‘New kid’ Neale always keen to give back
Merbein almond producer, Neale Bennett, pictured with loyal German Shepherd, Billy, has embraced the co-operative approach in the almond industry.
Neale Bennett
IT’S about 30 years since Neale Bennett was able to coax his father into planting the family’s first almond trees on their 40 acres near Merbein, Victoria.
He still considers it the best move he ever made.
Despite the three decades to pass since, Neale is adamant he is a ‘new kid on the block’ in the almond industry.
His family ties to the district span back to the early 1920s, when plasterer, WG “Bill” Bennett promptly leapt into the dried fruit industry.
Harold took over from his father, Bill, before Neale became the third generation on the family farm.
Prices started to decline in the dried fruit industry following deregulation, prompting Harold to start weighing up new crop choices.
“We were looking around for something else and at the time, dad was in Rotary with a bloke who had almonds out the other side of Merbein,” Neale recalled.
The pair visited the nearby grower but it was the younger of the two clearly more buoyant about the prospects of the new nut crop.
“Dad was a bit skeptical but we went out there together and when we got home, I said ‘I reckon we should give it a go’,” Neale said.
“He was disappointed in the way dried fruit was going but once we started producing decent crops, he came around pretty quickly. “I can see where he was coming from, looking back now.
“When you’ve got a family that has been in the one industry for 60 or 70 years, it’s a big call for some whipper-snapper to suddenly come along and say ‘hey dad, we’re going to do it this way’.” Even though Harold had initial reservations, Neale still felt fully supported.
“Mum was on board with me from the start and if mum was on board, then so was dad,” he said. “It was a challenge, because at the time there were probably three other almond growers in the Merbein district and maybe eight or nine in the Sunraysia area.
“I’m pretty sure I had people around here looking at me going ‘what are you doing planting almonds’, it was generally considered pretty radical.
“Now, it’s probably the best thing I ever did.
“I think that was one of the things we learned, is sometimes you have to eat humble pie but if it’s got a healthy serving of cream or ice cream, then you can eat basically anything.
” The Bennetts planted their first almond trees, just 3.5 acres, in 1992.
The industry was still in its relatively primitive years.
“It was sort of classed as a cottage industry,” Neale said.
“I remember trying to get some information on growing almonds and going into the Department of Agriculture, they gave me a one-page ag note that said ‘here you go, this is how you grow them in the back yard’.
” He turned to industry pioneers for information instead.
“That was the thing we found refreshing, I spoke with Andrew Lacey, Tom Martin, Paul Martin, guys around the Riverland, and I think because it was such a small industry, they helped out,” Neale said.
“They gave me a lot of advice, I rang with a lot of stupid questions, but they really helped a lot.” While the switch to almonds was going on, Neale was also engaged to wife, Debbie in 1992. “She was a school teacher, teaching at Nhill, and she came up one weekend and helped us plant,” he said.
“We were out there on a Saturday, freezing cold wind, belting down with rain every now and then, and she said ‘you realise this is the test, if I’m doing this, I’m going to marry you’. “It’s the one thing I’ve been really lucky with, Deb has supported me all the way through. “We’ve talked things through, even during the drought, working out what we were going to do with water, and I got pretty cranky.
“We’ve still made wrong decisions but you try to limit those and that’s just from talking to people and asking for advice.
”The Bennetts made substantial changes to their watering techniques in the mid 90s.
“We noticed the improvement in crop size once we started getting the water right,” Neale said.
A growers course, run over a 12-month period by consultant, Graham Johns, also proved fruitful.
“They went for about 12 months, but in that time we dealt with fertiliser, irrigation, bees, growing conditions, the whole gamut,” Neale said.
“We started tweaking things from that and getting good results from our trees.
“Graham helped change a few things in the almond industry, and the way we grew them here.” By the early 2000s, the Bennetts had completely finished planting their entire home block.
Neale’s introduction with Almondco came when it was time to deliver his first crop of almonds. “Everyone else around here was delivering to Almondco and they said ‘ring up this guy’, at that stage it was Peter Bartlett, and we’ve always sent our crop that way since,” he said.
Neale believed Almondco’s quality standards has been crucial to the industry’s ongoing success. “I think they are leading the way on quality with some of the things they’ve done over the years,” he said.
“Not long after I started growing, they produced something I considered revolutionary, an orchard hygiene book.
“That was produced in the mid 90s, so it has taken until the last four years of so where everyone in the industry sees that as the way to go with orchard hygiene.
“So Almondco has been the leader there.
”Neale said the product they produce now attracts a premium on export markets.
“CEO Brenton Woolston has always spoken about how buyers want good quality but it’s only when you go overseas and start talking to buyers from over there where it really hits home,” he said.
“Almondco is renowned for it now.
“I always thought it was a bit of lip service we were told as growers but it is true, Almondco has a brilliant name when it comes to export quality produce.
“I know they won’t compromise on standards, if you want quality, then that is the premium you pay.
”The orchard hygiene standards are integral to a clean, marketable product.
“If we want to maintain the quality, we have to do these things,” Neale said.
“Everything is pretty stringent now but that’s what the market is demanding.
“You’ve got to be on the cutting edge of all that information, or you get left behind, but it’s good that pressure is put back on us, we reap those benefits from producing higher quality crops, which in turn is a lot easier to market.”
The time is now approaching for the next phase of almond production for Neale, as his trees near age 30 and thoughts of replanting start emerging.
With a new challenge comes new questions, including what variety to plant, each with different properties, such as harder shells, or self pollination.
“Or do we stick with nonpareil, which has its problems but we know we can get a premium in the marketplace?” Neale posed.
“That is on the horizon, they are the challenges and part of the consolidation we are going to be looking at.
“It’s going to be a learning curve from a different point of view, some 30 years later.” Still, the support network behind him, not only Almondco but other growers in the industry, gives Neale all the self-assurance he needs to attack the new era with confidence.
It’s that very attitude he also looks to uphold when approached for advice.
“I’ve got no hesitation when someone asks me about anything, to me it’s a right of passage, you pass the knowledge on into the industry, that was the impression they left on me,” he said.
“We’ve had phone calls from others planting and I just said ‘look, these are the mistakes I made’ and hopefully that saved them some time and energy.
“I remember the way I was treated when I came into the industry, so I have no problems answering questions because I’ve been in that same situation.”
Of all the key messages Neale took away from the many conversations he had with those who have ‘been there, done that’, Tom Martin’s words of wisdom stand out.
“Work where you want to be in 10 years, and then work backwards,” Neale recalled.
“That’s probably the best advice I’ve been given.
“You have your idealistic ‘Nirvana’ and then work back to map out how to get there.”
He probably isn’t quite at his own personal Nirvana, and perhaps that’s more of a figure of speech than a literal place, but Neale is more than comfortable with how things have panned out.
“I like the industry, I can see the product isn’t a one-trick pony, it’s versatile,” he said. “I don’t think we’re going away in a hurry either.”
Almondco’s structure, from corporate backing to the grower shareholders, and its various packing and processing plants, plays a key role in Neale’s mind.
“I see it as a good set up,” he said.
“There’s pitfalls in everything if you look hard enough, but the good core basics are there.” You can detect a sincere sense of pride and appreciation in Neale’s voice when he speaks about his farm and the wider industry.
“Sometimes you feel sorry for yourself but then stop and think ‘gee, we’ve come a long way from where we started’,” he said.