For Laastedrift Agri’s Daniël Cillie, growing a successful BigBucks Gala crop comes down to getting the fundamentals right: choosing the right planting material, managing the tree carefully, and, above all, making sure there is enough light in the canopy.
The approach is paying off. Their farm, Uitkoms, is the current holder of the Buks Nel floating trophy, awarded by Ceres Fruit Growers for the best performance with BigBucks Gala.
“We are doing something right, but we are also still learning,” he said.
Laastedrift Agri first planted a commercial trial block of BigBucks Gala in 2015, in collaboration with Buks Nel. The results gave the Cillie family enough confidence in the cultivar to expand, and from 2020 they planted BigBucks Gala more aggressively.
Achieving the sweet spot in yields
Cillie reckons the “sweet spot” is when their BigBucks Gala orchards produce an average of 80 to 90 tonnes per hectare.
“We focus firmly on quality rather than simply pushing yields higher. We target Flash Gala pack-outs of at least 85%, but preferably 90% or more. In good years, we achieve even higher results,” he said.
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According to Cillie, successful Flash Gala production starts in the orchard. “You have to manage the tree carefully at pruning time to make sure there is enough light inside the canopy,” he said.
Laastedrift uses a combination of pruning, thinning and growth-management tools to control vigour, improve light penetration, extend the picking window and help even out maturity.
“However, you have to find the fine line between picking once and risking losing money because some apples end up in a juice bin, or rather spending the time and money on a second pick to ensure you send quality fruit to the packhouse,” Cillie said.
BigBucks Gala has become an important part of Laastedrift’s Gala programme, and Cillie expects it to remain so.
“Gala is one of our most profitable cultivars, and BigBucks Gala plays an important role because it gives us fruit for a range of markets.
“BigBucks Gala gives growers confidence, and for us there is a bit of pride in the fact that it is a South African product. It works for us and gives us an advantage. We should protect the cultivar and continue to plant it where it performs well,” he said.
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