Protecting Montague Farms' cherries with Valente Multi-shield

Consistent supply of high quality fruit is key to financial success for fruit growers says Andrew Maughan of Montague Farms. 

But, Mr Maughan highlighted extreme weather events as a major challenge to this goal. 

This year, Montague Farms is installing Valente Multi-shield, to protect high density cherry plantings from rain, hail, birds, wind and sun and to insure the value of their harvest for decades to come. 

“Extreme weather events have become increasingly common in recent years, making crop protection more essential than ever,” Mr Maughan said. 

“Maintaining a consistent fruit supply for our customers is crucial, and partial or total crop losses due to adverse weather conditions jeopardise this goal combined with the financial losses. 

“We chose Valente's Multi-Shield system for our new high-density, high-yielding cherry plantings because of its dual protection, which provides rain coverage as well as netting for hail and bird control."

Montague Farms new cherry planting: Valente concrete posts provide a robust structure to support rain cover, hail net and the tree.

The decision to install Valente systems followed in-depth research by Montague Farms and Mr Maughan said he had spent about 15 years, observing the positive impact of Valente protective covers. 

“Before selecting and installing our crop protection systems, we conducted extensive research, including industry consultations, supplier evaluations, field trials and case studies, climate and risk analysis, economic assessments, and compatibility testing with our orchard systems,” Mr Maughan said.

“Valente's long-standing expertise in orchard protection systems made their product a strong contender for our needs. 

“Their system is a fully engineered, comprehensive kit, backed by decades of industry experience in Europe. 

“Having observed Valente systems in use across European fruit-growing regions for over 15 years I have good confidence in their reliability and effectiveness."

As Montague Farms New Business and Innovation Manager, Mr Maughan said the cherry crop was a high value planting that needed to be protected. 

“Our primary goal is to safeguard our cherry crop from two major threats: rain and bird damage,” Mr Maughan said. 

“The new high-density plantings, where we are implementing protection systems, are high-yielding blocks, and we cannot afford to risk partial or complete crop losses on a recurring basis.” 

Mr Maughan said there were additional benefits to protecting crops under multi-shield such as less wind, less exposure to extreme temperatures, better size and potential for an early harvest. And by attracting a higher price for fruit, rising costs could be managed better.

“The most significant shift in the industry during the past 30 years has been the rising cost of production, which continues to outpace revenue increases from fruit sales,” Mr Maughan said. 

“However, partial or complete crop losses are unsustainable, making crop protection systems important for minimising risk. 

“Additionally, these systems improve overall fruit quality by reducing exposure to weather-related stressors such as wind and direct sunlight.”

Mr Maughan has more than 30 years of experience in the horticulture industry, with the past 22 years spent in the Goulburn Valley, primarily focused on pome fruit and stone fruit. His roles span multiple facets of the supply chain, including sales and marketing, packing, new variety commercialisation, and orchard development.

Valnete multi-shield is a crop protection system that combines retractable hail net and retractable rain cover on the same support system for superior protection from rain, hail and birds. For more information visit our crop protection range here.