Australian lemon prices soar, indicating what’s ahead for fruit and vegies

Lemons have hit what is believed to be a record price — but growers are unlikely to benefit, with much of the crop to rot on trees. And it might only be a taste of what’s to come for fruit and vegies this summer.

AUSTRALIAN consumers are being hit by the first wave of price rises caused by a chronic shortage of workers to pick fruit and vegetables.

Lemons have hit $2.50 each — believed to be a record — on supermarkets shelves, with a lack of pickers blamed for the climb from the usual December peak price of $2.

Many in the horticulture industry fear the rise is a harbinger of what’s to come for other fruit and vegetables.

The Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences this week predicted prices of summer vegetables, stone fruit, pome fruit and table grapes would rise by 15-25 per cent as the nation’s supply of overseas labour plummeted.

National Farmers’ Federation chief executive Tony Mahar said current lemon prices were “a sign of things to come. If we can’t address the labour issue, we just won’t be able to satisfy demand. We’ve been saying that for six months now”.

Just like lemons, it’s expected other fruit and vegies will reach high prices this summer.

Mr Mahar said COVID-19 has compounded farmers’ longstanding labour issues.

“It is extremely unfortunate for growers who have had a good year, to see things rotting on trees not being picked. It’s not a new issue, and now we’re going to see price rises that are very unfortunate,” he said.

Citrus Australia said growers in Far North Queensland — the only Australian region with fruit-bearing trees in November and December — were struggling to find enough people to pick their crop.

Queensland only opened its borders to NSW and Victoria last week, and Citrus Australia chief executive Nathan Hancock said border restrictions impeding the usual flow of workers following the harvest trail across the country was playing a part.

“Fresh Australian lemons are being harvested in Far North Queensland and it is proving difficult for growers to get staff, due to shortages caused by border restrictions,” Mr Hancock said.

Shipping arrivals into Australia was also influencing prices. Australia traditionally relies on US and Egyptian lemon imports in November and December but constrained shipping timetables have meant fewer lemons are making it to Australian shores. Coupled with a strong Australian dollar and a period of low supply in Australia, prices for the popular citrus fruit have climbed well above its historical summer high.

“Unfortunately, this is a good indication of how COVID can impact pricing through a reduction in available staff and interruptions in the supply chain,” Mr Hancock said.

Queensland citrus farmer Wim van Niekerk, who grows lemons and limes across 100ha at Dimbulah, said he was receiving record prices for his lemons, but it was a double-edge sword given he was paying overtime rates to his workers to remove a crop that would ordinarily require many more hands.

“It’s a massive problem at the moment for us, especially with mango season kicking off. We’re working with about 25 per cent of our normal staff. We’re picking but they’re long days and it’s very expensive given the overtime,” Mr van Niekerk said.

He said the farm had hoped to lure pickers based on it reputation of being a good employer. But despite being less than two hours from Cairns, none of his workers were Australian. “They usually last a day or two and then say the work is too hard, that it’s too hot and they’d rather do something else,” he said.

ABARES’ new report said horticultural production and prices were more influenced by COVID-19 than any other agricultural commodity due to the industry’s reliance on overseas labour to harvest crops and the limited alternative sources of supply for some products.

An Ernst & Young report in July predicted prices could rise by up to 60 per cent as Australia’s backpacker workforce continued to dwindle, stripping farmers of their seasonal workforce.

The consultancy firm said farmers would need an extra 26,000 workers to harvest their crops this season as backpackers and seasonal worker program visa holders continued to return home.

Victorian Farmers Federation vice president Emma Germano said supermarkets have been worried for months about inadequate supplies of their fresh produce lines over the busy Christmas period, but federal and state governments had failed to heed the industry’s repeated warnings and act quickly enough to bring in more workers from Pacific Island countries as part of the seasonal workers program, given the difficulty of luring Australians to the gruelling work.

“The labour shortages will get worse as we go along,” she said, adding many farmers have drastically scaled back their plantings fearing the worst was yet to come.

“Normally I put in 25,000 cauliflowers a week, but I had a bad feeling in July so only ordered 10,000 for two months anticipating the labour shortage and I know I’m not the only grower who’s done that,” Ms Germano said.

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