April 21, 2006

Labour shortage hampering harvests in Western Australia

You can have all the good weather and farm technology in the world, but at the end of the day, it still takes men to do the harvesting.

Labour shortage, along with rising fuel and fertiliser costs could slash Western Australia's grain cropping programme by up to 20 percent, a farmers group has warned.

Western Australia's Farmers Association representative Ross Hardwick said some growers had indicated they would reduce their cropping as much as 30 percent because of these difficulties.

The group's president, Trevor DeLandgrafft, said that while some farmers had switched to stocking, it was likely others would not be able to get their crop in because of a lack of workers, many of whom have been lured away by other well-paying jobs. Farmers are reluctant to go into stocking as there is lesser profit.

However, the Agriculture Department said increasing costs and labour issues would largely be offset by improving wheat returns and good weather.

Tom Wilson, managing director of employment agency Rural Enterprises, said he was filling less than half the cropping season vacancies he advertised across Australia, New Zealand and Britain, the worst season on record.