After the shortages and supply issues of the last couple of years, Aussies have finally seen produce in supermarkets stabilise again.
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This is thanks to both the hard work and grit of the farmers, but also innovations in agronomy.
Australian farms have seen the adoption of new machinery like fruit pickers and autonomous tractors, along with more technologically skilled staff to manage them.
It’s a new era for farming.
We’ve seen this kind of technology in sci-fi movies – entire farms being run without a single person on the field – and it’s a system that many have thought is still years away, but the fact is you might have eaten food that used high-tech harvesters like this just last night.
It’s an exciting thought, and there are many more advancements yet to come, so let’s cover what’s been implemented so far.
Why is There a Labour Shortage?
Part of the issue began during the 2020 Coronavirus Pandemic, which led to a halt in backpackers and working holiday visa holders to Australia.
Historically, backpackers have made up close to half of the agriculture workforce, so their absence was an issue that is still being felt today, with rates yet to return to normal.
This issue is exacerbated by there being far fewer permanent workers on site than is needed for optimised harvests.
In recent years, Australia has been reporting record years for harvests, which in turn puts great pressure on the workforce supply.
This boom in produce is especially fortunate for the Australian public (and its overseas importers), but the spike in supply also means that produce prices have dropped.
However you look at it, a change is in order.
Thankfully, progress in meeting the labour needs for farms is being made as backpackers return after COVID-19, and new methods are being adopted.
The government and university institutions are also focusing on promoting agriculture as a career.
Fly-In Fly-Out (FIFO) in Agriculture
Though FIFO is a long-standing model for the mining industry, farmers have only recently started using it for their workforce.
It’s an advancement that has only become available as more flights are being made to rural Australia.
The benefit of using FIFO is that farmers now have a much wider pool of employees to pull from.
So instead of only hiring locals, or people willing to relocate– a deal that is unappealing to many due to rural Australia’s relative isolation– farms can hire from cities too.
Prisoner Farm Hands
A vineyard in WA has recently gained attention for training prison inmates in horticulture and animal husbandry while working as farm hands.
The prisoners get valuable certifications and the farm gets the workforce it needs to harvest its yearly crops.
Not only that but a portion of the produce is provided to the prison population to enjoy for themselves.
After the success of the Mount Barker farm, we may see a further uptake in this strategy while backpacker rates are still down.
Specific Produce Shortages
What may be an issue for the grocery shopper is a windfall for the savvy farmer.
Recently, an international squeeze on oranges allowed Aussie farmers to make more money for less work.
This in turn allowed for better wages and more eager workers on orange farms.
The cause for the orange issue was a disease spread among the Floridian and Brazilian crops, which allowed Australian farmers to pick up the slack.
In fact, it may have saved many Australian farms from going bankrupt, as last season had orange farmers selling their fruit at a loss (around $20 a tonne compared to the recent boom of $300 a tonne).
Seasonal International Workers
To offset the reduced numbers of backpackers, the pandemic saw farmers hiring seasonal workers such as Pacific Islanders in their stead.
The downside of this for farmers is that seasonal workers are not casual workers like backpackers.
They cannot be hired with flexibility and must be kept on staff regardless of the work.
Because of this, and due to returning backpackers, the levels of seasonal work have reduced and are expected to reduce further.
Farmers have also leaned into Australian students on a gap year to fill the labour shortage.
Autonomous Machines
In theory, having a tractor drive itself is a perfect solution to labour shortages.
That said, as a new technology, it’s still in its infancy–even if Australia is on the cutting edge of agricultural innovation– so, we’re only just starting to use these machines in the field.
Currently, self-driving tractors use a mix of lidar and GPS technology to guide the tractors along set paths all on their own.
With this, they can work day and night, in various weather conditions.
As well as totally autonomous tractors, there are auto-steering kits that can be installed on existing tractors, making established farm fleets autonomous and working without drivers.
Currently, the labour shortage issue still exists.
Thankfully, the strategies and technologies mentioned above are being adopted increasingly more, so the shortages will continue to ease.
It’s a promising time for Australian agriculture, and we’ll no doubt see further advancements and specialties emerge in the coming years.
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