Respect for the land

We are honoured to be the current custodians of a small piece of Dja Dja Wurrung land.  Our aim is to respect & nurture the land and leave as small a footprint as possible.

Previously the land had been used for cropping (with flood irrigation) and for sheep & cattle grazing but thankfully no chemical fertilizers had been used.  As a result a lot of the soil was compacted.  Prior to planting the land was deep ripped & basalt crusher dust was spread.  Nothing else was added prior to planting.

A bio-dynamic farmer is primarily a carer of soil. We believe that good healthy soil will grow good healthy produce so our land management practice is primarily focused towards this goal. The planting of trees, both olive & native, the practice of mulching all olive prunings, the sowing & incorporating an inter row green manure crop, the composting & spreading of the pomace from our olive processing plant all contribute to building & maintaining healthy well structured soil.

Acknowledgement of Climate Change

We acknowledge that climate change is a serious problem for the world.  We must and we do all we can to reverse the current trend of global warming.  Over 4,000 native trees have been planted along the boundaries with our neighbouring properties. These compliment the existing stands of river red gums that grow in the riparian area along the Loddon river. Together they provide a corridor for birds and other animals to & from the river.

An olive grove managed in accordance with our Demeter certified Bio-Dynamic farming & management practice is in itself carbon positive. This, together with the installation of a large solar power base (we generate much more than we use) enables Yalla-y-poora Grove to operate as a truly carbon positive enterprise.

Quality before quantity

All EVOO produced is certified annually by both the Bio-dynamic Research Institute (as Demeter Bio-Dynamic) and by the Australian Olive Association (as Extra Virgin Olive Oil)

Throughout all aspects of the olive life cycle our we give priority to the quality of the end product. Our trees are never pushed to produce a large crop but rather encouraged to produce healthy quality fruit. Micro irrigation is only used whenever absolutely necessary & then the sprinklers are set between the trees not adjacent – this encourages wider & stronger root growth. 

Whenever possible processing takes place immediately after harvesting (i.e olives harvested in the morning are processed that afternoon).  This ensures that absolutely minimal oxidation can take place before crushing.

After processing all EVOO is immediately stored in stainless tanks with a nitrogen blanket (again to ensure minimal oxidation prior to bottling) or in 1,000 L metalized barrier bags that exclude oxygen.  As we do not filter our EVOO it is allowed to settle for at least one month prior to bottling to ensure minimal sediment in the final product.

The end result is a wonderful collection of very tasty, high quality Demeter certified Bio-dynamic Extra Virgin Olive Oil ready for your table & kitchen.