Olives! A growing industry

Flying the flag for our country women
By TANIA BAWDEN
14may05
The South Australian Advertiser
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MORE country women should get involved in their family business, says Olives South Australia president Lisa Rowntree.

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Having a home and children is no excuse, the SA Rural Woman of the Year says.

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"I have four kids so I can say that. I have never said I can't do it," says Mrs Rowntree, a leading identity in the state's olive-growing community.

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She laughs about some of the "strange looks" she got five years ago, taking her youngest child to board meetings in a bassinette.

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"She got used to laying quietly under a table. "Even now she is exceptionally well behaved at any meetings she comes to. She was trained at a young age to be quiet," she says.

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On top of day-to-day operations at her family's Long Ridge Olives business, she and hrt husband, Jim, are also farm managers of a neighbouring olive grove and Mrs Rowntree is building a profile as a state representative for the olive industry at state and federal levels.

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Since starting the venture, the Coonalpyn area is emerging as a major producer of olive oil.

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"The region will eventually produce about 10 per cent of Australia's total production, with about 500,000 trees in the Limestone Coast region," she says.

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Long Ridge Olives expects to produce about 25,000 litres of extra-virgin oil at Tatiara Olive Processors, the nearest crushing plant at Keith.

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The Limestone Coast Olive Growers' area, between Keith and Mount Gambier, has six larger growers and 10 small-to-medium producers, with sales to domestic resellers such as Viva, Red Island, Cobram Estate and a brand made by the Rowntrees called, Limestone Coast Extra Virgin.

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Some also were exported to countries such as Italy, Britain, China and the U.S., because of the high standard of Australian-grown olive oil.

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"Australia produces about 1 per cent of the world's olive oil and only 20 per cent of the world's oil is classified as extra virgin – the highest quality olive oil," Mrs Rowntree says.

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"SA is very active in the extra virgin (first press) olive oil market and there is a lot of interest in the northern hemisphere as we get different flavours in Australia and our season is opposite to theirs."

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The biggest olive project at Coonalpyn, a large investment scheme which the Rowntrees manage, is planning to double in size from 72,000 trees on 214ha to another 300ha on adjacent land.

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"On our property (Long Ridge) we want to plant another 80ha and are considering looking at organic certification," Mrs Rowntree says.

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"Australian olives really have a good reputation and the industry has a bright future."

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The Rowntrees expect to recoup their capital expenditure on their olive-growing venture by 2006, with commercial cropping currently in its second year.

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Organising a national conference from a shed at their property 20km northeast of Coonalpyn shows rural businesses can overcome isolation from big cities, Mrs Rowntree says.

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"Distance and remoteness is not so much a barrier any more."

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She is constantly amazed at what country people can achieve. "If you really want to do something, you can make it happen wherever you are."

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For this reason, she is pleased to promote women's role during her additional public speaking responsibilities as Rural Woman of the Year. "There are a lot of skills that women bring to a farming industry," she says.

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"There is a lot of paperwork involved in running your own business these days – whether it's a farm or a deli – including BAS every three months. It was my forte and I needed to get involved to make it succeed."

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Mrs Rowntree and her husband, who moved from his family dairy farm at Myponga to a 680 hectare property at Coonalpyn in 1996, decided to diversify into olive-growing in 1997.

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They first travelled the world, including Israel and Italy, to research their plan to plant 7200 trees on 20ha at their agistment property Long Ridge.

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"The Mediterranean climate was ideal for growing olives, and we became the first people to irrigate in this way in the Upper South East after studying the neighbours' records of old bore logs," says Mrs Rowntree.

Copyright: The South Australian Advertiser