A Sunshine Coast farm renowned for offering people the chance to pick their own strawberries has closed its doors to the public.
The McMartin family, who owns McMartin’s Farm at Bli Bli, made the announcement via their website.
“We are now permanently closed. We’d like to thank all of our wonderful customers over the last 40 years,” they said.
The closure could represent the end of an era – the farm was believed to be the last pick-your-own strawberries property in the region.
Queensland Strawberry Growers Association president Adrian Schultz said the time was right for Lillian and Graham McMartin to cease operations.
“They have decided to hang up the strawberry boots, so to speak, because Lillian is in her late 70s and Graham is in his early 80s,” he said.
“They’re at an age now where they’ve been doing it for more than 40 years and want to do something else.
“They’re continuing with growing other crops on their property, like avocados and custard apples and things like that, but they’ve decided to finish up on the strawberry side of things.”
Mr Schultz paid tribute to the couple and their 56-acre farm.
“I couldn’t really think of another word that would describe them better than ‘iconic’,” he said.
“They are real characters … they’re hardworking, salt-of-the-earth type of people and the (public) strawberry picking has been a feature for ages.
“Many people would travel from Brisbane to spend time there. A trip to the beach would include a visit to McMartin’s to pick some strawberries and eat some ice cream.”
Visitors also enjoyed the playground.
Want more free local news? Follow Sunshine Coast News on Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram, and sign up for our FREE daily news email.
Mr Schultz said Lillian and Graham had been key figures in strawberry farming.
“They were heavily involved with the industry and were influential in decisions that were made,” he said.
“That tapered off as they got older, and they branched out into other things.”
The McMartin family has owned the farm since 1945. They started growing small crops in the early 1950s, with an initial focus on beans and tomatoes, but strawberries have been the predominant crop for four decades.
The family stopped growing them commercially about eight years ago but continued to sell them at the farm shop, amid an expansion of lychee and custard apple orchards, before closing to the public recently.
Mr Schultz said the closure was a blow to the pick-your-own strawberries initiative.
“There are fewer and fewer pick-your-own opportunities these days,” he said.
He said it was essentially too difficult for new strawberry farmers to include the scheme.
“It’s a shame. It’s got a lot to do with all the red tape and insurances,” he said.
“It’s unfortunate but a lot of people don’t see it as worthwhile.
“As the established pick-your-own operations close, there’s nobody really picking up the spade, so to speak, to keep it going.”
He detailed some of the difficulties.
“Just having a car park can be quite an ordeal for someone to get organised through council,” he said.
“In the past, if you had a spare paddock, you could just go and park there. You can’t do that anymore.
“You can’t just have a tap where people can wash their hands: it’s got to be a dedicated handwashing facility.
“Insurances are ridiculous. You’ve got to accommodate for people walking on uneven ground and doing a physical activity that perhaps in the past didn’t attract as much attention from the insurers.
“We all want everyone to be safe but there are more hurdles to get over and that costs money.”
Mr Schultz can speak from experience, having shut down his own pick-your-own operation at Wamuran.
He said the McMartins had to make “lots of changes” to their operations over the years.
“But if anybody wanted to try and start up a pick-your-own business now, they would encounter a lot more difficulties than when they (the McMartins) started. It’s certainly more challenging now,” he said.
He also said there were staffing requirements to fulfil, and farmers needed “a certain personality” to welcome visitors.
“You’re dealing with the public and many farmers are more comfortable dealing with their plants than the public,” he said.
Mr Schultz believed there were no pick-your-own strawberries farms associated with the Queensland Strawberry Growers Association left in the region.
“There are strawberry farms that people can visit and buy produce but they can’t pick their own,” he said.
“I’m talking about dedicated pick-your-own operations, not what happens at the end of the season, where a lot of farms advertise on Facebook for people to come and pick a box for $20.”
Mr Schultz said the strawberry industry had changed significantly in recent years.
“The number of strawberries grown hasn’t diminished but the number of people (growing strawberries) has,” he said.
“Strawberry growers are getting older and there are not many younger people coming into the market.
“What we’re seeing is more small to medium operations stopping, but the larger corporate operations are continuing. The number of strawberries being grown has remained static for the last five years at least but the number of actual farms has diminished quite a lot.
“The Queensland Strawberry Growers Association used to have 120 members but we’ve probably got about 50 now, but still representing 60 per cent of strawberry growing in Australia.”
Sunshine Coast News has reached out to McMartin’s Farm for comment.
