With the Queensland Government offering grants for apple and pear growers of up to $150k for horticultural netting, now is the time to look around for the perfect solution.
Inspired Ag Systems is the brainchild of fifth generation orchardists from Victoria’s Goulburn Valley who decided to develop and source products aimed at fruit growers and their needs after doing it for themselves for many years.
Inspired Agriculture’s COO Catriona Saunders said the company, started 18 months ago, was an example of farmers working to help other farmers and solve the conundrums that only someone else in the industry could truly understand.
“We bring together all sorts of innovative equipment to assist horticultural businesses whether that be apples or pears or cherries,” she said.
“Some of the examples are platforms that assist growers to harvest or prune their trees; and reflective matting that assists with red apple colouring.”
However, she said one of their main focusses at the moment was providing the netting that goes over the top of the orchards to protect the fruit from the elements and reduce water use.
“Our nets are really high quality and they’ve been designed by our business here in Australia to suit the Australian climate,” Catriona explained.
“They are really well reinforced, are able to be retracted for the off-season and they will last a long time.”
It is also all about the service and getting it right for the orchardists.
“We come out to the orchards and we measure up the orchard specifically and get the netting made for that exact distance so it’s completely made-to order by our manufacturers,” Catriona explained.
“It saves on netting costs, as you pay for what you need and can really help with orchards that are quite unusually shaped – some of them might be going around a dam or all sorts of different things and we can design up the netting and structures from that perspective.”
Catriona said the company has also developed a steel structure system to support the nets. These same steel structures can also be used for trellising.
“Traditionally, a lot of the nets are supported by timber and it’s very difficult to put the posts in, you need to dig down really deep and you need to use heavy machinery to bring the timber in whereas with our steel system the orchardists can actually install it themselves,” she explained.
“They don’t have to dig very deep for the steel poles and it lasts a lot longer than timber does. The self installation bit is key – it reduces the spend for the grower and is well supported by the Inspired Ag Systems team. We provide an instruction manual for self-installation and drawings of the orchard with the steel structure design from a draftsman, so it’s all sketched up ready for them to follow. It’s bespoke for each of the businesses. We can also work with installers who will quickly understand our system for those who don’t want to do it themselves.”
Contact them for a quote or more information on cbeecroft@inspiredagsystems.com.au, 0411 527 768 or head to www.inspiredagsystems.com.au.
