Push it over. Pile it up. Strike a match.
That’s been the fate of thousands of avocado trees on Queensland’s Atherton Tablelands as growers rip out entire paddocks in search of more profitable crops.
Times may be tough for farmers, but one bloke is doing a roaring trade.
Greg Cummings is a local bulldozer operator.
And he’s never been busier.
“I don’t really keep a tally, but I reckon I’ve pushed over between 8,000 and 10,000 trees,” he says.
“It’s a very heartbreaking thing.”
A bonfire of uprooted avocado trees goes up in flames on Ron Blundell’s farm near Mareeba. (Supplied: Ron Blundell)
Honeymoon period over for crop
It was not too long ago that avocados were the next big cash crop, and farmers were racing to get roots in the ground.
The honeymoon period is over.
Prices are down, costs are up, and that sprint to sow has produced a glut in the market.
Growers like Ron Blundell are making tough decisions.
The Mareeba citrus, beef and sugarcane grower has uprooted his entire avocado crop of about 2,000 trees this year and plans to run cattle in their place.
“The price is just crippling … there’s no fun in going backwards,” Mr Blundell says.
“A lot of people are leaving the land vacant because they just don’t know what to do.”
But not everyone is getting out entirely.
Greg Cummings pushes uprooted avocado trees into a huge pile to be burnt. (Supplied: Greg Cummings)
Farmer replaces avocado with bananas
Peter Howe from Rock Ridge Farming is one of the Tablelands’ biggest avocado growers, with about 50,000 trees spread across various properties.
He has pulled about 10 per cent of his crop — mostly sick and dying trees on low-quality blocks that were hastily planted out when avocados were booming.
Most got waterlogged during Cyclone Jasper’s deluge late last year.
“Farmers are good at one thing,” he says.
“If the neighbours are making money out of something, we’ll copy him.
“Everyone will plant more and more of the same thing until [it] isn’t worth money anymore.”
A domestic oversupply of avocados has the industry looking to Asia to try forge new export markets. (ABC News)
Mr Howe plans to replant those vacated paddocks with bananas, but the bulk of his avocado operation will remain in place.
Yanking out and replacing 50,000 trees would be monstrously expensive — not to mention the years it would take for a replacement crop to bear fruit in any commercial quantity.
“It wasn’t so long ago that we could produce a tray of avocados for possibly $15,” Mr Howe says.
“Now we’re probably hitting $25 a tray — and that’s over two or three years.”
Peter Howe plans to stay in avocados despite pulling out about 10 per cent of his crop. (ABC Rural: Lucy Cooper)
WA’s bumper crop affects Qld
This oversupply is not sudden.
Avocados Australia chief executive John Tyas says North Queensland’s planting area has grown by 160 per cent over the past eight years.
Nationally, it has doubled.
“My understanding is that most of the trees that are being taken out … have been affected by weather events,” Mr Tyas says.
“We’re not hearing that it’s a widespread issue [outside Far North Queensland].
“But growers around the country have definitely been struggling over the past couple of years with increased supply.”
The Blundell family have ripped out and burnt their entire avocado crop of about 2,000 trees. (Supplied: Ron Blundell)
Western Australia’s Hass crop has also been a major factor to the dwindling prices of Queensland’s Shepard variety.
Mr Tyas says WA tends to have a cycle consisting of a bumper crop one year, and a lighter harvest the next.
“When they have a massive season like [the last one], they simply cannot harvest it and market it in the window that they normally would,” Mr Tyas says.
“They spill over into the Christmas and ultimately into the North Queensland season.
“[In] 2025 we won’t see that problem, but most likely in 2026 we’ll see it again — and it may be even worse.”
John Tyas hopes to ramp up exports to prevent future supply gluts. (ABC News: Lucas Hill)
Market grew too big, too quickly
The great hope right now is for an export deal to be struck with China.
Australian avocado exports have grown 600 per cent over the past three years, but that’s off a low base.
Even with thousands of trees being ripped out on the Atherton Tablelands, the North Queensland crop is expected to grow 20-25 per cent over two years.
“We’ve known this was coming for many years,” Mr Tyas says.
“We’ve been informing growers of that.”
It has been a case of getting too big, too quickly and the focus is now squarely on overseas markets.
“The limits were never tested because we saw that the more we grew, the more we could sell,” Mr Tyas says.
“I think people just thought that might continue.
“But I often scratch my head and wonder why so much area was planted so quickly.”
The avocado market has suffered from getting too big, too quickly. (ABC News: Bridget Fitzgerald)
Push, pile and purge
Even after all the paddocks he has flattened, Mr Cummings’ calendar is full of forward bookings.
“After doing so many, it’s not so tricky anymore,” he says.
“You watch where your water and electrical lines are.
“We’ll take them out, push them all down, and then we’ll put them in a pile so they can be burnt.”
The dozer operator finds it tough to knock down perfectly healthy trees.
But Mr Cummings is glad he can do it from the comfort of an air-conditioned cab — unlike the old days when wasp and bee attacks were an occupational hazard.
“They do follow me around outside the cab, so you can’t get out,” he says.
“Makes it a bit hard to go to the toilet when you need to.”
