World Olive Day gives outlet for Australian olive grove sustainability

It's one of the facts being celebrated today, on World Olive Day, where the homegrown industry has trumpeted its sustainability credentials.

UNESCO declared World Olive Day in 2019 to celebrate the olive tree, promote the values it symbolises and encourage environmental sustainability.

Australian olive producers have gotten onboard as well, with groves located across the continent from Bundaberg, Queensland in the north, south on Bruny Island, Tasmania, and as far west as Geraldton, Western Australia.

Australian Olive Oil Association (AOOA) president David Valmorbida said climate was a fundamental consideration for all Australians.

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"We experience the impact of extreme weather events from flooding rain to raging bushfires and extreme drought," Mr Valmorbida said.

"These weather events can destroy whole towns, family livelihoods and farming businesses. It's also felt on the supermarket shelves with rising prices and lack of supply.

"The olive tree, while hardy, is not immune to volatile climatic conditions so it's heartening to see the Australian industry, both growers and distributors heavily investing in sustainability.

''Australian olive producers and have developed innovative ways to make their business more sustainable, while supporting profitability. Initiatives range from farm practices, transport, packaging and investing in renewable power."

QUEENSLAND Olive Council chief executive officer Amanda Bailey is collaborating with the Department of Agriculture to prepare for carbon audits within the olive industry.

"Olives are the only mainstream edible oil crop considered to be a carbon sink. For every litre of olive oil produced, 10.65kg of atmospheric CO2 is captured," she said.

"On a global scale Australia is a relative newcomer when it comes to olive production, but it means growers aren't tied to the old ways of doing things.

"This has led to innovation when it comes to sustainability. Producers have shown ingenuity and entrepreneurship and there's a lot to be proud of."

SAM and Tony Andreata, Cedar Gully Olives, Lockyer Valley, Queensland have a philosophy of using the whole tree.

They are burning prunings to make olive wood biochar, a natural soil improver made from crushed charcoal.

Biochar boosts soil health and fertility by encouraging microbial activity.

It also increases the water holding capacity of the soil and improves drainage and aeration.

"People are becoming more aware of biochar and its properties. The fact it can reduce greenhouse gases and improve soil makes environmental and economic sense," Mr Andreata said.

A trial is planned with the University of Queensland next year to investigate the outcomes of varying the amount of biochar and compost on improving soil.

Cedar Gully's entire front grove is dedicated to this research, using a carboniser to convert the olive cuttings to biochar.

The carboniser is environmentally friendly and turns excess wood into charcoal in an oxygen deprived environment. The initial water is drawn out of the wood as steam.

Tars are released, captured and used to fuel the fire. Once all the wood has been burned the process stops and the carboniser cools down overnight.

The next morning the charcoal can be accessed.

IN the Upper Hunter Valley of NSW, Steve and Racquel Goodchild, Pukara Estate have value-added the waste from the olive grove and the leftover olive leaves by using them to supplement feed grazing free-range lambs.

"Minimum intervention and free-range grazing throughout our olive grove combine to produce our unique and distinctively flavoured Pukara Estate Premium Lamb, which is supplied through local restaurants and butchers," Ms Goodchild said.

"The lambs in the olive grove clean up any exhausted fruit that drops on the ground. They add manure under the trees and help with eating the young leaves suckering on the tree. It is a symbiotic use of the land that works well for Pukara Estate.

"As producers we have always worked towards sustainability even when it wasn't a buzz word.

"For us sustainability means we've been able to reach new clientele with our lamb and we have been able to introduce these customers to olive oil, which further enhances our business," she said.

RICHARD Seymour from Mount Zero Olives in the Grampians, Victoria has always been fanatical about sustainability.

The family started its grove as biodynamic and believe that the responsibility rests on each producer to set the standard for their operations.

Recently the farm was sold, but the Mount Zero brand, which operates separately, continues to focus on sustainability.

A key change at Mount Zero has been to replace bulk disposable containers with 15L Stainless Steel Fustis, which are refilled when delis or restaurants reorder olive oil.

The stainless steel containers are also used by Mount Zero at their popular warehouse market days.

"We are focused on limiting our packaging waste, so we've searched for greener options for all our products," Mr Seymour said.

"We estimate that through just five warehouse market days, we were able to avoid 5000 glass olive oil bottles, 2500 glass olive jars as well as other packaging across our pulses and grains products.

"Our market days have shown us that if we change our behaviour, as a community, we can make a difference".

Mount Zero's sustainability objectives go beyond the product, having also converted the power at the facility to 80 per cent solar generated.

AT Peppergreen Estate near Berrima, NSW, the super high-density grove of 55,000 Arbequina trees has reduced the amount of land required to grow olives for olive oil production, and facilitated a number of initiatives to reduce their carbon footprint.

Peppergreen Estate owner Hank Chiu said Peppergreen Estate is committed to lowering its impact.

"We have looked at ways to become more sustainable and we have plans to go even further. Our goal is to evolve to net-zero and reduce our carbon footprint," Mr Chiu said.

"We have been able to develop the grove to make the most efficient use of the land. Our production per hectare is heavy compared to a traditional grove."

"All our packaging is reusable or recyclable. Only plant-based inks are used to print on our packaging and we use FSCTM certified board for all our boxes.

"On the operational side we have plans to convert our farm vehicles to electric or hybrid and we are also developing our grove to use solar power.

"The production plant uses the exhausted pits from the mill waste as a renewable energy source and all our waste is used as mulch under the trees. We aim to use all parts of the tree."

The super high density olive grove is a new planting system based on innovative technologies.

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