PCA Northern Farm Tours

Last week, on the final day of the PCA (Protected Cropping Australia) conference, delegates were given the opportunity to complete farm visits around the surrounding area of Brisbane.  All three of the farm visits, on the Northern tour, I attended were magnificent and definitely worth the time to go and experience.  The hospitality and information shared was nothing less than superb.

Jongwe Inc. (trading as Bunya Fresh) have just planted their brand new 4 (plus 4.4 Ha on another site close by) Ha high-tech plastic greenhouse situated on the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, not far from one of my favourite Queensland destinations- Noosa.  Construction began in August last year.

Julian Long is the owner of Bunya Fresh and his children are involved with the busines, with one of the son’s the head grower.  The property has recently been commissioned and the plants had been delivered a few weeks ago from the propagator.

Below is a link with the specs of the greenhouse:

https://www.aisgreenworks.com.au/portfolio-items/bunya-fresh/

Check out my photos and comments below:

This greenhouse, supplied by the Richel Group (hyperlink) in conjunction with assistance from Apex Greenhouses Australia, is an impressive greenhouse purpose built for the local conditions.

Heat storage and water holding tanks.

The property is serviced by a gas boiler which is approximately 5 meg.  Half of the Co2 needs, for the property, are provided from the boiler and the other half will be from liquid Co2. 

Above are four of the eight LP Gas tanks on site.

The span of the greenhouse is 12.8 m and is very high to the continuous ridge ventilation.  There is also an energy screen.

The hanging gutters are stock standard with the irrigation drip system and a slightly visible purple Co2 line also attached under the gutter.  The layering hoops were novel and a good way to keep the stems out of the way but not sure how these will work at pull out.  You may also notice fans below this gutter in the distance.

The turn around hoops at the end of each row area a good practical design.

It was pleasing to see that the plants had already been layered.  This is an excellent idea to have this done as soon as possible after the plants have rooted in sufficiently.  This company is growing a cherry tomato.  This crop will be a short crop of seven months so it has not been grafted.  They have opted to have two plants per block with both plugs in a single hole 150×100 propagation block. 

A brand-new grading machine was being built in the packhouse ready for the first produce in around 4 weeks.  The service area was a great size with plenty of storage area.

Special thanks to Saskia Blanch and the Greenworks team for the introduction at Jongwe.

And thanks to Area Sales Manager Julian Fitte, from the Richel Group, for information regarding this build. 

I appreciate your comments.  Please feel free to comment below or on the grower2grower Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/StefanGrower2grower/

Article Written by Stefan Vogrincic, Consultant, Grower2Grower

Article Edited by Marie Vogrincic, Editor, Grower2Grower