Thursday, 14 January, 2021
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Crop losses loom By Jess Baker Granite Belt growers are calling for urgent government support in their fight to stay afloat, as peak summer season nears and cash incentives fail to attract pickers. New figures indicate Australian farmers are now facing losses of more than $38 million due to pandemic-induced labour shortages, but Growcom Policy and Advocacy Manager Richard Shannon said this is just the tip of the iceberg. “Queensland alone makes up $30 million of Australia’s losses,” said Richard. “Both Growcom and the Granite Belt Growers Association have been tirelessly advocating on behalf of industry for a long time in warning of this shortage, but unfortunately we haven’t seen the government action we might have liked.” Richard said state and federal incentives to encourage unemployed Australians to take up farm work are failing dismally, so it is imperative further action is taken. “Before Christmas, we were made aware that there had been a very limited take-up of the Queensland payment of $1500 - no more than a handful of people had been successful,” he said. “And while there have been a few applications for the $6000 payment available through the federal government, it doesn’t seem like anyone’s getting near the $6000 because they can’t show enough evidence of having spent that amount to relocate. “Either we need to try greater or different incentives for Australians, or we need to quite rapidly and quite dramatically increase the scale of workers coming in from the Pacific Islands.” Applethorpe strawberry and apple grower Nathan Baronio, one of many local farmers feeling the impacts of the labour gap, shared a similar opinion. “I know a few Queenslanders are taking up the $1500 incentive, but I haven’t heard of many people taking up the $6000 federal incentive ... I’ve heard it’s a very complicated process,” said Nathan.
“We just need a large number of workers and we’ve not seen that large number of workers come from anywhere. “All these little fixes help us tread water for the short term, but we’re about to get swallowed by a huge wave.” Despite growing fears, Nathan said he has been relatively fortunate compared to other farmers. His farm, Eastern Colour, retained a large number of Pacific Island workers throughout the pandemic and gained 20 workers in December under the Seasonal Worker Programme trial. “We’ve got about 120 workers currently but from when we start picking apples - and with our strawberries - we probably need about 170 workers,” he said. “There’s no chance at all we’ll find those extra 50 workers if things continue the way they’re going.” Granite Belt Growers Association president Angus Ferrier said he had hoped the incentive programs would be more successful, but “at least the government is doing something”. “In mid-December, the number of people who had taken advantage of the incentives was in the hundreds nationally,” said Angus. “It’s well known the industry is looking for thousands of workers, so it would be pretty disappointing if that’s all that came of them. “In saying that, you can’t force someone to leave their established lifestyle in the city to help out on the farms - that’s why the industry has such a reliance on overseas workers.” Nathan Baronio said the slow take-up of cash incentives indicates farmers will not find the workers they need until either international travel resumes or more workers from Pacific Island nations are allowed in the country. “What we have to remember is that Stanthorpe’s population is already very much working on farms,” said Nathan. “There’s not a lot of - there’s certainly not 4000 - seasonal workers available in the district that can go on the farms and help with these peaks in production, so you’re going to have to ask mums and dads and people who have lost their jobs in Brisbane to move down to Stanthorpe ... most people aren’t willing to do that.”
‘Street art’ comes alive in Warwick CBD… Cinema walls and Town Hall car park become a space for artistic creativity with very much a country flair. Read about the artist inside on page 6 ...
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