As olive oil prices soar, could this native insect threaten Australian production?

Extra-virgin olive oil producers fear that a native sap-sucking insect may place added pressure on the industry already impacted by rising labour costs and climate change.

Producers of extra virgin olive oil in Victoria fear that a native lace insect could damage olive trees, leading to high treatment costs.

Key Points

• While native to Australia and found in New South Wales, the lace bug has been in Victorian olive groves for a while.
• Umberto Frattali is concerned for his 6000 trees, after recently treating against the insect.
• While a reduced yearly yield is an immediate by-product, heavy infestation can reduce yields in subsequent years.

Whether produced in Australia or imported from abroad, extra-virgin olive oil has joined the long list of pantry items whose prices have soared since the COVID-19 pandemic.

Poor crop yields locally and abroad, climate change and increasing labour costs have driven up the price of the supermarket item, which is being sold for as much as $70 for a three-litre tin or $25 for a 750ml bottle.

These factors have been compounded for Victorian growers battling to save their orchards from the native sap-sucking olive lace bug, known as Froggattia olivine.

Umberto Frattali has been producing extra-virgin olive oil for more than two decades out of his farm in Yae and is the supplier for dozens of Italian restaurants in Melbourne.

Umberto Frattali produces extra-virgin olive oil out of Yae, Victoria.

He told SBS Italian that he was “very concerned” about the future of his crop, after recently treating a fraction of his 6000 trees against infestation, at a cost of around $1000.

It's believed the insects that have affected growers in Yae travelled from the King Valley, 150km northeast.

“I keep going around every day to see if there are any insects that have come alive," he said, adding that it would cost $10,000 per round of treatment of his entire crop.

“I'm sure in Spring when the weather is better, we will see more movement [by the insects]. I'm concerned because it has cost me a lot of money to spray."

To manage the problem, Frattali hired agronomist Adrian Utter.

While native to Australia and found in New South Wales, the lace bug has been in Victorian olive groves for a while but has increased in prevalence over the past two years, Utter explained.

“The bug lives on the underside of the leaf, sucks the sap out of the leaf, and that causes the leaf to get a yellow appearance on the surface.

“In the event of severe infestation, the leaves will fall off the tree.”

While a reduced yearly yield is an immediate by-product, a heavy infestation can reduce yields in subsequent years, Utter said.

“Very heavy infestations can kill young trees. It's only been documented in Western Australia that infestations have killed large, well-established trees and other maintenance issues for the trees."

Adrian Utter is an agronomist with Muirs Monbulk.

But how has this insect – measuring two to three mm long and as thick as a house key – travelled hundreds of kilometres?

"Adults can fly and move from one orchard to another, but the more likely spread is through workers or machinery," Utter explained.

"So, farm biosecurity is crucial, making sure if you've got a harvester coming to your property that it is clean."

That is what happened to Frattali, whose mill is used by other local producers.

"I saw the bug on the leaves attached to other farmers' fruits," he said.

"In a few weeks, my trees were infested by this bug."

Frattali’s farm production has plummeted in 2024, which forced him to increase the wholesale price of extra virgin olive oil by 50 per cent.

Fortunately, he has been able to count on olive trees half-abandoned by their owners, who have permitted him to harvest those olives and produce some extra oil.

"If we do not act swiftly, we won't have any more olive trees in Australia in five years."

While pesticides can be used to treat the insect, Utter said prevention was key, adding that measures must be taken by growers in winter, when the insect lays its eggs.

"It's important that people monitor their orchards in spring, September, and October to look for the emergence of the bugs. The eggs are laid into the leaves in May and June, and then those eggs will hatch in September and October.

"They can have up to four or five generations per season, and the population can grow quite quickly.”

Black tar spots may develop on the surface of leaves as a result of the lace bug.

Problems around production and yield are not unique to Victoria.

Armando Percuoco, who produces extra virgin olive oil in the Hunter Valley, points to heavy rains as the main culprit for a decidedly bad year.

"Some of the people who have olives in the area produced zero oil this year.

"The heavy rains have hit very hard."

While boutique producers are affected, downward numbers also appear in the annual report of Australian oil giant Cobram Estate, which speaks of poor harvests, especially in eastern Australia, with declines of 54 per cent compared to 2023 and 43 per cent compared to 2022.

It is also well known in the extra virgin olive oil industry that positive vintages, such as in 2023, are normally alternated with negative ones.

Riccardo Scarpellini, CEO of Thytherleigh Italia and president of the Opera Olei consortium - which brings together several Italian olive millers - confirms this theory when asked to describe what vintage 2024 will be in Italy, where harvest has not yet taken place.

"There have been big issues of draught, particularly in Sicily. This year's yield will be lower than 2023."