Virus looms: Tomato growers feel ongoing market effects

South Australian tomato growers are feeling lingering effects from a virus incursion, while a truss tomato oversupply has hit the domestic market.

South Australian tomato growers are still reeling after a devastating virus hit their crops, while border restrictions and the growing market have caused oversupply of a popular variety.

The tomato brown rugose fruit virus on the Northern Adelaide Plains is under control, but growers continue to face the effects.

K-Fresh farm manager Matt McInerney, of Virginia, SA, said the virus was a “tough blow”.

Western Australia and Queensland imposed restrictions on SA growers, needing a plant health certificate before any product imports.

“They were significant markets to greenhouse growers,” Mr McInerney said.

“Of all the diseases we don’t have here, [ToBRFV] is the worst one to get. We haven’t had this type of pressure.”

The border restrictions have meant there was nowhere for the supply to go, which had already added more than 30ha of production in the past six years, resulting in an additional four million trays of truss tomatoes.

“The market just hasn’t been ready to absorb the excess. Our population hasn’t grown pro rata to accommodate the extra production and the deflated prices are a result of what we’re seeing,” he said.

“[Truss] is easier to grow and easier to harvest than a single-pick, loose gourmet, it’s very labour friendly inside a greenhouse.”

He said growing techniques and facilities had improved, raising yield production from 55kg a square metre to 75kg.

He said growers needed to evaluate their growing schedules and varieties, potentially finishing the crop early to plant another variety, to correct the market.

Currently, truss tomato prices at major supermarkets vary between 32-69 cents each, or about $4.50-$6 a kilogram.

ToBRFV affects tomatoes, capsicums and chillies, and can spread through infected seeds or plants, direct plant to plant contact, contaminated equipment or irrigation water.

Former farmer and Box Divvy co-founder Anton van den Berg said if farmers were paid between $4-5 a tray for tomatoes, while consumers paid $6 a kilo, it meant a 400 per cent mark up.

“If this holds true, it raises serious questions about fairness in the food supply chain,” he said.

“We asked the grower for their break-even price and paid it because supporting farmers through tough times ensures the long-term viability of local agriculture.”