O’Keeffe calls for netting funding for growers

By Shepparton News

Apr 10, 2023

Appeal: Netting that was damaged at an orchard on Ferguson Rd during a storm at Tatura on December 23, 2022. Photo by Megan Fisher

State Member for Shepparton Kim O’Keeffe has called for an update to the horticulture netting program, following a devastating hailstorm across the Goulburn Valley last month.

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Ms O’Keeffe said the last round of the program closed in October 2022.

There was a nearly $21 million asset loss to growers in the Goulburn Valley as a result of the March 23 storm, according to Fruit Growers Victoria.

The program was established to assist horticultural primary producers to increase resilience by reducing exposure to crop damage through the purchase and installation of netting over existing horticultural crops.

Growers were eligible for up to 50 per cent of the cost to purchase and to have a third party install new permanent netting and/or drape netting, up to a maximum of $100,000.

“The impacts of these crop losses experienced by the local horticultural industry across the Shepparton district not only affects local growers in my electorate but it also affects other businesses that rely on the supply of this fruit,” Ms O’Keeffe said.

“The only remaining fruit is in areas that were protected by netting.

“Research has shown that protective netting helps growers produce better crops, in higher numbers, and that nets can also reduce water usage by up to 30 per cent.”