John said (John Said) wanted his farm to be full of workers in Victoria, leniency and South Australia, but despite Australia's growing population, he was unable to find the workers he needed. The chief executive of the Fresh Select said that despite the large number of high-paying jobs, Australians are not interested in farming jobs in rural and suburban areas.
"We don't have a labor problem, we just don't have a labor force," he said. "No one [among Australians] wants to take part in this kind of revelry. We've tried everything we can. We're some of the best friends on recruitment sites. Because we're always advertising, but we can't get anyone. "
Long-term labor shortages force fruit and vegetable growers to let their money rot in the fields, because there is no one to harvest crops, and some growers don't even want to grow them in the first place.
Meanwhile, the federal government's efforts to ease labor shortages through seasonal workers programs have plunged into crisis after 12 Pacific island workers died in five years. Saeed believes labor shortages will accelerate automation of labor-intensive horticulture and agriculture.
The mining industry, which relies on flying workers to work in remote parts of Australia, has embarked on an automated road remotely controlled from state capitals. At the moment, open agriculture in Australia is also experimenting with automatic tractors. The industry often needs backpackers to operate backpackers behind high-tech harvesters worth more than $ seven hundred thousand.
Automation is a long-term solution, but at the same time, productivity and exports across the country are plagued by labour shortages, said the AUSVEG industry group.
Whiteside, a director of Agribusiness Australia and a former senior executive at fertiliser maker Incitec Pivot, said the supply of labour was the biggest problem facing the domestic farming industry.
"it makes sense that growers have always wanted to hire Australians first-farmers are patriotic. Farmers want to find reliable labor near their farms, after all, imported labor is also costly. But the truth is, in many parts of the country, there is no domestic labor force at all. "
Whiteside says unskilled labor is hard to find, and rural communities need agronomists, irrigation technicians, diesel mechanics and assemblers and rollers. Agricultural groups, including AUSVEG, are lobbying for greater flexibility in Australia's visa system to make it easier for the industry to bring in overseas workers to address the shortage of unskilled workers.
Whiteside said visa changes appear to be the most practical solution to affect agriculture and other sectors. He called for a national discussion on Australia's unskilled labour, as Australians chose to work in other sectors, or not to participate in industries that might be more demanding. Farmers' feedback also suggests that the supply of labour has been hit by negative propaganda with federal government backpackers.
Pacific countries have threatened to withdraw from seasonal worker programs because of increased deaths. The deaths raised charges of hiring contractors and farmers to exploit foreign workers.
If government does not address visa issues, farmers, farmers and livestock producers will face challenges, according to figures released last year by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), based on the 2016 census. From 2006 to 2016, Australia's population grew 18% to 24.2 million, but declined in most of the most farmland-intensive areas.
Said employs 100 people directly and indirectly employs 300 people through its supply chain. Although his farms in Werribee and Bairnsdale are only 30 kilometers away from the company's distribution center in Melbourne, even a high salary of $30 an hour for unskilled workers does not attract workers.
'it shows that even if the farm is at home, Australians don't want to do farm work, 'said. "We have to face the reality that we have entered an economic age in which unskilled people either lose their jobs completely or prefer not to accept the high salaries we offer."