PROTECTING Queensland strawberries from rain and, surprisingly, snow, is behind the move by Pinata Farms' polytunnel trials on the Granite Belt.
As one of Queensland's largest strawberry producers, Piñata Farms is trialling polytunnel production at its Stanthorpe farm for the first time this season.
Piñata Farms produces strawberries all year round on about 32 hectares at Wamuran (for production from May-September) and 10ha at Stanthorpe (September-May production).
Construction of the tunnels on the 1.6ha Stanthorpe property began earlier this month.
The industry standard polytunnels feature steel frame infrastructure covered in clear polythene film.
Those built for Piñata Farms will be 8.5m wide and 4m high- the widest available.
Piñata Farms has grown strawberries at Wamuran on the Sunshine Coast since 2000.
Last year, it harvested its first spring-summer crop at Stanthorpe, heralding the start of year-round production.
Managing director Gavin Scurr said the idea behind the tunnels is to protect against weather damage, which can decimate a strawberry crop.
"As Stanthorpe is our summer production farm - and it rains more in summer in Queensland - our main aim is to protect the fruit from rain," Mr Scurr said.
"We knew when we started producing a summer crop that rain damage was a probability.
"We lost about 30 per cent of last season's crop due to rain, so now is the time to implement our polytunnel plan."
Mr Scurr said he expected to achieve less waste as well as a better overall quality of fruit as a result of protected cropping.
"We're also expecting to use less chemicals due to the fruit remaining dry. And because the plants will be warmer, they will produce fruit earlier," he said.
"Initially, we'll trial polytunnels over about 12pc of the total summer crop. We'll trial a similar area at Wamuran next winter.
"Although it will be a trial, we will probably implement polytunnels across the whole Stanthorpe farm once proven.
"This is what happened in Europe where polytunnel strawberry production is now widespread."
This winter, the Stanthorpe property was blanketed in 8-10cm of snow after the region recorded its first significant snowfall in more than two decades.
While early-stage plants already in the ground were in winter dormancy and escaped long-term damage, Mr Scurr said polytunnels would have further protected the crop from potential snow damage.
Haygrove Tunnels of Ledbury in the United Kingdom is installing the polytunnels over several weeks. Mr Scurr has recently visited the Haygrove Tunnels headquarters.
"The tunnels are a standard structure used by most strawberry producers in Europe. Several Australian producers have been growing strawberries in them for about five years with good results," he said.
Once the polytunnels are in place, summer planting is expected to begin at Stanthorpe in November for harvesting from February to June, 2016.
