‘Always changing, always evolving’

By Andrew Bristol

Vegetable growing in Victoria, Australia is ‘always changing, always evolving,’ says Butler Market Gardens chief executive officer, Rick Butler.

‘I’m a sixth-generation grower and I am making decisions for generations seven and eight,’ says Rick.

‘Our family has been growing for more than 110 years, and we have been supplying the major supermarkets directly for more than 50 years, every day of the year.

‘I bought the business of my parents in 2015 and since then, have developed the Butler Gourmet Pantry brand, packaging herbs in punnets and sleeves.’ 

Rick showed a bus load of delegates around his herb growing operation – situated near Mornington Peninsula, about 45km south of Melbourne – as part of the Hort Connections conference in early June.

‘This site used to be used for growing flowers,’ says Rick. ‘Being so close to Melbourne means our herbs can be with consumers in less than 24 hours from harvest, as we are about 40 minutes away from major distribution centres.’

Rick is big enough – delegates saw acres of basil, mint and thyme being grown predominately under full cover – to negotiate directly with supermarkets.

‘I negotiate a standard price for six months but within that, there can be further negotiation if there’s an issue elsewhere in the supply chain, for example. On a Tuesday, I finetune orders and on a Monday, I get paid for the last week’s orders.

‘I am able to employ people who live close by – most are just 10 minutes away. These people like working here because they don’t have far to travel and there’s a real sense of community. Most are from families who immigrated to Australia from Vietnam or Cambodia in the 80s and 90s. My staff turnover is very low, and I do not employ anyone through a third party.’

Rick heats his fully enclosed greenhouses for four to five months of the year, using a biomass boiler burning wood waste from Chep. ‘If the plants are too comfortable, shelf life is limited due to shock. As a result, I grow mint more or less outdoors.’ 

‘Growing’s a lot of fun. That’s what keeps you going.’

As part of the bus trip, delegates visited Peter Schreurs & Sons, also on the Mornington Peninsula.

This 420 acre, predominantly leek and lettuce growing operation was established by Peter Schreurs in 1964. The business directly employs 50-60 local people, and enjoys low staff turnover. 

‘We’ve gone out of our way to eliminate crappy jobs like harvesting leeks in the wet and mud in the field. Our focus is to get the product into the packhouse as soon as possible,’ says Mark Schreurs.

‘We’ve developed our own leek as well as lettuce harvesting machines. We’re on the fourth iteration of our leek machine (pictured), which is operated by one person, however, it is that person that makes this machine. Their role is to ensure it is functioning properly, but not to drive it, at least in the rows.’

Peter Schreurs & Sons is a great proponent of integrated pest management.

‘We encourage life. We don’t discourage it,’ says Mark. ‘We build on the biology and not the chemistry, as once the biology is active, it looks after itself.

‘We have divided the farm into 30-acre blocks, surrounded by natives, which provide shelter as well as homes for the beneficials. If we have a problem in one block, our approach is to leave things to nature and then put the block in a cover crop.

‘On each block, we grow two cash crops a year. For the rest of the time, the block is in a cover crop. Our focus is on sustainability and guardianship – ensuring we leave this land in a better place. Our crops do better by not putting so much onto them. For example, we hardly apply any nitrogen now, relying on cover crops and composting, which we’ve done for 15 years. We also now use less water.’

Mark sums up the family’s philosophy by saying, ‘Growing’s a lot of fun. That’s what keeps you going.’