Welcome Creek, QLD, 4670, Australia

Lot 6 on RP153071
Total area 47.73 Hectares. Area planted to trees: approx 46 - 46.5 Hectares
Kepnock (Kp) type soil
100% of the parcel is classified as Category X area (Exempt clearing work on Freehold land).


High clearance lockable machinery shed (21m x 12m), 4 bays, concrete floor to 50% with gravel to the balance, steel portal frame, 4 x double high clearance hinged doors, 3 x personal access doors, gable roof.
A 5,000 gallon polyurethane rainwater tank is also attached to this shed.

Lockable Storage/pump shed (12m x 3.3m) with concrete floor, steel frame, 1 x roller door, 1 x personal access door, lights / power connected, gable roof.
2,000L Adds Up Engineering fertigation unit with variable speed injection & agitation systems, Rivulus pressure differential automatic backflush filter, Zener variable speed drive with pressure monitoring. Hardwiring in place for MAIT irrigation system.

New irrigation infrastructure to service the orchard includes a 3 phase 22kw Davey Iso spec electric motor driving a Davey Iso Spec centrifugal pump, 6" class 9 mainline & 6', 4", 3" & 2" sub mains (as per attached map). 12 x 4" valves with 6 x Scanaway Filters spread
across 6 valve stations: (1 Valve station includes 2 valves & 1 Scanaway filter per 2 blocks).

Pre-existing irrigation infrastructure is still in place for winching the whole orchard area for inter-row mulch growth via a 3 phase 60HP electric motor & Southern Cross Centrifugal pump with protection switchgear in a separate shed.

Channel surface water allocation of 78 mega litres.

Ground water allocation with a nominal volume of 7.5 mega litres and volumetric limit of 8.3 mega litres per water year.

Tree Planting density based on 9m rows x 3.5m tree spacing's.


Planted early 2019:
A 203 variety
x 4719 trees
741
variety x
4742 trees
Daddow variety
x
4250 trees
MCT 1
variety x 210 trees


Planted December 2019 for cross pollination purposes:
842 variety x 351 trees
849 variety x 228 trees


TOTAL TREES 14,500.


Water use to date (# some of this water was used for cultivation/ripping management of the inter row via existing overhead infrastructure):
Year ending 30/6/2019
-
26.282 Megs
Year ending 30/6/2020
-
51.898 Megs
Dry year
Year ending 30/6/2021
-
57.559 Megs
Dry year


MANAGEMENT NOTES;
Herbicide spraying close to the tree row has been kept to a minimum to promote root mass & organic matter, both in ground & above ground (mulch) from grasses & legumes during the last 2 dry years. This is a key pillar driving our water use efficiency program. The spreading & incorporation of compost into the whole orchard floor soil profile has been performed earlier than normal to speed up the soil biology process towards healthier soil which will retain more moisture.

Deep ripping of the orchard has been undertaken annually to facilitate building greater depth of the topsoil layer. This also aerates the subsoil providing enhanced microbial activity which promotes better soil structure for the orchard floor long term & more significant root establishment underpinning orchard resilience in the event of severe weather including cyclones, droughts etc. Wider & deeper root establishment will also be promoted by the deep application of nutrients, organic matter & microbes further from the tree base.

Our holistic approach to a better soil ecosystem has so far been proven with an abundance of earthworm activity in the soil profile. Tree canopy management has just migrated from hand pruning to mechanical pruning which allowed us to structure the trees similarly with no weak branching due to low crotch angles & also give a clean, straight healthy trunk reducing the risk of damage by mechanical tree shakers as trees mature. These activities form part of our risk mitigation & tree resilience strategy's against pest, disease & adverse weather scenarios.