David is a third generation fruit farmer at Groves Grown Tropical Fruit, a property near Yeppoon, in Central Queensland, where he and his family have grown tropical fruit since 1958. Since transitioning from pineapples to tree crops in the 1980s, the Groves family has focused on building a sustainable and resilient business.
David Groves at Groves Grown Tropical Fruit
Disaster preparedness and resilience have long been facets of David's approach to farming, having experienced hailstorms, a category 5 tropical cyclone, bushfires, floods and drought. Since working on the family farm full-time after high school, David has spent most of his life putting in place strategies to make the farm more resilient and better prepared for uncontrollable events.
It was this focus on preparation that inspired his foray into beekeeping Australian native bees as part of his goal to protect pollinators and biodiversity on the farm. Along with building and splitting hives, David has implemented green breaks that are filled with native flowering trees to build and maintain habitats for pollinators.
He's also a dedicated member of the Rural Fire Brigade, where he volunteers as Second Officer, Deputy Warden for the Maryvale Brigade. After the 2019 Black Summer that saw bushfires reach the borders of the farm, David has been particularly focused on community engagement and education for bushfire preparedness.
Another of David's passions is sharing farming knowledge with the community. While most fruit grown on the farm is sent to wholesale markets in capital cities, David spends much of the year taking fruit to the local farmers markets, where he loves to share what's happening on the farm and educate customers on where their food comes from. That motto is also what's behind his Instagram account, @tropicalfruitgrower, where he shares a look into daily life working on the farm.
