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<pre>Some of the problem might be that the people Bill was asking were at a
conference aimed at harvesting and processing. Whilst that might seem
the wrong way around, to be fair to the people there, they have/should
have done all that before and wanted answers to more (dare I say it?)
pressing problems!
That being said, It sould be apparent to these self same people, that to
encourage new members into the industry, they have to seriously listen
to anyone with questions and then point them in the direction of the
"right" (or at least a fair approximation to the right) answer. If
someone suggested this forum as a place to get answers, they did Bill no
end of favours, as he will get answers aplenty! I am disappointed that
noone at the venue was prepared to have a shot at an answer.

Whilst I concurr with the sentiments axpressed by Mike, below, the
actual "answer" depends more on the result required. If Bill wants to
become self supporting on the olives, there is a greater need for more
trees (and possibly more cultivars - a belt and braces man, me!) than if
he is satisfied with a hobby farm and sufficient income to play around
with in retirement. If he hasn't already done so, I'd suggets to Bill
that he contact Julian Archer (who I know lurks around these corridors
of chat) and put the questions directly. I'd also suggest that Bill put
the questions he wants answered, as clearly as he can, on this group for
discussion.

My grove is 300+ trees, on a staggered 5m then 8m row spacing and 5m
inter tree. Reasoning? the harvesters were specified as requireing 8m
between rows, the alternate 8m rows will allow acces to one side of each
tree in each row. The harvesters were stated to need 5m between trees to
spread their batwings. Thus the intertree and even row spacing was 5m.
We needed a slightly higher density than the conventional 8 * 5 metres
to get a reasonable number of trees into our (strictly limited) space.
The land was bought before there was any suggestion of olives being
viable here, and we cannot expand (physically nor economically).

You cuts the suit to match the cloth!

John Attwood
Tamworth NSW Au

Mike Wilson wrote:

>> I went today to the Gingin ( town 1 hour north of Perth) with the
>> expectation of gaining some simple info on a question I have had for quite
>> some while. I want to know how much land to buy to start a small olive
>> grove with the intention in some 7 - 10 years time to supply fruit to the
>> local industry. How much land? Obviously a primary financial question,
>
> but
>
>> getting any answers proved harder than I thought, no matter how I put it.
>
>
>
> Bill,
>
> Interesting question, and to be honest, not the easiest one to answer
> definitively, but I'll have a go for you.
>
> Work on the assumption that an olive tree will yield around 40kg of fruit
> once mature (at 8/10 years) and will yield more than that under good
> conditions, but being sufficiently pessimistic to only budget for a low
> crop.
> 40kg of olives per tree ... but what will you do with the fruit? There is
> currently a high demand for oil making olives, and expect to receive about
> $1 per kilo for your fruit. The demand for pickling olives is lower, but
> they do sell (if in perfect condition) for around $3 per kilo.
> It is probably wise to avoid being tempted by the "multi-purpose" olives
> (here in the Hunter Valley of NSW we have had some serious problems making
> oil out of Manzanillo) and settle for the best possible species for your
> project.
>
> If you do decide to go for oil, and decide to plant (for example) Frantoio
> you may need to plant another species as a pollinator. Plenty of people on
> this group can advise you about this aspect.
>
> How many trees? Okay, at 40kg per tree and 250 trees to the hectare (spacing
> of 8m x 5m or thereabouts) should give you 10 tonnes per year, or $10,000
> income per hectare. How much income do you want to generate, and how much
> work are you going to do yourself, or pay somebody do for you.
>
> 10 hectares planted ... $100,000 a year income ... yourself and one other
> full time employee, repay bank loan, picking costs, council rates, power,
> diesel, equipment costs, irrigation costs....
>
> Or do you intend you buy your own press, make your own oil and market it
> yourself?
>
> Sorry, but there is no easy answer, but I hope these figures give you a bit
> of an idea of the variables. If you would like me to do a more detailed
> study for you, please get in touch off the list at
> mike.wilson@hunterlink.net.au and I'll go into more detail.
>
> Regards,
>
> Mike Wilson.
>
>
>
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