Unique trees stolen from one of SA's largest cherry producers

Police investigating theft of dozens of unique cherry trees in SA's Riverland In short: Dozens of cherry trees have been stolen from a Riverland property owned by one of SA's largest producers. The owner says the trees are unique and the thefts may affect his overseas export market. What's next? SA Police is investigating and urges anyone with information to come forward. One of South Australia's largest cherry producers is counting its losses after more than 40 trees were stolen out of the ground. The thefts from Torrens Valley Orchards' Riverland property were reported to police between September 29 and yesterday. The young trees are about two years old and a metre tall and appear to have been ripped out of the ground by hand. Owner Tony Hannaford said he was shocked to learn about the thefts from his Loveday property and that losses would have an impact on his business. "The cherries grown in the Riverland are particularly directed towards the export market, and we do have our export buyers coming here next month," he said. "It's disappointing [about] any loss of potential volume. The export potential is based around what we can grow in the Riverland [and] it's not a good look." A police spokesperson said the latest theft, which occurred yesterday, reportedly involved three men in a black SUV. They said the men fled the property and were last seen travelling west on Thiele Road at Loveday. "The three men were described as being of Caucasian appearance and aged 20 to 30 years old," the spokesperson said. "Police encourage anyone witnessing suspicious behaviour around rural properties to call police immediately." Growing the business Mr Hannaford took over the orchard business in 1974 and pivoted from his family's 120-year focus on apples to premium cherries. Decades on, Torrens Valley Orchards operates about 10 farms covering about 300 hectares across the Adelaide Hills and the Riverland. Mr Hannaford said the stolen trees were a patented international self-fertile variety from California called Pacific Red for which he has a special licence to grow. "We keep planting new varieties that supposedly have better attributes and [are] easy to grow, particularly in the harsh environments like the Riverland that have issues with heat and low chill." Mr Hannaford said the unique trees were more expensive than generic varieties, estimating a total loss of more than $1,000. He said while the number of trees stolen was relatively small, the repeated thefts were frustrating but he would plant new trees next year.