2022 was meant to be the year where we bounced back from the hardships and difficulties of COVID-19, but this year has been one of the toughest in recent memory for the vegetable industry, writes Michael Coote*.
The Australian vegetable industry has faced significant challenges this year. We are dealing with floods and continuous wet weather that have impacted crops and input costs. It has become increasingly difficult to run a sustainable business, as labour shortages have also made it hard to plant, grow and harvest crops.
Many growing regions across Queensland, Tasmania, Victoria and New South Wales have experienced devastating wet weather and floods over the past 12 months.
The damage has not just been limited to production losses on-farm, but also delays in getting farm machinery on-farm for harvest and paddock preparation, damage to infrastructure, fencing and machinery, loss of topsoil, and time and investment in preparing paddocks for future crops.
The floods in Queensland during winter resulted in shortages of some perishable vegetable products, including lettuce, tomatoes, beans and broccoli in subsequent months. It is still too early to quantify the extent of the damage to crops from the floods in Victoria, New South Wales and Tasmania, but it is expected that there will be an impact on availability of some crops into 2023.
There will also be ongoing, longer-term impacts on housing availability for farm workers in the regions affected by floods. Housing availability in regional areas is already a roadblock for many businesses to secure a reliable workforce, so any further reduction in available housing will be a blow to businesses and their communities.
The reports from growers and those in affected areas coming from these floods are devastating. The vegetable industry is highly resilient, but when extreme weather events like these floods occur, it can be incredibly stressful not only on growers’ crops, but their businesses and their wellbeing.
The increases to the costs of production, which are impacting all sectors, have been particularly hard for vegetable growers who have been forced to shoulder the burden of cost of production increases.
This year AUSVEG received feedback from growers on their costs of production; expected plantings; and confidence in the industry’s outlook over the next 12 months – what we heard back was stark:
1. Cost of production has increased by an average of 25% for businesses in the vegetable sector. Growers have reported to AUSVEG that:
- Fertiliser prices have increased between 200% and 300%
- Chemicals and fuel by more than 40%
- Labour/wages by over 20%.
2. More than three quarters of businesses have indicated that their farm business margins have decreased in the last 12 months
3. More than two-thirds of businesses are not confident about the outlook for the next 12 months, and no business surveyed indicated that they were very or extremely confident.
Growers were already operating in a challenging and unpredictable environment prior to the challenges of 2022. These cost increases have been another blow for hard-working farmers trying to feed Australian families.
The horticulture industry is currently experiencing a critical worker shortage of at least 10,000 individual workers, which equates to many more roles as workers follow the harvest trail for seasonal work.
While Australian fruit and vegetable growers have traditionally relied on Working Holiday Makers to fill many of the picker and packer roles that are required to send produce to market, their numbers are yet to rebound to their pre-COVID levels.
This harvest workforce also underpins many local full-time employees around the country, which contribute significantly not just to the industry, but to many regional and rural communities that rely on a thriving horticulture industry to survive.
The economic cost for fruit and vegetable growers of the ongoing labour shortage includes the opportunity cost for the lost production, and the longer-term impact of reduced investment in farm maintenance or new technologies to increase efficiency and profitability.
Given the challenges that we are continuing to face, I encourage all in the sector to continue to support growers in the production of high-quality fresh produce. This not only helps growers but provides a vital support for regional and rural communities that rely on a thriving agriculture sector to survive.
*Michael Coote is the CEO of AUSVEG, the peak industry body for vegetable and potato growers. Mr Coote has worked with AUSVEG since 2014, previously leading the organisation’s trade and export development division.
