CITRUS Australia has recognised retired iconic Waikerie citrus grower Mike Arnold’s leadership, vision, and commitment to the industry by inducting him into its Hall of Fame. 

The 85-year-old started in horticulture in 1954 during a period when growers had a mixture of fruit, including stone fruit and winegrapes, on their properties.

Mike was presented with the prestigious award at the Citrus Australia Market Outlook Forum Conference dinner at Mildura in March this year. 

Due to the fluctuations in demand for winegrapes, Mike and his family decided growing citrus was a more viable option.

“As things progressed, we realised we had to specialise in something,” he said.

He has seen many developments in horticulture over the years.

“I started just at the end of the horse era and tractors were just starting to come in,” Mike said.

“They were nothing near what a modern tractor is nowadays, most of them you had to crank start.”

Mike said irrigation and citrus picking had also become far more efficient since he began in horticulture. 

“A lot of time was spent using furrow irrigation,” he said.

“We had nearly 40 acres, which was quite large at the time, and we irrigated day and night.

“Nowadays you can just press a button, pop it on your phone and you can pump and irrigate.”

Instead of picking citrus and placing them into boxes, fruit are now placed in bins, which are picked up by the packing sheds. 

Mike played a pivotal role as the chairman of the Auscitrus organisation until he retired in 2021. 

The group was formed in 2001, when the Australian Citrus Propagation Association (ACPA) and Australian Citrus Improvement Association amalgamated.

Prior to 2001, Mike was Australian Citrus Improvement Association chairman for several years, plus he was a founding member of the South Australian Citrus Improvement Society and chaired that through to his retirement in 2021. 

Citrus Australia said Mike was always adamant that industry bodies such as Auscitrus should be governed by growers and nurserymen with “skin in the game”. 

“He did his best to ensure equal representation between growers and nurserymen in the governance of Auscitrus,” the national citrus industry body said. 

“He was determined to ensure the people making decisions on behalf of the industry were relevant to the industry, with current practical experience.” 

Mike encouraged the importation of dozens of public citrus varieties, many of which are now key varieties in Australia.

In particular, he has a special interest in niche varieties and their marketing.

This included introducing blood orange citrus originating from Italy into Australia, and the development of the Arnold Blood variety, bearing the family name. 

Mike said people from Mediterranean backgrounds were already familiar with blood oranges and the fruit had become popular with Australian consumers. 

“Blood oranges have been successful and there are a lot planted now,” he said.

There is still a demand for them and demand for blood orange juice.” 

Mike always put a high value on travelling to other citrus-producing countries to see what they were growing and how it was best grown. 

Through the years he has co-ordinated and led group tours to investigate citrus around the world, opening business opportunities for the industry. 

South Africa, the United States and Italy are among the countries Mike and his citrus industry colleagues have visited to learn from their growers. 

He has also hosted many international grower trips and facilitated many technical visits to Australia in a bid to share knowledge, strengthen relationships and advance the citrus industry.

Mike was instrumental in leading the growth and development of the Auscitrus seed and budwood program based at Dareton in far south west NSW. 

It also features a greenhouse complex constructed to exclude any future incursion of the Asian Citrus psyllid or other exotic pest/diseases. 

Citrus Australia said Mike “oversaw the movement from a small operation largely run by NSW Department of Primary Industries employees to the financially strong and business focused program that it now”. 

Under Mike’s leadership and vision, Citrus Australia said the country now had a world-class facility that was globally recognised for its excellence.

Mike also served on the board of Waikerie Co-operative Producers, a citrus packing company, for almost 20 years. 

The Co-op is now privately-owned by the Knispel family under the banner of Nippy’s Waikerie Producers. 

Mike is also a former Chairman and life member of the Ag Bureau of Waikerie.

He retired from the CFS after 60 years of service and is a recipient of the prestigious Australian Fire Service Medal.