Policeman and nurse have a mango tree change

The former policeman and nurse have worked in many regional towns over several decades but fell in love with Kununurra and decided to stay when Mr McMullin's job threatened to pull them away to another part of the State.

"We were at the stage of my position where I had to leave town after four years of policing there," Mr McMullin said.

"We didn't want to go and the opportunity came up to buy an established mango orchard on the banks of the Ord River.

"We had no previous experience in agriculture or horticulture, but I am a trained arborist and so I knew a thing or two about trees and basic tree management."

The McMullins are now one of about 12 mango producers in the Ord River region, which is forecast to pump out 42,000 trays of the summer fruit in 2023-24.

This is well down from 145,000 trays last year and down on the long-term average.

The McMullins have 200 mature Kensington Pride trees on their home block of five hectares and are responsible for another 3000 trees they share farm throughout the region.

They have a packing shed that pumps out 1000 trays per week at the peak of production and trade as Riverfarm Mangoes.

Picking takes place from September to November and the McMullins have just finished their second year of harvesting - with mixed emotions.

They were pleased with the overall quality of the fruit, but yields were well down this year by 50-60 per cent.

"Last year we sent 120 pallets to Perth and this year we had 40 pallets," Mr McMullin said.

"It is a bit of a mystery as to why the trees right across the region did not set much fruit.

"There were no disease or management issues and the weather in 2023 was very similar to last year's conditions.

"Some growers up here didn't send any fruit down to Perth at all."

Mr McMullin said this year they went into the season very positive on the back of experiencing heavy rainfall in the wet season up to April.

He said the time of flowering was typical and there was a lot of early onset fruit.

But a big crop failed to eventuate.

"The weather was great, we just have to chalk it up to one of those unusual years," Mr McMullin said.

He said the shortage in the Ord region did not push up prices for growers, but consumers in Perth bore the brunt of the lower-than-average harvest - paying $4-$5 each for the early season fruit.

"We got an average price but we saw Perth retailers selling fruit at much higher prices because of the lower volumes," he said.

"Growers missed out on a premium but some retailers took advantage of the shortage to triple the cost of the fruit for consumers."

Mangoes from the Ord River region are the first to hit the shelves in WA in September and there is strong demand for this fruit.

What makes a mango from the region so good, according to Mr McMullin, is that it is grown in a pest-free area, so there is no need to treat it with insecticides or pesticides.

"We are blessed here with lovely trees and ideal climatic conditions," he said.

Of course, having abundant water supplies from the Ord River is a major advantage for Top End mango producers.

"We can heavily water our trees at relatively low cost and they really respond to this when fruiting."

The McMullins sell their fruit mostly to small grocers in Perth and go through a rigorous supply chain accreditation every year.

"We absolutely support the regulation that goes into the fresh produce industry because it protects the consumer and keeps all growers accountable for their operations, albeit onerous and another expense," Ms McMullin said.

He said the high cost of land in the Ord area was prohibiting the expansion of their orchard and they were sitting back and watching what happened to land values before committing to taking on more area for planting more trees.

"It is very difficult for us to compete with the land prices being paid by broadacre growers who are mostly producing cotton," he said.

"We can't really take on more land and develop it when the returns don't match up.

"Cotton is the flavour of the month up here at the moment and growers are coming in from across Australia."