Crop losses mount as growers struggle to get workers
Fruit and vegetable growers across Australia are continuing to count the cost of a labour shortage that has seen millions of dollars’ worth of produce go to waste.
MILLIONS of dollars’ worth of fruit and vegetables have gone to waste as growers across the country continue to grapple with a labour shortage.
It is estimated crop losses across Australia have topped $38 million, figures from the National Lost Crop register show.
So far 55 growers across berries, tomatoes, carrots, citrus and leafy green vegetables from five states and territories have reported their losses.
Two growers have reported losses upwards of $10 million.
The horticulture industry, which usually relies on backpackers and seasonal workers during harvest, has been warning of the impacts of the labour shortage since last year when travel bans came into force due to coronavirus.
And there are fears the latest figure is “just the tip of the iceberg”, Richard Shannon, manager of policy and advocacy at peak industry body Growcom, said.
“As awareness of the Register grows and as labour supply remains tight, the recorded losses will likely only increase,” Mr Shannon said.
In Queensland, blueberry producer Fresh Produce Group has suffered just under $3 million worth of losses.
Executive director Anthony Poiner said after being left short 150 harvest staff, they made the decision to leave 20 hectares of unpicked blueberries in the field.
“Altogether it’s been an exceptionally challenging 12 months. Unfortunately the challenges are not over. We are currently harvesting raspberries and blueberries in Tasmania, and we are about to start grape harvest in Mildura and Western Australia,” Mr Poiner said.
“It remains relentlessly challenging to gain full attention of all the levels of authority to allowing us to get the harvest staff to these locations. One of the more irritating incidents was having a large number of our regular harvest workers, people who have been integral to our harvest team every year, trapped on the NSW side, unable to get across the border despite being in a region with zero COVID cases.”
While the government has introduced incentives to Australian citizens and permanent residents to encourage them to take up harvest roles, Mr Shannon said more needed to be done.
“As a priority we have to expand our capacity for Pacific Islanders and East Timorese to safely enter Australia and take up job offers. We know there are many workers keen to get started, but right now there’s a big bottleneck getting through state and territory-based quarantine,” he said.
The Weekly Times last month reported in Victoria more than 91 per cent of agriculture roles advertised via an Andrews Government site to match unemployed Victorians with jobs are going unfilled.
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