Stanthorpe growers are singing in the rain as Storm King Dam levels peaked overnight.
APAL director and apple grower Rosie Savio said some districts had received up to 180 mm of rain over the past week. “The rainfall has raised spirits in our region and it has done wonders for the apple crop,” Rosie said. “We’ve had to stop picking for a few days but now the sun is out!”
Rosie said the heavy rainfall won’t impact the quality of the fruit this far into the season. “The quality of our crop is superb, we’re currently packing Jazz™ apples and they are beautiful. This is one of the best crops we’ve had in Stanthorpe for a few years.”
Since January 2020, more than 500 million litres of water have been carted from Warwick to Stanthorpe daily for household use, at a cost of $10 million.
There was concern over the quality of this season’s crop due to limited water supply. Stanthorpe produces one sixth of Australia’s apple production which is worth approximately $100 million to the local economy in an average year.
For more information: apal.org.au