A longing for warmer climes and to own his own farming land led Greg Clayton to the Mildura region. Today he has one of the smallest fruit operations in the district but, as he tells RICK BAYNE, that’s just the way he likes it.
Greg Clayton’s old Toyota Landcruiser is a good indicator of the distance he has been prepared to go to make his business work.
It is now confined to semi-retirement with more than 770,000km on the clock — including the first 710,000 with the same engine — but it has been the workhorse that kept Greg in touch with his clients over the decades.
He now has a second vehicle to carry the load, but Greg still hits far-afield markets to sell his fresh wares.
Greg is based 20km north of Mildura at Coomealla in southern NSW and for the past 30 years has been operating Clayto’s Fresh Produce with wife Janine from their 11ha block.
Much of their success has been based around his ability to drive long distances to haul his fresh fruit to welcoming markets at Hamilton, Port Fairy and Warrnambool in south-west Victoria.
Greg and Janine now have their own store in Dareton, which will mean less trips to the markets, but at age 63, Greg still hits the road on a regular basis.
Their vineyard, citrus orchid and avocado block specialises in winter and spring navel oranges, a summer orange and two types of mandarins — Imperial and Afourer.
Greg grew up on a sheep property between Hamilton and Coleraine in Victoria’s Western District. His parents sold the land when he was 16 and moved to Port Fairy, where Greg lived until his late 20s, cementing his ongoing connection with the region.
But he often looked for warmer climates.
“I used to come up north in the ’80s and work on the grape harvest,” he said.
“I really liked the weather and sun so I moved, though I’d rather be somewhere else in January.”
In the meantime, Greg worked mostly as a shearer. In his late 20s, he returned to study, completing an Associate Diploma of Farm Management at Glenormiston Agricultural College in south-west Victoria, following his interest in agriculture and horticulture and his dream of owning farming land.
A few months after completing the course, Greg moved to the Mildura region and decided to stay. He worked for a big horticultural company running picking crews and then worked on various fruit blocks along with the occasional comeback shearing expedition into southern Victoria.
After his father died in 1995, Greg received an inheritance that allowed him to put a deposit on the block at Coomealla.
“In the ’80s I’d worked on vineyard harvests and for the four years I’d been up here I’d worked on fruit blocks, so it was a natural progression,” he said.
He admits he still had a lot more to learn and they had only got into the land “by the skin of our teeth” and didn’t have the cash to make big changes.
“That was when the wine boom was happening and growers were getting out of fruit and changing over, but there was no way we could do that, so we had to stay with what we had,” he said.
It all turned out for the best and Greg is happy with his choices.
Clayto’s Fresh Produce is one of the smallest fruit operations in the Mildura region, but Greg likes it that way.
“I’m super small compared to most growers,” he said.
“We just wanted a niche market and not have to employ people. If we were picking for the packing sheds, we wouldn’t be here.
“We’ve got dried fruit as well — sultanas and raisins — mostly contracted to Sunbeam, but we do better out of the markets than the commercial side of it.
“The only way we’ve survived is through the markets and now the shop.”
The couple opened Coomealla Grown and Sewn in Dareton in 2024, with Janine taking on management of the shop while Greg continues to manage the block and do his runs to regional markets while also supplying the likes of Volcano Produce near Warrnambool.
“The local sporting memorial club renovated five shops that hadn’t been used for 20 years and we took on the last one and set up a café-produce store,” Greg said.
“It’s been really good for us.”
They have also made changes at the fruit block, mostly out of necessity.,
“We’re only running half of it now,” Greg said.
“We’re in the second year of a drought. We’ve had under 100mm for the year so far (late August) and the average is 280mm to 290mm.
“We’ve already had quite a few days in the 20s in August … it’s not looking very flash.”
Irrigation helps Greg to survive but it’s a major cost and one of the reasons they have cut production.
“We’re only farming half of the 11 hectares and that’s mainly due to the millennium drought and selling part of our permanent water allowance so we had to downsize,” he said.
“It has probably worked better for us. We’re making more income off less ground and we’re only using half the water that we used to. It’s a good amount that we can handle personally and not have to worry about labour.”
Admitting he’s dealing with dodgy knees, Greg plans to slow down progressively over the next few years, but he remains a big supporter of Australian-grown produce and organic, spray-free farming.
Since opening the café, Greg and Janine have joined an organic and regenerative farming movement and are working with like-minded growers to encourage more interest in the field.
They also do their bit to help people in need, including donations to the likes of Western District Food Share.
“We started last year and this year decided to continue,” Greg said.
“I’m from a Christian faith and it’s part of giving to someone in need.”