Chair Chat with Citrus SA Chair, Mark Doecke

In this episode of The Citrus Segment, Citrus SA Chair Mark Doecke discusses:

• Season update – late varieties still in demand, but fruit size and pack outs have been mixed.
• Juice fruit markets – prices dropping back after last year’s highs.
• Fruit fly management – how the industry is working with PIRSA to target hotspots in Renmark and push for regional “decoupling.”
• Royal Adelaide Show – What’s planned for Citrus SA’s stall this year.

🎧 The Citrus Segment is the official podcast of Citrus SA, the peak body representing citrus growers in South Australia.

In this episode of The Citrus Segment, Kerrie Lush-Robertson sits down with Citrus SA Chair Mark Doecke for a timely update on the South Australian citrus season.

Mark shares what’s currently being picked across the region—including early Satsuma mandarins and M7 navels—and why this year’s fruit quality is looking strong after a more typical Riverland summer. He also provides a detailed fruit fly update, including persistent hotspots in parts of Renmark, and outlines the steps being taken to address the issue.

Mark discusses recent meetings in Griffith and Adelaide, including talks with Riverina growers and Minister Clare Scriven, and previews the upcoming season launch event on May 30 at the Adelaide Central Market.

Tune in for practical insights, seasonal outlooks, and the latest from the team representing citrus growers across South Australia.

Welcome to The Citrus Segment, the official podcast of Citrus South Australia, the peak body representing citrus growers in the region. In this episode, Kerrie Robertson sits down with Citrus SA Chair Mark Doecke for the latest instalment of The Chair Chat, covering the current state of the season, fruit fly updates, and insights from international industry visitors.

Key Topics Covered:

🍊 Season Update – How growers are managing irrigation, heat stress, and gearing up for the 2025 season.
☀️ Sunburn Prevention – The role of irrigation and kaolin clay sprays in protecting citrus crops.
🦟 Fruit Fly Control – Progress in the Riverland, the impact of sterile insect release, and final eradication efforts.
🌍 International Industry Exchange – Insights from a Moroccan citrus delegation visiting Waikerie, including their water challenges and industry size.
📅 What’s Next? – Upcoming meetings with the State Minister, regulatory reviews, and ongoing industry initiatives.

👥 Stay Connected with Citrus SA:
🌐 Website: www.citrussa.com.au

🔔 Don’t forget to subscribe so you never miss an episode of The Citrus Segment!

In this episode, Kerrie Robertson chats with Mark Doecke, Chair of Citrus South Australia, to discuss the latest updates on the citrus industry in South Australia as the season wraps up.

Here’s what you can look forward to:

• Season Update: Insights into the final stages of the season, including Valencia orange sales and juice fruit trends.
• Juice Prices: Discover how global factors like Florida's declining production and Brazil’s citrus greening disease have impacted juice fruit prices for South Australian growers.
• Seasonal Conditions: Mark shares how frost, rainfall, and average temperatures have influenced crops and tree health this year.
• Pests and Diseases: Encouraging news about fruit fly management and updates on other pest control efforts.
• International Visitors: A group from Nepal toured the Riverland, learning about Australian citrus farming practices.
• Innovation in Pest Management: Progress updates on citrus gall wasp traps, including testing and development milestones.
• Media Highlights: Riverland citrus was recently featured on South Aussie with Cosi. Learn how this promotion is benefiting the industry.
• Festive Message: Mark reflects on a successful year and shares his best wishes for growers during the festive season and into 2025.

🌟 Don’t Miss Out!
This is the final Chair Chat for 2024, so tune in to hear all the latest insights and reflections on the citrus industry.

📢 Subscribe Now
If you enjoyed this episode, don’t forget to subscribe to the Citrus Segment podcast so you won’t miss any future updates.

Happy holidays and best wishes for a successful 2025! 🍊

This month's conversation between Citrus SA chair Mark Doecke and Kerrie Lush-Robertson covers topics including:

*Upcoming AGM and why it is crucial for growers to attend to determine the future of Citrus SA.

*How the season is progressing

*The pickers handbook has been translated to Punjabi and is now available

*The Royal Adelaide Show - another successful year

The Citrus Segment: Episode Summary

Host: Kerrie (Lush) Robertson
Guest: Mark Doecke, Chair of Citrus SA

In this episode of The Citrus Segment, we catch up with Mark Doecke, to discuss the current state of the citrus season in South Australia and other industry updates.

Key Topics Covered:

1. Current Citrus Season Overview:
• The season has seen good tonnages and high-quality fruit, leading to increased packing shed throughput.
• The favourable conditions from a normal spring and summer have positively impacted fruit quality.
2. Impact of Weather Conditions:
• Recent rains and frosts have not significantly harmed the fruit. In fact, they have helped improve the quality and colour of the citrus.
3. Export and Domestic Sales:
• The majority of the fruit is being exported, particularly to Asia, with smaller shipments to America and India.
• Domestic sales are steady, and high-quality exports have prevented the usual surplus in the domestic market.
4. Juice Market Trends:
• Juice prices are notably high due to a global shortage, making even typically low-value juice fruit profitable this year.
5. Upcoming Adelaide Show Preparations:
• The Citrus SA is gearing up for another big year at the Royal Adelaide Show, with plans to engage visitors through freshly squeezed juices, fruit displays, and educational initiatives.
6. Promoting the Citrus Industry:
• Citrus SA is collaborating with "South Aussie with Cosi" to promote the industry through television and social media, while emphasizing the importance of keeping South Australia fruit fly-free.
7. Fruit Fly Management Efforts:
• Significant progress has been made in controlling the fruit fly population, with certain areas being fruit fly-free for over a year. The Port Augusta facility plays a crucial role in this effort.
8. National Water Agreement Consultation:
• Mark discusses the recent consultation on the National Water Initiative and its implications for water management in Australia, including the Murray-Darling Basin.
9. Upcoming Citrus S.A. AGM:
• The AGM is scheduled for October 11th at 10am at the Riverland Event Centre, focusing on financial strategies following Costa Farms' decision to reclaim their levies, and featuring a trade display for growers.

Closing Remarks:

Don't forget to read more about these topics in the latest Citrus S.A. newsletter available on their website. Stay tuned for more updates and insights from the citrus industry in our next episode.

In this episode of the Citrus Segment, brought to you by Citrus SA we speak to Mark Doecke for his monthly Chair Chat. This month, fruit fly continues to be a hot topic. Particularly with the South Australian season about to kick off. We also cover immature fruit and why it's not helpful for the industry if fruit goes to market too early.

In this episode of The Citrus Segment, brought to you by Citrus SA , we’re back to normal programming with our monthly chair chat with Mark Doecke. 

Mark shares what the committee has been dealing with over the past month or so. 

These issues include: 

·       Fruit Fly

·       ICA 30 around fruit movement

·       Gall Wasp trap development

·       Freshcare citrus version update

Amanda Wells, is a PhD candidate, researching the environmental history of citrus growing in the Riverland between 1948 and 1970.

In this episode, Amanda explains what she’s been exploring and why.

After every Citrus SA committee meeting, Chair Mark Doecke provides a comprehensive update on the committee's recent activities. In the latest update:

1. Harvest Highlights: Mark reports the navel season has concluded and Valencia harvest is well underway. Growers are reporting a slight kick in prices for Valencia oranges.
2. Fruit Fly Update: The ongoing battle against fruit flies remains a priority. Mark highlights that the number of detections is notably low, thanks in part to the release of sterile fruit flies by PIRSA. The introduction of up to 40 million steriles per week is proving to be a highly effective strategy.
3. Industry Representation in Canberra: Mark shares his participation in a Taste the Basin event, where he engaged with politicians in Canberra to showcase the citrus industry.

Mike Arnold has been a fruit grower at Waikerie for more than seven decades and he’s been instrumental in the development of the citrus industry nationally, particularly in the areas of propagation and variety improvement. 

Some of his roles over the years have included:

Chairman of Auscitrus after the merging of the Australian Propagation and the Australian Citrus Improvement Associations in 2001 and chair of the Australian Citrus Improvement Society of which he was a founding member.

He’s also a stalwart of his local community in Waikerie, recently recognised by the South Australian Country Fire Service for his 62 years of volunteering. 

His sons have followed in his footprints both with the CFS and horticultural industries, just as he did when he returned to the family farm almost seventy years ago. 

Steve Burdette says Mike has always had a great interest in plant health, variety development and rootstocks. 

“He’s always been an example of how people unselfishly donate their time in not just the best interests of the industry but the growers as well. 

“I think a lot of people totally underestimate what Mike has contributed.” 

Gary Eyles, from Eyles Citrus says Mike has been instrumental in the success of Auscitrus.

“He’s been very passionate about Auscitrus and about having the buds and seeds that Auscitrus produce being clean and being the basis of a nice clean industry here in Australia,” he said.

He’s also well renowned for his love of a very particular desert. 

“If you ever go for dinner with Mike, he invariably asks for icecream and sprinkles, Gary said.

“It’s quite a joke, especially around the Auscitrus board table….to the point where I’ve seen some of the board members bring along some sprinkles, just for Mike.” 

In recent years orange juice has received some negative press due to its perceived high sugar content. 

But researchers at Nutrition Research Australia have been able to provide data from a study, which shows there’s a need to look at the whole product and the benefits it can provide. 

Tim Casserati is the director of translational science at Nutrition Research Australia and says while vitamin C might be the obvious and most well-known health benefit from 100 per cent orange juice – it also contains many micronutrients and anti-inflammatory properties. 

“When we look at the data for 100 per cent juices – all juices, what we find is there is actually more benefit than there is harm,” he said.

“The strongest evidence is that there’s benefits for heart health and anti-inflammatory effects.

“Some of the benefits for heart health was a reduction in blood pressure and also a reduction in inflammatory markers. 

“When we think about juice we automatically think, high sugar, low fibre but when we actually dive into what’s in juice, it’s an incredibly complex mixture of a range of different plant chemicals.

“We know that it has good micronutrients profiles so that’s comparable to whole fruit so that’s things like vitamin C, folate, potassium – we know that these micronutrients can support health.

“Vitamin C has many effects in the body, it can support immunity, while potassium can help lower blood pressure so these micronutrients are high in juice and can play a role in health.”

Mr Casserrati says juice also contains bioactive compounds, particularly polyphenol.

‘These are compounds found in plant foods like fruits and vegetables that give them their flavour and colour and they’re often known as antioxidants, but they have a lot more function in the body than antioxidants,” he said.

“They can have pre-biotic affects which means they can feed the good bugs in our guts, they also can have heart protective properties, anti-diabetic properties or support our brain health. 

“Interestingly, 100 percent orange juice is one of the richest sources of these polyphenols in our diet.”

This podcast is hosted by Kerrie Lush-Robertson and produced by Citrus SA.

Interested to know what happens behind the scenes at Citrus SA. After each committee meeting (held on the fourth Tuesday of each month), join chair Mark Doecke and Kerrie Robertson as they discuss the issues and activities of the committee over the past month. The latest episode discusses the European earwig project, a season update and much more.

Interested to know what happens behind the scenes at Citrus SA. After each committee meeting (held on the fourth Tuesday of each month), join chair Mark Doecke and Kerrie Robertson as they discuss the issues and activities of the committee over the past month. In this chat we talk about the expansion of the Sterile Insect Technology facility at Port Augusta which will more than double the amount of flies being produced to control Queensland Fruit Fly in the Riverland. We also cover the QLD Study Tour, upcoming citrus season launch and much more.

Interested to know what happens behind the scenes at Citrus SA. After each committee meeting (held on the fourth Tuesday of each month), join chair Mark Doecke and Kerrie Robertson as they discuss the issues and activities of the committee over the past month. In this chat we talk about the season ahead, Freshcare audits, fruit fly management and the annual operations plan. We also ask for growers input into what they see as the main priorities for the next financial year.

Wondering what happens behind the scenes at Citrus SA? After each committee meeting,  join chair Mark Doecke and Kerrie Robertson as they discuss a few of the issues, progress and activity of the committee over the past month. 

It will come as no surprise to growers that albedo breakdown is quite widespread this season across the three major growing areas.

At a Citrus SA seminar late last month, former citrus researcher Michael Treeby said it was improbable that every grower in the Riverina, Sunraysia and the Riverland forgot to apply preventative treatments this season.

So, what is causing it?

“The effect of season appears to us, from our data - from our limited data - to be greater than the degree of control we can deliver by calcium or gibberellic acid (GA),” he said.

Sterile Queenland Fruit Fly are being grown out at the McCormick Centre in Renmark, ready for release across the Riverland, to help in the fight against the pest.

Fruit Fly coordinator Brett Kennedy took us on a tour of the facility recently and I asked Brett to explain the process.