Fish River Truffière
Is it a certain type of tree that you grow which attracts truffles? How does this process work?
We have 1000 trees. They are a mix of English and French Oak and Hazelnuts. The trees are inoculated with black Périgord truffle spore.
Our truffiere is one of the oldest in NSW. We have two plantings, one in 2004 one in 2007. It takes about 5 years before a tree produces truffle. The soil has to be prepared with lime before planting and that is the only input during the life of an inoculated tree, well, apart from water and pruning. Hh around the trees needs to be around 7.9. Truffle are a winter crop, at this time of the year there is lots of microscopic growth under the trees we leave them alone. We monitor moisture and have an irrigation regimen which supplements any rainfall. Last year was a very good year for us and the truffle industry generally. Australia now produces more truffle than France believe it or not.
Phoenix helps us to track our irrigation events, maintenance and water usage. We are also able to track chemical usage when required and seasonal work including pruning and harvest production.
We also use Phoenix to track our cattle work including, movements, vet treatments, NLIS, AI and calving.
I assume the dogs sniff out the truffles. Is that right?
They are key. We trained Frank and Luna, they are amazing to watch, without them there would be no truffle at all.
Do cattle feed in between the rows of trees? If so, how does this benefit the truffle growing, if at all?
Totally separate. The truffiere is fenced off from the cattle. Some farmers allow pigs into their truffiere at the end of the season. They love truffle and will help to distribute the spore. Its not a very efficient way to distribute it but there you go.
Where do you market your truffles?
We market at a farmer’s market in Sydney, restaurants and through the Eastern Australian Truffle (EAT) Coop of which I am a director.