Generational farming at risk as costs mount on vegetable growers

Two in five vegetable growers are actively considering leaving the industry as farmers are hit with red tape and compliance burdens worth $213m annually.

Vegetable growers say generational farming is at risk as more and more growers look to exit the industry.

AUSVEG’s most recent industry sentiment survey reported that two in five growers are actively considering leaving the industry in the next 12 months, while a further two in five would follow suit if they had a viable exit strategy.

This is up from one in three in January.

It comes as AUSVEG announced growers are paying $213m annually in compliance regulations.

Dean Gazzola. Picture: The Weekly Times

Dean Gazzola, of Gazzola Farms on Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula, said with increased costs, compliance and low prices, there’s “very little room for profit”.

“Costs (for everything) have gone up. Chemicals, fertiliser, fuel, wages, superannuation, insurance, rates, taxes – everything just keeps going up,” he said.

AUSVEG chief executive Michael Coote said compliance requirements have continued expanding in scope, volume and complexity, and now equate to an estimated 42 per cent of vegetable growers’ EBITDA.

Mr Gazzola said when supplying to supermarkets, auditors come and “look for the most ridiculous things to pin you on” while farmers are left footing the ever increasing bill.

“The supermarkets are recording record profits all the time, we’re doing it tough and we’ve got to keep paying more and more,” he said.

AUSVEG chief executive ­Michael Coote.

Mr Gazzola said he thought the two in five statistic was accurate “if not higher”, and that generational farming was dying out.

“There’s lots of farms with directors or owners who are in their 40s, 50s and 60s with no next generation, and they’re going to keep farming until they drop. But once those farms shut up shop, there will be a significant gap in the market where the rest of us can’t necessarily pick it up,” he said.

“So either farmers are going to have to expand dramatically or we’re going to have to import a lot from overseas.

Brian Edwards, shed manager at Cafresco Organics at Koo Wee Rup, said there was a lot of land banking in the area, with parents understanding it might not be practical for their sons and daughters to continue farming on the land.

He said there had been no major price increases for produce for years, while costs, including for transport, electricity and solar panels, have increased enormously.

“(People) are selling, or leasing or whatever – there’s a situation currently where a lot of farmers in the area are looking at downsizing, or simply quitting, which is very sad,” he said.

“They’re working for 40-50 years and building up what they believe in, but are now getting to the age where it’s maybe better to quit than keep going.”