Next time you’re quickly gobbling up the hydrating triangles, pause to consider the toil behind the hefty green ball. A large portion of local watermelons are grown in Chinchilla, where the soil is sandy and the weather is warm – excellent conditions for growing melons. Watermelon farmers around the country banded together in 1995 to form Select Melons Australia, collaborating to provide fresh seedless watermelon throughout the country all year round.

With growers in Queensland, Northern Territory, Western Australia and New South Wales – making up about one-third of Australia’s growers – Select Melons Australia sees produce harvested in winter in the north, while summer crops are grown in southern states. Always aiming to continually improve production methods, the group of farmers is currently looking in to how to reduce carbon emissions throughout the growing process. Results of the study will be released this year, with the findings to be implemented across the industry, creating more sustainable and profitable watermelon production. Have a chat to the watermelon farmers at your local market this weekend, perhaps striking up a friendly conversation about how the crops have been fairing through the summer heat.