A Large Scale Horticulture Development
The development will involve 3,300 Ha of annual and perennial crop production. More land is available to expand in future.
Singleton horticulture project
Singleton Horticulture Project (the Singleton Farm) is located in the Western Davenport Region, approximately 380km north of Alice Springs, and 1,160km south of Darwin, in the Northern Territory of Australia. Singleton Station covers 2,949Km2 held under perpetual pastoral lease 01022 (NT portion 653).
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FortuneAgri's strategic growth plan is to stage the development of approximately 3,300 Ha of intensive irrigated horticulture which on completion will be one of the largest fruit and vegetable operations in Australia (“The Singleton Horticulture Project”). Key attributes of the project are as follows:
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Approximately 3300 ha of high value irrigated horticulture development
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Development to take place on nine plots, each about 300 to 400ha
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Blocks to be developed in sequence over a nine year development period
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Borefield comprising approximately 16 interlinked bores per plot
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Access to mains power from Tennant Creek
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Access to highway and railway
Community engagement and benefits
FortuneAgri is committed to engaging with native title holders and the Central Land Council about all aspects of the project, to provide transparency, address concerns and minimise potential issues and maximise mutual benefits and economic and social development opportunities for native title holders and local Aboriginal communities. Community benefits will include:
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Employment of local people and opportunity for establishment of local service providers (trades, retail, hospitality, contractors etc)
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Involvement, training and employment of local Indigenous people
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Engagement of Indigenous rangers to participate in environmental management and monitoring program
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Substantial community infrastructure for use by the wider local community (retail, health, education and recreation)
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Upgrade of the power transmission line from Tennant Creek and future construction of a local solar farm with connection to the grid
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Reliable communication services. The project will require high quality connection to the web which will also provide similar improved access to the surrounding district.
Site conditions
Climate
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Mean temperatures range from 32 degrees in summer to 17 degrees in winter, refer to the Singleton Weather for further details.
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Negligible frost risk.
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Average rainfall of 386 mm, predominately received in spring and summer months.
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Relatively low humidity (35%) and high evaporation
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Relatively high wind-speed (12.6km/h) with minimal natural wind protection for crops.
Pest and disease prevalence
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Low pest and disease prevalence (including fruit fly free status) is a key advantage for the Western Davenport region, which will need to be maintained through strong farm biosecurity measures.
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Potential opportunity for organic production.
Hydrogeology
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The development area is located within the Western Davenport Water Control District. The District covers two large regional aquifers which underlie the central sandplains of the district, as well as multiple smaller local aquifers.
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The district lies within the Georgina basin. The large regional aquifers are recharged by periodic rainfall runoff, predominantly from the Davenport Ranges to the north east and Taylor’s Creek to the south.
Soil and land capability
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Predominately Red Kandosol soils, sandy or loamy sand surface grading into a sandy loam subsoil.
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Non-saline and well drained
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Considered suitable for irrigated horticultural production
Crop selection
The location is suitable for a large variety of annual and perennial crops. The climate also enables year round production, and production outside the typical growing seasons for most of Australia. This will enable sale of produce at premium prices. From the list of crops that could be grown in the Western Davenport Region, a shortlist of 7 crop options including mandarin, table grape, dried grape, onions, avocado, muskmelon and jujube, is identified.
Water
Singleton Station lies within the Western Davenport Water Control District which was declared a Beneficial Use Area under the Water Act in 2007. The amount of water available for allocation under the Western Davenport Water Allocation Plan for agricultural purposes is based on the calculated aquifer recharge. Hence, the water extracted from the aquifers for irrigation will over time be replenished by the recharge water from rainfall events. FortuneAgri has applied for a 40,000 ML/year allocation to support the Singleton Horticulture Project, to be staged in parallel with the development program. Singleton Farm will utilise approximately 0.03% per annum of the water stored in the underlying aquifer system at full production. The full allocation will not be required for some years when the fruit tree crops mature and will be dependent on meeting agreed environment criteria and achieving development milestones.
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General Condition GC6 requires FAFM to submit an annual compliance report for the water accounting year ending on 30 June each year.
Click the link to download the report which describes the work undertaken in the year 2021/22.
Click the link to download the report which describes the work undertaken in the year 2022/23.
The successful implementation of the horticulture project is dependent on an integrated approach to the protection of the natural environment and the sustainable use of the valuable water resource supporting the project. FortuneAgri is committed to balancing the commercial aspects of the project with these environmental requirements, with a staged adaptive development plan to enable environmental monitoring and reporting prior to progressing to the following stage.
Service and community precinct
The project will include significant community infrastructure and services to support the needs of the business, its employees and the local community, with the potential to support the developing local horticultural industry. Some of the key attributes of these community and service requirements include:
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Facilities for staff and families
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Packing and processing facilities,
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Cold storage
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Workshops and machinery sheds
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Power supply
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Telecommunications
Power
The Singleton Horticulture Project is located approximately 120km from Tennant Creek. An existing power transmission network supplies mains power from Tennant Creek to the Ali Curung Indigenous community located in the Western Davenport Region. This power transmission line passes through Singleton Station along the Stuart Highway. Tennant Creek power station generates power using mains supply natural gas with a current capacity of approximately 6MWe.
Local photovoltaic (PV) solar power generation is being investigated as a viable and cost effective option for the development. PV solar would supplement supplied mains power, and provide opportunities to distribute power back into the grid, including to local communities and other users.
Distribution options
FortuneAgri has explored various distribution options. The preferred option is to put in place an on-farm sales support resource to manage packaging, storage, loading and delivery to the farm gate. Intermediaries will be used to manage in-market logistics and price setting, and to service key accounts including direct supermarket supply. FortuneAgri will maintain direct “top to top” relationships with Tier 1 clients.
Logistics
Following harvest produce will be transferred to an on-farm packing facility for sorting, grading and packing into cartons and loaded onto pallets. Alternatively, some crops will be packed directly into cartons in the field. (e.g table grapes). Once packed, produce will need to be cooled to an appropriate temperature to prevent deterioration, and stored on-farm before being freighted. When ready to be transported to market, produce will be loaded into refrigerated containers and transported by truck or rail. Produce can be distributed to domestic markets entirely by road, or via rail after transfer at Alice Springs or Tennant Creek. Produce can be exported from Darwin, Adelaide or Brisbane, via sea or air.
Technology strategy
FortuneAgri will bring a highly innovative mindset to the Singleton Horticulture Project with plans to embrace leading edge technology and best practice to drive continuous improvement across all aspects of the enterprise. The premise of the strategy is to adopt proven technologies across the farming operation to optimise efficiency and to mitigate operational risks.
Project development
The project will be developed in 4 stages with production scaled up over a nine year period.
