Machines the carrot for Peter

Mechanisation has Peter Ivankovich sticking with carrots and onions.

The Myalup vegie grower is from a family of growers originally in Spearwood who were forced south by urbanisation.

“I have been growing vegies all my life, ” he said.

For more than 20 years Peter has been growing along the South West Coastal plain with his son, Anthony.

With about 240 irrigated acres (97 hectares) the two grow vegies all year.

Peter said it was a lot easier to grow carrots and onions because of the machinery available.

“It’s easier to produce them — if you grow leafy vegetables you need more labour, ” he said.

“I used to grow potatoes but I gave it away when we had a problem with padley scab.

“There’re new varieties resistant to it, but we never got back into them.”

Ivankovich Farms grows 2500–3500 tonnes of onions and up to 3500 tonnes of carrots each year.

Onions are produced 12 months of the year for IGA supermarkets and the carrots are mostly exported.

“We wash and pack all the carrots for the exporter in our packing shed, ” he said.

Although Anthony has taken over the farm, Peter said he still was very much a part of the business.

“We still jointly make all the decisions, but he has the reins, ” he said.

“I don’t want to retire, but I don’t want to work too much, so having my son take over is perfect.”

Peter said Anthony had big plans for the farm and wanted to expand the export market.

“I’ve done my dash, it’s up to the next generation now, ” Peter said.