Murray Aquaculture Yabby Farm

Murray Aquaculture specialises in producing restaurant grade farmed yabbies all year round, as well as conducting guided tours of the farm's facilities. The farm is located about one kilometre out of Swan Reach on the main Loxton Road and is a comfortable two hour drive from Adelaide via the Barossa Valley or the scenic Adelaide Hills. Group tours are always welcome by arrangement. David Strutton, proprietor and tour guide, promises that the tours are suitable for all ages - "Everyone enjoys their visit, especially the kids, as they not only learn all about yabby production, but they get to see them face to face when they turn their hand to catching them for themselves." Catching yabbies is a definite favourite with the school groups, and all the gear you need is provided. That is, everything except patience and skill! Once you have your baited line in the water, and your net at the ready, it is then just a matter of playing the waiting game. It all comes down to timing - get the yabby into the net before he realises you've yanked him out of the water and lets go of the bait.

The Strutton family initially bought the property in 1983 for the purpose of growing almonds. Over the years this part of the operation has expanded considerably, to the point where they now have around 15,000 trees covering over 130 acres with expected production of more than 130 tonnes of kernel per year. As the guided tour travels to the yabby growout ponds a full description of almond growing and processing is provided. A short video encompassing all aspects of almond production may be shown if the coach is suitably equipped.

Almonds are in full bloom during August, making it a particularly picturesque time to visit. "With almond orchards near to Adelaide fast vanishing, and the focus of the industry moving to the more productive Riverland Region, we are finding increased interest in the almond blossom tours every year" David remarks.

February to April provides the unique opportunity to view mechanical harvesting in progress. Gone are the days of placing tarpaulins under the trees and hitting the branches with rubber mallets and poles - these days the almonds are collected quickly and efficiently using three separate pieces of machinery. A Shaker clamps on to the trunk of the tree and shakes it for literally just five seconds, bringing all nuts to the ground, which is where they stay for a few days to dry out completely. A Sweeper then moves these nuts into the centre of the row, closely followed by the Pick-up machine. The almonds are then transported back to storage sheds before going off to the shelling and processing plants.

The tour then arrives at the three acres of purpose built, plastic lined, yabby growout ponds, and the passengers can disembark to have a closer look. The plastic lining is required due to the porous nature of the local red sand which is well suited to almond growing but not for water holding dams. David explains "We started constructing the ponds in 1994 and each one is 100 metres long and 20 metres wide and is lined with a single sheet of plastic. This was laid down on a very calm day, covered with about ten centimetres of sand, and the ponds then filled with water and stocked with yabbies. In fact, there are now over 10,000 yabbies in each pond." To maximise production, Murray Aquaculture aerates the water. This not only adds oxygen, but it also circulates the water very well, bringing up the cold water from the bottom of the ponds and mixing it with the warmer water nearer the surface. The extra oxygen and warmer water leads to an increase in yabby activity in the ponds, which in turn, increases growth rates.

From the banks of the ponds there are good views of not only the almond orchard, but nearby vineyards, citrus orchards, onion patches and cereal crops.

The tour then continues to the Information Centre and Hatchery Complex where everyone has a chance to see a yabby eye to eye. A thorough description of the life cycle of the yabby is provided using aquariums, transparencies and other displays. The well established hatchery ensures that Murray Aquaculture can breed yabbies all year round. Under normal conditions, yabbies only breed in the warmer months of the year, but in the hatchery these climatic conditions can be simulated at anytime, leading to greater production by giving juvenile yabbies a few months head start during the winter period. Almonds and souvenirs are available for purchase in the Information Centre, but you will need to preorder your yabbies as they are always in high demand.

Murray Aquaculture, in conjunction with Murray River Educational Nature Tours, can organise an ecological based camp programme, which includes a tour of the yabby and almond farm, as well as many other exciting educational activities revolving around the Murray River.

The farm only caters for group tours and all visits need to be booked in advance. The tours last about an hour and cost from as little as $2 per person, depending on the group size. For more details, contact David Strutton as below:

Murray Aquaculture
PO Box 43
SWAN REACH SA 5354
Telephone: (08) 8570 2025
Facsimile: (08) 8570 2284
Email: murrayaquaculture@bigpond.com