Suzie passionate about the orchard road

There is a good chance it was produced by Suzie Delroy, Delroy Orchards near Pemberton.

Twenty two-year-old Suzie and partner Jamie Collins, 24, are at the helm of the 330 hectare orchard - it's a big job and one the young couple enjoys after returning to the farm three years ago.

In that time they have overseen an expansion of 100ha of avocados, with an additional 45ha to be planted next year.

As part of this ambitious program Suzie also established an avocado nursery to provide the trees for the new orchard.

In between this, the couple revitalised its 10ha kiwifruit orchard and continues work on a successful tamarillo plantation.

It has been a busy few years which has thrown up plenty of challenges.

Suzie was half way through a commerce and marketing degree in Perth when she and Jamie returned to the farm.

"By the time I finished my degree I wasn't that interested in pursuing a career in commerce or marketing so I decided to stay on the farm full-time," she said.

Suzie and Jamie took over the reins from Suzie's father Russell and the decision was made to expand the farm, starting with the purchase of a blue gum plantation next door.

After harvesting the blue gums they had the gruelling task of removing the tree stumps to make way for the new orchard, as well as establishing the tree nursery which Suzie said was the biggest challenge since returning to the farm.

"Growing rootstock is easy, growing trees to graft is easy but grafting is the hardest thing in the world," she said.

"We don't have a professional grafter and my grafting lesson was about 30 minutes with dad showing me how to graft and then I had to go and graft 50,000 trees - that was a huge challenge."

Suzie and Jamie focus on different parts of the orchard to ensure all bases are covered.

Suzie's main roles include the management and day-to-day operations of the avocado tree nursery, administrative work, pest control and monitoring of crops and managing their small tamarillo plantation.

Jamie, who is from an apple farm near Pemberton, is in charge of the kiwifruit and the avocado orchard development and management while Russell oversees the marketing and sales in Perth and the Donnybrook packing operations.

The spring and summer months are the busiest, employing up to 50 casual staff to harvest the avocados from September to mid-March.

"Summer is definitely the busiest time - it's the height of picking, the height of planting, the height of ground development, you've got dam building going on, grafting in the nursery - everything is happening," Suzie said.

"Even in the winter we're still kept busy harvesting kiwifruit and tamarillos and then pruning while still looking after the rest of the avo orchard.

"It used to be our quiet time, but now it's just a year-round busy time."

Suzie said overseeing the development of the farm was exciting and further cemented her decision to take on the challenging role.

"I love being on the farm and the development we are doing - it's so satisfying to see ground that was blue gums 12 months ago and turn it around to become avocados we have grafted out of our own nursery.

"I can't wait to see my first trees from the nursery producing fruit - when I go out there I gush over them like they are my babies.

"It is so satisfying to see that - I am quite excited of all the development ahead of us."

While the new orchard development has been the focus for 12 months, the couple has revitalised its kiwifruit orchard.

"They were kind of old and forgotten about and nobody put enough care into them and we thought 'well, they're still worth a decent amount of money' - they are only a small part of our orchard but it keeps everything ticking over during the avocado off-season," she said.

"After visiting New Zealand to see how they manage their orchards, one of the biggest changes we have made is to our pruning style which has doubled our yield last year."

The couple is also considering diversifying into other crops that complement their avocado operation but Suzie said they would stick with what they know for now.

"We have done a lot of research into other fruits but either it's not going to be profitable or it's not the right time for our business," she said.

"I do like the idea of taking on something new because I like a challenge and having something no one else has got as well - like our tamarillos - I like having something like that which is a bit different."

Suzie is also interested in reducing the use of pesticides in the orchard.

Following a population explosion of six-spotted mite in their avocados that caused mass defoliation in the orchard two years ago, the couple has been trialling several biological control options.

They are also looking at weed control options in their new development which will lessen the dependence on herbicides.

As well as chemical and fertiliser costs, Suzie said they were looking to reduce their labour costs - a big part of the business.

"We know the price of avocados is not going to stay where it is forever, eventually they will be selling for a lot less and we want to make sure that when that time comes we are already a low-cost producer," she said.

"Knowing our costs is really important - I think there's a lot of old-school thinking that just keep doing what you've always done which means the costs can get away from you.

"It is important to keep up with the times."

Keeping up with the times means, that despite their produce being enjoyed nationally through Coles, Woolworths and Aldi, Suzie still wants to see consumers connect with the person who grew their food.

"Personally when I pick something up in the store I'm always interested in where it has come from, who has grown it and even sometimes you go to courses and you meet people from other farms and you think 'I've eaten your fruit' - it's nice to put a face to the person who grew the food.

"I know there's a lot of growers that think the whole idea of marketing is sending their produce to the wholesale market - but when you're doing things on the farm you need to be thinking about the other side - you've got to be thinking of where it's going, who it's going to and what they want and how to make sure it gets to them in the right way.

"I think people want to know the story of their food."