COMBINED RUTHERGLEN & BELVOIR-WODONGA ROTARY MEETING – HELD AT THE HOTSON’S CHERRY FARM ON 2^ND DECEMBER 2009 The Rotary clubs of Rutherglen & Belvoir (Wodonga) got together on beautiful balmy evening on Wednesday 2^nd December & descended on Bill & Lois Hotson for their club meeting.  The Hotson’s own & run a cherry farm at Old Cemetery Road in Chiltern.  Bill, an active member of the Rutherglen Club, kindly offered to host the meeting at his farm, where we were given a guided tour of his cherry processing plant & orchard. The tour kicked off at the processing plant where Bill & Lois demonstrated how the cherries were cleaned & cooled using a hydro-cooler.  This cooling process brings the fruit temperate down to 2^o C within 2 hours of picking & greatly enhances the keeping quality of the cherries.  By using this critical cool chain management process, it greatly improves marketing options, such as more flexibility in choosing the time to sell thus achieving the optimum market price & providing a premium quality product with a reputation for staying fresh longer within the supply chain & the consumers fridge.  The cherries are sold direct to IGA supermarkets, specialty fruit & veg shops, restaurants, at farmers markets and locally at the farm gate. We then bundled into several cars & headed off to the orchard as per Bill’s directions.  Some of us were a bit keen to get there before Bill & duly got lost.  The competitive nature of Rotarians to succeed in all things is alive & well in the North East! The orchard is set on 6 hectares, planted with approx 2,500 trees across 19 different varieties.  The varieties each have different tastes, firmness & growing pattern.  This allows for an early season at the start of November & a late season around Christmas.  Trees are kept to a height so they can be picked from the ground, thus eliminating the need for ladders.  All cherries are hand picked.  Irrigation is by in-line drippers maximising the use of water.  A solar pump is used to transfer water from large dams to a tank above the orchard from which it gravitates to the trees.  Bees are brought in during spring flowering to assist with pollination.  Birds can be a problem so that netting as well as audible electronic bird scaring devices are used. After some individual attempts at cherry picking & taste testing, everyone made their way back to the farm house (no-one got lost this time!) where Lois & several of the Rutherglen Rotary partners had prepared for the ensuing BBQ. Ted Shanks (Service) & Steve McIntosh (Fundraising) headed the team of BBQ volunteers who cooked an array of succulent meats (no burnt snags here!).  Lorraine Foster provided a tasty selection of salads whilst Lois put the final touches to a feast of desserts, topped off with lots of fresh cherries of course.  All washed down with a selection of beers, wine (supplied by Campbell’s) & tea/coffee. There was much socialising & networking amongst the 2 clubs as the evening progressed & a great night was had by all. Many thanks to:  Lois & Bill for their hospitality   Rutherglen Club members & partners for organising the event  Belvoir Rotary club for their participation & great company  Ted Shanks for taking such great photographs Fast Facts - Cherry Production at Hotson’s Cherries:  Hotson’s Cherries, Old Cemetery Road, Chiltern  2500 trees on 6 hectares  19 different varieties from early season (start of November) to late season (Christmas). Each with its different tastes, firmness and growing pattern.  Bees are brought in during spring flowering to assist with pollination.  Bird problem - netting & audible electronic bird scaring devices used.  Trees kept to a height so can be picked from the ground without need for ladders.  All cherries hand picked.  Irrigation by in-line drippers maximises use of water (30% saving) & minimises weeds  Solar pump used to transfer water from large dams to tank above orchard, which gravitates to trees  Trees close down above 35^o C & no growth/crop completion  Lost 3,000 trees in 2003 due to drought  Cool chain management important in post harvest treatment  Hydro cooler used to bring the core temperature down to 2^o C within 2 hours of picking, greatly enhances cherry keeping quality & improves marketing options.  Sold direct to IGA supermarkets, specialty fruit & veg shops, restaurants, farmer markets & farm gate sales  65 registered cherry growers Australia-wide  Protocol restrictions make it difficult to export produce. CLICK ON PHOTOS TO ENLARGE