A SWITCH from growing carrots to potatoes proved profitable for a Boneo family, writes SANDRA GODWIN

Niche varieties and customer service are the keys to making a profit.

That's according to Mornington Peninsula vegetable grower Richard Hawkes.

Richard recently left his part-time job as technical manager for Apple and Pear Australia Ltd to devote himself to the family farm, which he operates with his sister, Andrea, and their father, Barry.

After a nine-year hiatus from growing carrots - the last crop in 1998 was abandoned after a run of bad seasons - the Hawkes family started growing potatoes on their 56ha property at Boneo.

Between vegetable crops, the ground had been used to grow lucerne for sale as garden mulch and in small bales for horses.

"It wasn't as profitable (as the potatoes are) but it kept the ground clean and we stopped losing money growing carrots," Richard said.

Richard parlayed his agricultural science degree into a job as a sales agronomist for E.E. Muir and Sons, first in vegetables, then apples, pears and cherries.

In 2006, he undertook a study tour with APAL, visiting orchards across Europe to look at different growing methods.

Richard became APAL technical manager in 2009, and in February last year took part in an AusVeg grower tour to Israel, Berlin and Spain.

"I was still working on the farm and I started playing with fertilisers, looking at ways to maximise production," he said.

"We slowly built a small market of offbeat types of potatoes: king edward, kipfler, toolangi delight.

"Anything that's hard to grow, we try and have a go at - those that other people don't consider commercial varieties."

That's not to say they turn up their noses at common garden potato varieties, like sebago.

"I'm trying to get a high enough tonnage to grow them cheap enough to compete with larger-scale producers," Richard said.

"I work on growing high tonnage-high packouts (and) trying to grow what my customers say they want.

"We're only a small-scale operation. We just try to grow stuff that we know we're going to sell."

The Hawkes family farms about 12ha of potatoes, up to 2ha of baby beetroot, 3ha of parsley and 2ha of spring onions under contract each winter.

This year, they will grow their first summer crops of parsley and beetroot, and trial 1.6ha of baby fennel.

Richard said their decision to move into a new crop and "get a bit more serious" with the baby beetroot and spring onions meant he'd had to give up his APAL job after two years.

One of the highlights was last year receiving the Young Leader Award from Horticulture Australia for his work in both vegetables and pome fruit.

The award cited Richard's "progressive approach to farming and his contribution to the local community", which marked him as a future leader in the national horticulture industry.

On the farm, Richard, Barry and Andrea have loosely defined roles, sharing many of the jobs.

Richard co-ordinates the agronomy - the timing of planting, crop monitoring and the spray program - and hunts for new customers.

Barry does much of the hands-on work, such as planting and harvesting.

Andrea looks after the packing shed and sales to existing customers.

"I utilise (Barry's) experience as much as possible," Richard said.

"I blend his knowledge with some of the things we're trying to achieve."

Richard said he had tried to take the business in a different direction, away from selling most of its produce into the wholesale markets.

"We try to supply as much of our product direct to customers, because we're small and we'd get lost in the (central markets) system," he said.

"It also provides us with direct contact, so if the customer has got a problem, we can fix it straight away, with no agents involved. I like direct contact with our customers."

As a student at Melbourne University, Richard worked in the hospitality industry and retains a keen interest in the food and restaurant trade, so the Hawkes sell some of their vegetables direct to restaurants.

Fennel transplants are used to shorten the time between planting and harvest - which also aids weed control - while the other crops are grown from seed.

The potatoes are machine harvested, but the baby beetroot and spring onions are pulled by hand and pickers use a knife to cut the parsley and baby fennel.

This year's potato harvest began three weeks later than usual, thanks to the cool, wet spring and summer.
Richard, who cuts much of the fennel himself, said the aim was to maximise the class-one packout "because that's what we get paid for".

What he enjoys most about growing vegetables is the hands-on element, the ability to "tweak" inputs and growing practices to improve profitability, and the option of experimenting with different crops.

"With vegetables, you can be growing spuds today and something else tomorrow," Richard said.

"Whereas with apples, you've got a huge investment up front and you're stuck with that decision for a period of time. It's all or nothing. You can't just dabble."

Richard said the family was in no rush to expand the area under crops, taking a gradual approach with the potatoes over the past four years.

"We're just a pimple on the production of other people," he said.

"There's guys in SA growing thousands of acres of spuds.

"That's not our game.

"I'm happy growing a small amount and trying to grow it as profitably as possible rather than having the headaches of being a massive grower.

"I enjoy being in touch with the product I grow.

"The bigger you get, the less direct control you have over your product."

Richard said potatoes were not the most profitable of his family's crops, but they had been a reliable source of income, allowing the family to steadily expand its range to include lines demanded by customers.