Abandoned apricots and vines laden with flowering grapes edge the Darling River as it meanders through the small Far West New South Wales town of Menindee.
The river is of great importance to the community — something Tony Lombardo knows well.
He is an orange and table grape grower, whose father moved to the region in the 1960s, bringing his horticultural skills from Italy.
The Lombardo’s oranges are typically ready to picked by April. (ABC Broken Hill: Lily McCure)
Withstanding the tests of time in such an industry does not come without its challenges, and as the seasons come and go in Menindee, so too do the growers.
But the region offers unique benefits for those who stay, and Mr Lombardo and his family continue their father’s legacy of harnessing these opportunities.
Menindee’s niche
The Darling River runs through the township of Menindee. (ABC Broken Hill: Lily McCure)
The Darling River encompasses rich Aboriginal cultural heritage alongside its role in agriculture, tourism, recreation and horticulture.
Grapes, oranges, watermelons and potatoes, among other crops, all occupy land in and around Menindee.
Steve Howse’s 15,000 grapevines sit neatly next to the murky Darling and rely on the precious resource.
Having transitioned from a career in Broken Hill’s mines 10 years ago, Mr Howse’s farm is the result of many hours establishing and maintaining the vines.
Menindee seedless grapes are the most common variety grown in the area. (ABC Broken Hill: Lily McCure)
He grows Menindee seedless grapes, which end up on the shelves of Australia’s largest supermarkets.
The plant variety, combined with Menindee’s climate and soil type, allows local producers to get their produce to market before the large growing regions like Sunraysia, in Victoria’s north west.
“We’re a very small grower in the big picture, so we don’t want to be competing with those guys,” Mr Howse says.
“We do have some nice soil out here and it just brings us into that early window, and that early window seems to fit in well for where we are.”
Australia’s table grape season typically runs from November to May.
Water brings people
On the back of the 2017–2019 drought that tore through the far west, Francesco Bozzi made the move to Texas Downs Station just outside Menindee.
With the river at a critically low level, the town was a different place to the buzzing community it is today.
“Everything was quite morbid and quiet,” Mr Bozzi says.
At Texas Downs station, Francesco Bozzi grows potatoes, watermelons and table grapes. (ABC Broken Hill: Lily McCure)
Despite the lack of water, Mr Bozzi and his family saw the potential to expand their horticultural operations, which were already well established in Mildura.
And their station, once scattered with old stone fruit trees and wine grapes, was promptly transformed to grow watermelons, potatoes and table grapes.
Since then Menindee has transformed and major flooding at the end of 2022 brought the water back, inundating homes and businesses in its wake.
The flood was closely followed by severe fish kills along the Darling River, which destroyed millions of native fish.
While these events devastated the community, the town remains resilient and the growers of the region have continued on.
Along with the renewed water access, the Bozzi family’s vision for the farm was also helped by Menindee’s unique position in the produce market.
“I guess in any sort of farming now days you really need to aim for your niche — and niche for a lot of produce is getting it in before Christmas,” Mr Bozzi says.
“It’s achievable in Menindee, so that was definitely the main reason we looked up here, and it does work.”
Potato crops growing between Menindee and Broken Hill, in far west New South Wales. (ABC Broken Hill: Lily McCure)
Mr Bozzi says since the events of 2022–2023, the community has been brought back to life.
“As soon as the water came, people came,” he says.
But Mr Lombardo says the region’s water fragility means it isn’t for everyone.
“If you’ve got water security, there’d be more farms,” he says.
“If you’ve got no water security it does become a bit depressing.”
The key ingredients
Richard Unsworth is an ex-table grape grower, and knows growing fruit and vegetables at scale comes with big demands.
He is now retired from farming after 15 years in the industry, but still bears witness to the flourishing crops of Menindee.
Ex-table grape grower Richard Unsworth still shares his knowledge with local growers. (ABC Broken Hill: Lily McCure)
Mr Unsworth says while each season as a farmer brought its own challenges, he never had a situation where he could not yield a crop.
“We grew table grapes every year when I was there,” he says.
Like any industry, horticultural production has evolved over time.
Mr Unsworth believes growers are making better decisions when it comes to their businesses, and have come to understand the importance of planting different types of crops.
Some orange trees in Menindee have produced fruit early this year. (ABC Broken Hill: Lily McCure)
“That’s the model that works,” he says.
“To me, when you diversify here, you’re not putting all your eggs in one basket.”
It’s a model people in agriculture know all too well.
Mr Unsworth says wise growers understand that if one crop has a bad year, they’ve got another one that can “cover it up”.
