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<pre>Peter:

At last night's meeting in Wodonga, our Coop Board was aghast at the poor
yields being reported for Manzanillo. But while <0.1% may be amazing, other
typical yields of 4-6% are scarcely much better, as for example Mac
McCulloch is getting at Inverell - a long way from Bendigo or here.

How can growers be expected to make a living from these yields? Just not
economic, especially when sums in business plans were based on an
anticipated 20% or so. You can't help but wonder how many seasons will come
near 20% without having to turn somersaults, put the fruit through the
ringer so to speak, or leave it until it looks like lizards' skin, in the
business of teasing out every drop of oil by various artifices, additives?
Might unearth some oil, but flavour, aroma, nutritional qualities...?
What's the point?

Anyway, it's becoming clearer by the minute that Ms are predominantly a
pickling variety, not a great choice for quality oil. Tends to be bland
into the bargain. So where does all this leave folk like us who, by one
means or another, now find themselves with two thirds of their 'oilers' as
Manzanillos? You'll lose marks if you mention barbed wire boats in your
answer!

So the Board has asked us to write a piece for the next newsletter. At the
moment it goes only to Coop members, but last night the view was expressed
that we should be exchanging newsletters with other Coops + grower
organisations. Sharing information. OZ needs to develop a quality industry
after all, and inf sharing must play a big part in it.

You can well imagine this next newsletter will provide real food for
thought among those who, on advice received, planted hectares of
Manzanillos for oil; and there are plenty of others close to putting them
in the ground this winter/spring. What would you recommend they do?

Like you, we'd like to know which M sub-cv's Julian has, and has made
available in the past. Perhaps it's best if we fax and ask, and can then
pass the inf on to you and other interested subscribers. On M subcultivars,
it appears there may be 20 or more around the globe, perhaps no one knows
quite how many.

Glendy Minty (Binderee Grove in NE Vic) tells me that her reading of the
literature indicates that different M sub-cv's will reveal the same DNA
when tested, but their growth habit, fruit size etc. can vary in subtle
ways. If this is so, is it possible that some sub-cv's may also reveal
differences in fruiting, oil yields, disease proneness, suitability for OZ
conditions etc.? Could anyone - in OZ, NZ or further distant - comment on
this?

Antonio suggested a difference between 'Manzanilla' and 'Manzanillo', but
they're the same variety, aren't they? Depends whether you're Spanish or
Italian?

Things are still looking ok for us to travel to Bendigo first thing 19 May
with our Frantoias. The gods be thanked that they seem likely to offer up
some decent oil (quality and quantity) for us to sell at the Beechworth
Harvest Festival and the Rutherglen Wine Weekend in June. Have just
finger-squeezed some fruit and it's not soggy like the Manzanillos (tried a
couple of ripe ones again just now and they just went squish with fluid,
like a jet from a water pistol), has good taste (bitter, naturally) and
aroma, and has a nice oiliness on the fingers. So 'fingers crossed' that we
can be cheered up by the Frantoias and get a few $s coming in for a change,
particularly at this time when so little locally produced oil is available
and we can ask a little more for it. Gianni says that he can probably get
up to $40 a litre for his best oil this season, but this won't last for
future years when there's much more of it around.

All the best in these uncertain times and climes.


Ian & Jenny


PS. Just read Prof Fabbri's email. Did you notice his penultimate sentence?
'Manzanillo is among the best table cvs in the world, but is not to be
chosen for oil.' Must get round to answering all these kind people who've
been providing interesting comments and advice on saga of '(De)pressing
Olives'. At least, we've got real supporters out there, scattered all over
the place.

PPS. On a slightly different tack, how do you ensure that the pickling
liquid you mentioned in an email remains at 12.5% salt, if you don't change
it completely?



================================================== ==============================

>Ian
>
>This method is often used (starting to shrivel) as a way of obviating
>excessive water. Indeed I have attempted such myself with some effect in
>1998. Your olives, still sitting in their bins at my factory, have not
>changed one iota.
>
>I look forward to receiving the information that may be generated by your
>co-ops meeting tonight.
>
>With respect to "the purpose of Spanish Manzanilla cultivar is generally
>known as table olives. The oil content value is seldom reported. Can you
>tell us which type of Manzanilla were planted in Australia?" I must admit I
>am most curious. Again I refer to both the Californian Olive Production
>Manual and Bertini's (Australia 1960) who quantify oil yields as being in
>the (up to) 26%. Burr writes of the Manzanilla as yielding 93 kgs of fruit
>from 14 year old trees but doesn't mention oil outcomes. Nor, for that
>matter, is there any suggestion that there may be differentiation within the
>cv. Comments are also made by Burr that Manzanillo oil "is acceptable" but
>is this what we aspire to?
>
>Bertini writes of "Manzanilla being of certain varietal types; Barelanca in
>certain areas, Manzante & Manzanera in Aragon, Alquecerana in Huesca,
>Villalonga in Albaida, Carlet, Jativa & Fornas in Enguera, De Val De
>Gallinera in certain areas of Albaidia, Gandia and Sagunto".
>
>Now I just wonder which one we have in Oz that has been planted out at a
>rapid rate and which, if a table fruit, will never match the imported
>variety in terms of cost. I would be more than curious to know the sub cv
>of Manzanillo that the States quote for their oil production.
>
>Equally, I would be more than interested in gaining a response from Julian
>(of Olives Australia) re the above.
>
>Regards
>
>
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<pre>Ian

Fascinating but, overall, depressing reading the comments from around the
world. I have emailed Julian of OA directly and shall forward a copy after
this note. As a processor I read the literature beforehand and had come to
the conclusion that M's were good for oil. I did not then appreciate the
variance in sub-cv's. Brian C made a very strong point in NZ back in 97
(?).

Growers will simply NOT make a living from these yields - even at 6% or
12%. You need minimum 18%! And you will NOT be able to sell as fresh fruit
nor even pickle the variety at anything near the cost of production. Fully
cured Kalamatas arrive on out shore at $A3.50-$4/kg and the same is true of
other varieties. At the moment I pay $A3.50 to pick the bloody things
although this will change of course.

Please feel free to print that little article (with annotations if you wish)
that I wrote for our newsletter. Quite frankly I would not feel so bound by
any qualms about scaremongering. The sooner it is out in the public arena
the better. If refuted then well and good. If not then perhaps growers can
consider their options more fully.

What would I do? Await considered discussion on same and try to determine
cultivar. If it looks bad then I would not hesitate to either a) replace
trees and wait another 4 years or b) take advantage of the established
rootstock and graft. The latter should be cheaper in the long run as one
would expect greater growth from such a root system. Of course this means a
hiatus in the development of the industry but ......? Age may overtake
those of us who sought a mature age change of life but age should give us
the wisdom to appreciate same.

Re salt in pickling. I do not ensure that the brine remains constant at
12.5% but it certainly seems to work. Of course scum appears from time to
time. This is flushed off and water topped up so the solution does dilute
over time. Final salt adjustments are made when the curing process is over.

Regards
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