‘We’re exhausted’: Farmers continue to be hit by Covid

Farmers across the country are exhausted after weeks of a Covid-triggered labour crisis. And one producer predicts that the worst is yet to come.

Vegetable grower Paul Gazzola has been forced to plough some crops back into the ground, as he experiences a reduction in staff due to the ongoing Covid-19 outbreak.

Farmers have been left exhausted by ongoing labour shortages, increased productivity costs, and a lack of testing resources as the ongoing Omicron outbreak plagues all parts of the agricultural supply chain.

And some producers forecast that the worst is yet to come, as Rapid Antigen Tests remaining in short supply.

Gazzola Farms director Paul Gazzola on the Mornington Peninsula said his main issue has been a lack of labour to pick produce.

“We’ve been ploughing a bit of stuff back in every week, stuff that we can’t get to,” Mr Gazzola said.

“We haven’t been able to fulfil orders, not only at wholesale but at trade stores.”

“It’s labour, purely labour. On any day we could have up to 20 per cent of our employees out of action.”

Mr Gazzola while he has been informed the Victorian Farmers Federation has secured some RATs for workers, the latest Omicron wave was something the industry would have to simply ride out.

“I had a tractor driver today whose partner tested positive. He has to stay at home and look after his kids,” Mr Gazzola said.

“I also found out today a few of my Vanuatu boys have tested positive. What will happen now is we’ll lose the majority of those workers, because it’ll go through their house.

“It’s one of those things where you just don’t know where it’s going to hit you next.”

And for those employees who remain on-farm, the workload has increased exponentially.

“It’s creative a massive hole. The people we do have, they’re working harder than they should be. Not only are you pushing employees to work longer hours, but production costs you more. You’ve got no choice, it’s a compounding problem,” Mr Gazzola said.

“It’s an unfortunate thing that we’re going to have to ride out. And it’s frustrating. We’re working massive hours to get things done, and cover all the bases. It is quite draining, and lots of farmers are saying the same thing, that we’re exhausted.

“Don’t even ask me to put a dollar figure on the losses, I haven’t had time. I’m looking forward to the day when I can just go back to growing vegetables.”

YC Feeding owner and commission feedlot buyer Alistair Nelson has lost about four B-double loads of kill space at the processor since before Christmas.

“That’s 82 cattle every truck … which is 328 cattle that never got killed out of the feedlot,” Mr Nelson said.

“From when a calf is born, to when it’s an eating experience, that whole chain has been damaged by Covid.”

Mr Nelson said in the past two weeks he has bought about six B-doubles worth of cattle out of Casterton, Hamilton, Euroa and Wangaratta, bought online via Auctions Plus as Mr Nelson caught Covid-19 and was unable to attend sales in person.

“I got on the phone this week and (unnamed processor) said “Alistair I haven’t been able to kill all of your cattle today because my two best slaughtermen are off work; one has Covid and one is a close contact”,” Mr Nelson said.

“And I really feel for them because in the mornings they are expecting 150 people to show up for work and most often they won’t get them.”

Mr Nelson’s backgrounding system runs on a tight schedule with two B-double truck loads going into and out of the feedlot each week.

Feedlot buyers are struggling to have orders processed due to a lack of labour at processing facilities.

“I feed to deliver a couple of loads a week (to the processor) and when they can’t go I can’t just then put four loads in the following week,” Mr Nelson said.

“I have to keep putting them in to get the right number of days and weight gain but when you have a delay in the cattle coming out it puts a spanner in the works.

“When 40 per cent of my productivity is going to drop I’m going to drop a load a fortnight so I’ve got to find somewhere else that can handle some numbers for my cash flow.”

Mr Nelson predicts the agriculture industry is in for “the roughest road of the whole Covid ordeal” in the coming six-to-eight weeks.

“When we have a week where we don’t kill cattle, the supermarkets have a week where they don’t sell that, so it just exacerbates the problems for the different people in the supply,” Mr Nelson said.

“So we’ve got 40 per cent less red meat that’s disappearing off plates – 40 per cent less gets killed and marketed. So people either stop eating the product or they find something else to fill it and that’s what affects our industry.”