Hundreds of Australian farmers could be considering throwing in the towel due to stress and financial pressures, according to the managing director of one of the country's most diverse family-owned fruit growing businesses.
Pinata Farm's Gavin Scurr said farmers were looking at their bottom line and asking themselves if they wanted to carry on.
Founded in the 1960s near the Sunshine Coast's Glass House Mountains, Pinata Farms produces pineapples, Honey Gold mangoes, strawberries and raspberries on farms across Queensland, the Northern Territory and Tasmania.
Mr Scurr's comments come as the Fair Work Commission this week set a minimum wage for farm pieceworkers of $25.41 per hour when changes to the Horticulture Award come into effect on April 28.
Mr Scurr said Pinata's labour costs had risen by 30 per cent in the past two years.
"Our costs have increased significantly and the price of what we get for it has gone down in some cases and at best, is maintained the same."
He said he was concerned about the long term viability of agricultural businesses as farmers came under increasing pressure.
"They're looking at the challenges and the stress and the hassle they go through continually.
"You know it's costing us [farmers collectively] more to produce than we're getting back for it and it's just all too hard.
Cancelled orders add to stress
Mr Scurr said staff shortages, present well before COVID, had been amplified and supply chain disruptions, especially supermarket staff shortages, had resulted in fruit being left to rot in the fields.
"Back a couple of weeks ago when the retailers instantly halved their orders we lost 20 tonnes of strawberries, probably half that in raspberries," he said.
Mr Scurr said he had worked with food processors to try to use the surplus fruit, but the cancelled orders coincided with Golden Circle's annual shutdown of its pineapple canning line for maintenance.
He praised the transport industry for working during challenging times to keep fresh food moving and on people's tables.
He said politicians need to do better and should have learned from the COVID experience overseas to make the supply of rapid antigen tests (RATs) a priority.
"I think what we need is the state and federal governments to actually collaborate, work together instead of trying to score cheap political points against each other," Mr Scurr said.
"Farmers are incredibly optimistic, hope is what keeps us going, we plant a seed in the hope of our harvest.
"It's a function that farmers are immensely proud of, what we provide to the community is wholesome, nutritious food that sustains life, but at the end of the day we need a fair price to be able to do that and we need reasonable business conditions to be able to operate in."
Gap year initiative begins
Pinata Farms has signed up to a Growcom initiative to encourage some 180,000 Australian school leavers expected to take a gap year to backpack in their own backyard.
Growcom's regional agricultural workforce officer Blair Brown said young people were being urged to plan a Queensland adventure around a map of 23 approved farms that had been vetted to ensure they were trustworthy employers.
The federal government is providing a $6,000 incentive to help cover relocation costs.
