And here is another recent newspiece stating the costs of management of the disease ... carbon revenue may not cover this cost base if it is anywhere near the same management regime for eucalypt mallees.
" ... With the cost of controlling myrtle rust at between $100 and $300 a hectare, gross margins for growers were gradually being eaten away ...
... Meanwhile, myrtle rust has also taken a big toll on lemon myrtle production across the Northern Rivers, with the region’s 70,000 trees all affected. The area’s largest grower and contract harvester Gary Mazzorana, Australian Rain-forest Products, The Channon, said growers had to resort to using fungicides, which not only was an extra cost but had wiped out their big organic market ... "
-------------------------------------------------------- Myrtle rust strikes the tea trees SHAN GOODWIN 02 Feb, 2012 04:00 AM
TEA tree oil producers in the north east of the State are facing big costs in the next few months to keep the fungal disease myrtle rust under wraps, with monitoring indicating the pathogen is now present in every plantation. Myrtle rust, which originated in South America and was first identified in NSW close to two years ago, attacks new growth on plants belonging to the Myrtaceae family such as eucalypts, bottle brush and tea tree.
It has the potential to threaten sustainable tea tree production in Australia and growers have been vigilant about on-farm biosecurity for the past year.
However, natural progression of the easily-spread rust and the humid conditions of the past month meant it was likely every tea tree plantation had been exposed on a minor scale, according to Lismore agronomist Peter Entwistle.
“The signs are there that it could be a commercial problem within the next few weeks,” he said.
“It has been in this area now for 12 months and is starting to express its ability to affect.
“We’re suggesting growers have appropriate fungicides on hand to deal with developing patches quickly.”
With the cost of controlling myrtle rust at between $100 and $300 a hectare, gross margins for growers were gradually being eaten away, however it was not likely the issue would push people out of the industry, said Australian Tea Tree Industry Association chairman Robert Dyason, Casino.
The way in which tea tree was grown – constantly in flush when the rust is at its most dangerous and with trees shoulder to shoulder – made for the ideal environment for the fungus to thrive and spread, he said.
“There is now an enormous pool of infected plants in the natural environment, so there is no way of eradicating it,” he said.
The disease setback comes on top of a tough year for tea tree producers, with continual wet weather badly affecting yields and the ability to harvest.
Many crops were lost or held over, with NSW production down 25 per cent on the previous year.
Prices also took a battering, courtesy of the high Australian dollar and declining economies in customer countries, particularly Europe, with the average returns about $35 a kilogram.
After the extreme slumps of $15/kg returns which followed the mass planting of trees in the early 1990s, tea tree prices had been gradually improving as supply evened out and demand grew.
There was now about 4000ha under tea tree production between Port Macqaurie and the Queensland border, with some production around West Wyalong.
Meanwhile, myrtle rust has also taken a big toll on lemon myrtle production across the Northern Rivers, with the region’s 70,000 trees all affected.
The area’s largest grower and contract harvester Gary Mazzorana, Australian Rain-forest Products, The Channon, said growers had to resort to using fungicides, which not only was an extra cost but had wiped out their big organic market.
“This is an industry where chemicals have not been needed before, so it has been a real blow,” he said.
