Vince Vigliaturo runs six hectares of cherries around Ardmona and sells the produce direct to the community through his Midland Hwy fruit shop.
“I’ve been growing cherries 20 years and this is the worst rain event I’ve seen,” Mr Vigliaturo said.
“Rain has a high nitrate content and the cherries grow so quickly the skin can’t keep up and they split.”
The fruit picker shortage is also complicating matters.
“All the good pickers are in the cemetery. We’re had a few come out to have a go and make a bit of money but really we’re relying on Asian and PNG contractors,” Mr Vigliaturo said.
“It’s difficult without the backpackers, and farmers have to compete against each other for them.”
Mr Vigliaturo said he’d left at least two hectares of his own orchard unpicked.
“We went in and got the low stuff but it wasn’t worth picking because of the quality ... it costs you $1 a kilo to grow the stuff, $2 to pick it, $1.80 to put it through the grader then you add the box. It’s getting beyond a joke to make a $1 profit.
“There were times where, if we had the pickers, we could have gotten cherries off before the rain came in and ruined them.”
At the fruit shop premium cherries are selling for $15 a kilo and split cherries are discounted.
“We’re always cheaper than the supermarkets because we’re fresh and local,” Mr Vigliaturo said.
“Big cherry areas like Cobram, Wangaratta and down south all got worse rain than us.
“I’ve had a couple of agents call me chasing good quality stuff because it’s so hard to get. Christmas cherry prices will be at a premium.”
Mr Vigliaturo makes his low-grade fruit into jams which he also sells through the fruit shop.
The fruit shop is open only eight weeks a year, across November and December.