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<pre>Reporting to other growers on our yields so far this year from fruit
pressed for us on Cobram Estate's new Alfa Laval NX X19, which on our two
recent visits to Cobram has performed beatifully.

For other growers with access to NE Victoria, we can only say that, from
our point of view, we were most impressed with the machine and the service.

Our grove is situated in NE Victoria about 10 kms from Rutherglen. The
summer has perhaps been ideal for olives and we have not watered the trees
since before Christmas. Rainfall Jan-4 May: 145 ml. Summer: hot and clear
as a bell; autumn: fine weather has continued.

Our Paragon/Corregiola/Sevillano trees are 5 years old. Kalamatas, 4 years old.

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FIRST PRESSING 29.4.01

550 kgs - Paragon, mainly ripe
Yield: 19.2%
Comments: Lovely fresh grassy (new mown grass!) fruity oil with late
pepperiness in aftertaste. Wonderful on fresh bread.

147 kgs - 60% Kalamata, 40% Sevillano, mainly ripe
Yield: 17%
Comments: Perhaps even lovelier grassy oil with late pepperiness.
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SECOND PRESSING 14.5.01

737 kgs - Paragon and Corregiola (about 50/50), perhaps a third green
Yield: 16.3%
Comments: Similar in nose and marginally less fruity to taste than Paragon
pressed 29.4.01; good late pepperiness.

105 kgs - Oil Kalamata, 25% green
Comments: Delicious oil that Phil Ward, Cobram Manager, and others there
wanted to wrest away from us! Think Kalamata EVO is shaping up as our
favourite.
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Our Manzanillos are late in ripening this year (i.e. those trees we haven't
already removed), so we haven't pressed any yet. But even the ripe fruit
feels soggier than our other varieties mentioned.

We observed 1 tonne of Manzanillos being pressed yesterday for another
grower on the same Alfa Laval. Condition of fruit: fully ripe. Yield 12-13%
in what have probably been optimum growing conditions this season; a bit
better yield than last season's disasters across eastern OZ but hardly an
economic yield for producers, and well below the 20%+ growers were led to
expect by yon nursery up north.

And the Manzanillo oil quality? The taste was acceptable, reasonable you
could say, and there was some grassiness there but without the 'character'
of, say, Paragon, Correg, Sev or Kalamata; some pepperiness in the
aftertaste. Might make a fair blending oil. But, in our case, if we can't
get rather rather more than 12% yield and better properties from our
Manzanillos when they are pressed in next few weeks,they are all coming
out.

Looking forward to hearing how other olive growers are faring this season.



Ian Fraser and Jenny Davidson
Lyric Olives
<fraspub@albury.net.au>


PS: No chemicals/talcs etc. are used by the good people at Cobram Estate!
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<pre>Have heard rumours of a machine that can test olives for oil content prior
to harvest. Has anyone else heard of this type of device and where they may
be supplied from??

regards
Bill Kearney
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