CLACKLINE OPERATIONS

Duncan Group commenced farming operations in Clackline in December 2000.

CLACKLINE
Latitude 31 43 S Longitude 116 31 E
The townsite of Clackline, located 17 kilometres south west of Northam, was gazetted a townsite in 1896. Despite being on a railway line, the name has no connection with the railway, and is an Aboriginal name. The surveyor John Forrest, later Premier of Western Australia, recorded the name for a well and brook in 1879, but did not record a meaning for the name.

refer DOLA web site

Detailed plot of the Duncan property is available by clicking the link at right. The property is geographically located in the Eastern Darling Slope at 31'45" S latitude and 116'33" E longitude, approximately 85 kilometres to the East of Perth, Western Australia. To view a road map , click this link.

The property had been used partially for sheep grazing, so considerable reconstruction was required to make it suited for olive growing. Initially macadamia nut trees were planted, but severe conditions in the winter of 2001 killed 96% of the young trees.

Original condtion of the property
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Views of the property and initial plantings of macadamias
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In May 2002 we began plantings olive trees. By May 2003 there were 500 trees planted.

By April 2004 the final plantings from the initial purchase was complete. The complete total of 620 trees were in the ground, six kilometres of irrigation had been laid to provide water to each of them, firebreaks and access roads were built and the grove was ready to mature to production stage.

Extensions to the grove in early 2008, including the purchase of additional trees, meant that by July 2008 there were 840 trees planted.

A winter runoff-fed dam on the property has been deepened and equipped with pumping facilities to provide watering to the grove during summer months. A water tanker and reticulated scheme water act as backup water supplies in case the dam runs dry, both connectable directly into the irrigation system.

For a historical perspective, the following series of aerial photographs illustrate the changes to the property over the years.

2002	2003	2004	2005
2006	2007	2008	Boundaries