AUSVEG, the peak industry body representing Australia’s vegetable, potato and onion growers is concerned with the Government’s decision to implement new limits on Working Holiday Makers, by introducing quotas for 2^nd and 3^rd year visa extensions.

The ballot for those applying to stay a second year will be limited to just 45,000 places while the ballot for the third year will be limited to only 5,000 places. Minister Burke also committed to a three-month processing time for working holiday visas. The minister says these measures will help the Government cut overseas migration by 75,000 per year, but the negative impact of these changes on food producers will be felt not only in regional Australia but across the Australian community.

Further detail is also sought about how the ballot system will work, including whether there will be conditional criteria, or how the ballot places will be allocated across the year to provide certainty to growers relying on workers during peak harvest and production periods across the year.

AUSVEG’s most-recent Industry Sentiment Survey in January 2026 showed 50 per cent of vegetable growers were facing workforce and skills shortages across temporary and permanent employment types, and all skill levels. Sixty-five per cent of growers expected these dire shortages to persist, and 32 per cent expected their situation to worsen.

AUSVEG identified in August 2025 at the Agricultural Productivity Roundtable that a lack of a reliable workforce was a major impediment to improving productivity in the horticultural sector. Whilst the industry has been aggressively adopting mechanisation and technology to help fill the void of workers, the current tight economic conditions have hampered growers investment capability. With additional workforce pressure on growers, AUSVEG strongly urges the Government to implement incentives to assist the industry to adopt further agtech to reduce reliance on workers.

Agtech however doesn’t solve all our issues with some tasks still heavily reliant of labour and a grower’s required workforce may expand from handful of permanent staff to dozens or hundreds of temporary workers as seasonal demands ramp up.

Even before today’s announcement recent developments and speculation over potential long-term reductions and restrictions to both Working Holiday Maker and skilled migration pathways have only increased pessimism in a sector already grappling with uncertainty about the cost of producing food, and the financial viability of next season’s crops.

The addition of agriculture on the priority list of skilled visa processing is welcomed, with the industry desperately seeking additional skilled workers to fill critical roles including human resources, finance and across farm operations.

AUSVEG Chief Executive Michael Coote said, “AUSVEG implores all sides of politics to find workable solutions for industry so that vegetable growers do not become collateral damage in the populist rush to cut migration to the country.

“It must also be recognised that Australian vegetable growers have been dealing with chronic workforce shortages over many years, and that our $6 billion vegetable industry is still battling the severe impacts of the Middle East conflict and years of challenging operating conditions. It is now also facing a potentially ever shrinking workforce crisis, and the impact will be felt by families, regional communities and on national food security.”

“In Australia, 98 per cent of the fresh vegetables consumed here are grown by Australian vegetable growers. Combined, these growers supply some 10,000 tonnes of fresh produce into the domestic market each day for Australian consumers. In short, a viable, productive vegetable industry is critical to all Australians’ previously assumed right to an abundant supply of Australian-grown vegetables.

“The wide array of crops, production systems and major variations in the size and scale of commercial vegetable producers across the country, means the vegetable industry needs flexible and diverse workforce options.”

“This policy adjustment could be the final straw for many growers already grappling with farm viability and has the potential to impact the supply of Australian-grown vegetables available to Australians, causing scarcity and food prices to increase. In a cost-of-living crisis like the one we are in the grip of now, this has the potential to prove more unpopular than the problem they are trying to fix”, Mr Coote said.