tribute

A stalwart of the industry and innovator of the Standard Crate Exchange – we celebrate the life and memories of Roy Schultz.

Roy with his fellow board members.

ROY SCHULTZ is one of the forefathers of our industry. He was secretary of the WA Vegetable Growers Association from 1985 to 1997, made a life member in 1991 and led the Standard Crate Exchange from 1974 to 1992, creating a thriving multi-million-dollar company and leading it into plastics and computer systems. He sadly passed away earlier this year, so we pay tribute to him, and his and his family’s stories and their place in our vegetable-growing history. Through his wife Betty and son Peter we have gained access to a book Roy wrote about his family and the early vegetable-growing community in Perth. Through this there are references to the Arbuckle family, a name synonymous with vegetables growing; and the Stevens family – Bill led the formation of the Vegetable Growers Association of Western Australia (also now called vegetablesWA) and enticed Roy into the Crate Exchange. It’s an important, interesting read that the family is happy to share with members.

Roy’s father leased land from the famous West Australian vegetable-growing family, the Arbuckles, in January 1929. He had two five-acre blocks, sitting side by side, on the eastern side of the Karrinyup Golf Course. The lease was for three years with an option to purchase after the expiry of the lease. They purchased the property in 1933 during the depression. Later Roy’s father purchased more land from Jim Arbuckle Jnr (“a real gentleman”), who was the son of the man from whom he had purchased the initial two block of land, in the mid-30s. In the 1940s, a local grower and the man who was to become in 1948 the inaugural vice-president of the Vegetable Growers Association of WA, Bill Stevens purchased one of their five-acre blocks on their northern boundary and became a neighbour for many years. With Roy not enjoying farming, the last five-acre block was also sold to Bill after his father died in 1946.

Growing up, Roy remembered burning off green leaves in 44 gallon drums positioned along rows at even intervals to protect crops from frost and the Department of Agriculture men arriving with their packed sandwiches to run trials on their land. However, it’s the original Perth Markets that captured his imagination. We publish an excerpt from his book.

Roy and his mother Vera taking a melon break; the family’s first tractor; the original markets; water diviner Bill Arbuckle helped Roy put down a bore; and Roy .