Bilpin's apple industry could be dead within five years if grey-headed flying foxes are allowed to continue their assault on its orchards, an expert has claimed.
Orchardist and former member of the NSW Flying Fox Consultative Committee, Ed Biele, told The Gazette some of Bilpin's apple growers have lost more than half their crop to flying foxes in the past two weeks.
He said unless the government subsidised the purchase and installation of flying-fox proof netting to cover orchards, Bilpin's apple industry could be non-existent in five years.
"Farmers can't sustain these kinds of loses year after year," he said. "Bilpin has prospered for 200 years as an apple producer without the need for netting, but if farmers don't get coverage over their fields now, they won't survive into the future."
Farmers and flying foxes, or fruit bats as they are also known, have long been at war, with the animals descending in their thousands on orchards to eat the fruit at the start of apple and stonefruit season.
But it is often their flight, not bite, that causes the most loss to trees, with the flurry of the flying foxes wings and their weight as they land on top of the tree, responsible for causing thousands of apples to fall onto the ground. Once they hit the soil, farmers are unable to sell them for human consumption, meaning lost income.
Netting has been identified as the most effective way of protecting fruit trees and its installation was a key recommendation in a May 2009 report by the NSW Flying Fox Licensing Review Panel, of which Mr Biele was a panel member.
The report recommended the current method of licensed shooting of the animals be phased out and the government provide grants to farmers of $20,000 per hectare to net orchards with full-exclusion netting. The report estimated the government cost would be a one-off payment of between $5 million and $6 million.
A response from Environment Minister Frank Sartor is due any day, but his spokesperson would not confirm a date.
Meanwhile, Bilpin's apple growers are coming to terms with yet another year of big losses.
Pinecrest Orchard's John Galbraith estimated the damage would climb into the hundred of thousands of dollars for growers across the district.
"More than half my Jonathans [apples] are gone," he said.
"I wasn't game to come into the orchard one morning last week after a really bad attack the previous night. It took me about an hour of wandering to come to terms with it. It's heartbreaking, not just financially but emotionally as well."
As a 37-year veteran of growing apples here, Mr Galbraith said the flying foxes have gotten worse in the past five years.
"It's because all the urban development on our eastern seaboard has pushed them further inland and further south," he said.
"That's why we want the government to subsidise the netting."
Cedric Leathbridge, owner of Bilpin Springs Orchard, believes he's lost closer to 80 per cent of his crop of new season Fujis and 60 per cent of Jonathan apples.
He said it's virtually impossible to insure against the loss, with premiums the equivalent to a third of the worth of his crop.
"I've tried everything to keep them [flying foxes] away," he said.
"We've used materials that give off a foul scent, a fungicide that acts as a deterrent, electronic and distress calls, strobe lighting, powerful floodlights, a gassed gun bird scarer and air cannons that give off loud booms, but nothing really works. I don't want to shoot and I don't think it's the right way to go. Netting is definitely the best option."
Both men said they've spoken to many growers around the district and all are in the same boat.
"It's too expensive to net by ourselves, but we can't keep this up. We really need an answer from the government now," he said.
Email a friend
Favourites
Del.icio.us
Facebook
Digg
StumbleUpon
MySpace
Reddit
Newsvine
LinkedIn
Kwoff
Twitter