the process, this advice on planning and preparation provides a comprehensive checklist of considerations and factors which will help ensure a productive result for your new grove.

Rule #1: Get the design right

The decisions around establishing most Australian olive groves were made by others, often 20 or more years ago. What you now have is what economists refer to as a ‘sunk cost’ – being difficult and costly to change.

For those of you who have the opportunity to start afresh with a new block, getting the design right from the start will circumvent many potential problems and save a lot of money and grief.

Californian olive specialist Paul Vossen# says there’s an absolute starting point.

“Harvesting costs have typically amounted to half of the total production costs for olives. Therefore, the most important choice for a new olive orchard, beyond site location, is to select the best method for harvest.

“Subsequent decisions on variety choice, tree spacing, (canopy) training method, and the rest of the productions system fall into place more or less simultaneously.”

Grove establishment

There are a number of important considerations when deciding where to establish an olive grove, most of which take a little research or leg work, but all are crucial to a successful result: • determine if the local climatic conditions are suitable for olives, researching; » the range of winter temperatures » the danger of spring frosts damaging buds and wood » are the summers long, warm and dry – noting that high summer moisture and humidity is problematic for fungal disease in olives » the danger of autumn frosts damaging fruit • research the site history, including crops, chemical use and disease. Avoid previous crops with a risk of Verticillium Wilt –

cotton, cucurbits, eggplant, peppers, potato and tomato • analyse the soil profile for limiting factors for water penetration (hydrophobic soils) and drainage (perched water tables) • test soil chemistry – pH, sodium, chloride and boron, which may limit productivity • determine water availability and quality for proposed irrigation methods – noting that inadequate water supply is the most common limiting factor for grove productivity • assess critical infrastructure needs – water, electricity, transport, labour.

The most important choices for a new olive orchard, beyond site location, are tree density and harvest method.

grove productivity, and will be expensive to change, so carefully consider: • tree planting density (low density, high density, super high density) and canopy architecture • proposed harvest method • frost control • soil moisture management (berms and drainage channels) • wind breaks and staking of young trees • olive cultivar selection including; » verification of DNA status » suitability to regional environment » agronomic factors (pollination, tree vigour, precocity, alternate bearing tendency) » pest and disease resistance