The expansion goals of a Queensland citrus growing family have progressed from dream to reality thanks to a new computerised packing machine.
Farming is in the blood for Oscar Bugno and his family who have farmed for more than 50 years on their land 10 kilometres west of Dimbulah in the ‘food bowl’ region of Far North Queensland.
Like many farms in the area, the Bugnos’ was originally a tobacco plantation and, as the industry declined, Oscar had the foresight to explore alternative options.
“We decided to try something different,“ he said.
“Everybody else was doing mangoes, so I decided to do citrus. It’s been a long learning curve, but we eventually got on track.“
Now, 30 years later, Oscar, together with wife Giannina and son Dwaine, run a thriving citrus operation with more than 6000 lemon, 2500 grapefruit and 850 lime trees.
They are marketed under two brand names, Bug’s Citrus and JDL.
“When Dwaine returned to the farm after completing an electrical apprenticeship, we started producing more fruit and it became clear that we needed to expand the business,” Oscar said.
Oscar and Dwaine began exploring ways they could expand and, having accessed a loan from QRIDA previously, Oscar contacted his local regional area manager Sam Spina to see if QRIDA could help again.
“One of our shortfalls was our packing machine which, at that time, was more than 20 years old,“ Oscar said.
“So, we met with Sam about using a Sustainability Loan to put in a new machine.“
Sam met with the Bugnos on-farm to talk through the application process, explain the business plan and other documents they needed to submit as part of their loan application.
Installation of the new packing machine has greatly improved the business’s efficiencies, with Dwaine explaining the machine has a computerised grading system that removes the need for that process to be done manually.
“With electronic weights and an extra eight bins for the fruit, we’ve made the process more efficient and allowed more fruit to be processed, graded and packed quicker than before – saving both time and money,” he said.
“In moving our two graders that we had to packing means we can keep production going through the machine, reducing losses and time.
“The machine has really helped because we’ve been able to move more produce through to meet our market demands.“
Oscar said he would encourage other primary producers looking to expand their operations to see if QRIDA could help them.
“I’d suggest other people look at QRIDA and the terms and conditions that they offer, which I think are extremely good,” he said.
“The loan has been very beneficial for us. It’s helped us do a lot of things that we wouldn’t have been able to do prior.
“We can now keep up the pace and compete with the other large growers that are now operating in the area.”
QRIDA offers Sustainability Loans up to $1.3 million for primary producers looking to invest in the latest infrastructure or technology to create a viable future for their farming business.
