LOCAL farmers have raised concerns over ongoing labour shortages in agriculture, following the release of the Federal Government’s latest labour market update and peak food supply bodies calling for an end to labour shortages.
Kiewa Valley dairy farmer Stuart Crosthwaite said farmers in the North East are leaving the industry or adjusting their business because they can’t find skilled staff.
He said demand for workers is high, increasing wages for farm labour, but they are still struggling to employ people in the long or medium term.
“There's plenty of people out there that want a job, but just aren't up to it,” he said.
“They can't handle it, and so they end up resigning and moving on to something else.”
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According to Mr Crosthwaite, strong dairy prices are offsetting the increase in wages, but he was concerned if prices drop.
“Farmers are scrambling over the top of each other to get good staff and they're paying unbelievable amounts to attract people,” he said.
“When the milk prices drop, then we're paying people so much for their labour - how’s that going to be sustainable?”
He said he has had success employing a Filipino man with an animal science degree who has worked on dairy farms in the US, and hopes to find another employee like him.
“If we are going to grow and our farms are going to get bigger, and we're going to have more cows, we need more people,” he said.
“If we can't find them in the Australian we have to look outside.”
The Federal Government’s latest Labour Market Update backs up Mr Crosthwaite’s concerns, with an employee survey showing a vacancy rate of over 15 percent in regional Australia for skilled workers in animal, agricultural and horticultural industries between March 2022-23.
Meanwhile, the ‘National Food Supply Chain Alliance’, a group of peak food industry bodies including the National Farmers Federation, has recently said labour shortages are contributing to increasing food prices.
According to the peak bodies, the food supply chain urgently requires a suite of solutions, including reducing barriers to work and providing suitable visa pathways to welcome overseas workers.
Myrtleford cattle, berry and persimmon farmer Frank Primerano said while finding seasonal workers had eased somewhat since the COVID-19 pandemic, he found them to be unreliable.
“We had two workers when we were harvesting this year,” he said.
“When we finished picking they told us at nine o'clock at night they are leaving at four o'clock in the morning.”
“We were left with no workers for the next day.”
And while numbers of contract workers have increased since the pandemic, he said, they are charging high prices for their labour.
“Contractors are now charging between $30 to $35 an hour plus GST,” Mr Primerano said.
“When you when you're paying so much for wages and you getting little reward in your fruit, it's very difficult to get ahead.”
