Noosa News
Worker shortage forces farmers to consider automation, cutting long-term seasonal job opportunities
The worker shortage crisis is forcing some farmers to move towards more automation, replacing seasonal employment opportunities in Australia long term.
Key points:
- Ausveg CEO James Whiteside says without international workers farmers will not be able to grow and harvest many of their crops
- Potatoes are the biggest vegetable commodity grown in Australia by volume with more than 1.3 million tonnes dug out of the ground each year
- Consumer demand for potatoes led to a 5 to 10 per cent increase in 2020
Potato farmers have welcomed the steep rise in demand for their produce since the start of the pandemic, but many are left with the impossible task of securing enough workers.
Virginia Farm Produce chief financial officer Jessica Snaddon said they…
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