Australian vegetable growers are committed to providing safe, fresh produce for all Australians but they cannot do it without a fair price.

AUSVEG is urging all Australians to keep the nation’s vegetable growers front-of-mind this Easter, as an industry which provides 98 percent of Australia’s fresh vegetables continues to face ongoing uncertainty, and unprecedented cost pressures.

Australian vegetable growers work 52 weeks of the year to grow, harvest and supply 10,000 tonnes of fresh vegetables for Aussie consumers each day, but surging fuel, freight and fertiliser prices mean their financial viability is fragile, as many growers are unable to pass on additional costs.

“As Australians sit down to Easter meals with friends, families and loved ones, we encourage every Aussie to consider where the food on their plates has come from, and spare a thought for the nation’s vegetable growers, working tirelessly through extreme uncertainty, surging production costs, and critical input shortages to make meals like these possible,” said AUSVEG CEO Michael Coote.

“Major and continuing concerns over cost, supply and availability of critical farm inputs like fertiliser fuel and freight, which have also flowed through to cost surges and new surcharges affecting every aspect of growers’ businesses, have already led to vegetable producers adjusting their plans and planting schedules, and are continuing to threaten their future viability.

“These issues won’t magically disappear after the Easter break, and it remains critical that all Australian vegetable growers receive assurances from their customers that they will receive viable farmgate prices for their produce, and assurances from the Government that they will be prioritised for critical farm inputs like fuel, fertiliser and freight.

“AUSVEG has met with the major retailers, and the Food and Grocery Code Supervisor, to emphasise that all fresh produce buyers have an obligation to consider genuine, evidence-based price increase requests from growers in good faith, and is continuing to engage at the highest levels of government daily to highlight the urgent need to give growers greater certainty that they will be prioritised for access to critical inputs as a essential sector.

“Without these assurances, as well as action on the longer term, system-wide issues that have increasingly threatened vegetable grower viability over recent years, the supply and availability of critical, safe, fresh Australian vegetables will decline.

“As cost of living pressures continue to flow through from the Middle East conflict, we will continue to see a worsening of the silent epidemic that has resulted in more and more cheap, imported frozen and processed vegetables increasingly make its way from supermarket shelves into Australian fridges, freezers and pantries, at the expense of Australian growers and future food manufacturing capacity.”

“We are already seeing how detrimental it is to Australia’s national security when we rely so heavily on overseas inputs such as fertiliser and fuel – so are we prepared to lose Australian food production systems to overseas as well? If we cannot maintain food production and processing systems here in Australia, this will only increase our reliance on imports, and increasingly vulnerable international supply chains.”

A recent week-long AUSVEG survey of more than 200 growers found the current uncertainty flowing from the Middle East Conflict had already led to 28 percent reducing or stopping planting schedules, with a further 16 percent actively considering their options. Growers who reduced planting schedules had done so by an average of 35 percent.

Growers have only been able to pass on an average of 9.7 percent of their significant production cost increases to customers, despite having no capacity to absorb the latest round of surges after years of challenging operating conditions leading into the conflict.

“Many of the of the extreme cost and supply issues Australian vegetable growers are currently facing are a direct result of – or compounded by – issues AUSVEG and growers have been raising with governments for years,” said Mr Coote.

“The Australian vegetable industry’s vulnerability due to overreliance on imported critical farming inputs like, fertiliser, fuel, seed and crop protection products among others, is playing out in real time now, and a key AUSVEG priority over many years has been calling for governments to urgently prioritise bolstering Australia’s sovereign manufacturing capability.”

The Government response to the current crisis to date has focused on efforts to secure supplies of critical inputs like fuel and fertiliser, through the establishment of a taskforce and working group, the halving of the fuel excise and pausing of the heavy vehicle road user charge for three months as part of a National Fuel Security Plan, as well as a National Food Supply Chain Assessment.

In all of these measures, AUSVEG has continued emphasising the urgent need to provide assurances and more detail to vegetable growers about how they will be prioritised for access to critical inputs like fuel, fertiliser and freight, so they can continue growing food for Australian families.

AUSVEG also acknowledges the Government’s announcement today of a $1 billion package to support industries affected by surging costs, and shortages flowing from the war, in the form of interest-free loans. While these appear primarily directed at fuel, fertiliser and other supply chain businesses, it is critical that relief flows through to vegetable producers in the form of reduced cost pressures, and it is unclear how the measures announced today will directly benefit vegetable growers and their businesses.

“With the Government having committed to significant reforms to be unveiled in its upcoming budget, AUSVEG is also emphasising the urgent need for action on the key issues facing growers, which were already threatening their viability, before the war,” said Mr Coote.

“AUSVEG for many years has proposed constructive, low-cost or cost-neutral government initiatives to alleviate viability-threatening pressures on the industry, which even before the war had four in five Australian vegetable growers considering leaving the sector.

“Sluggish productivity has continued to be a major drag on vegetable growers and their businesses, and AUSVEG has continued to propose solutions, including measures to alleviate the industry’s skills and workforce shortages, investing in a national behaviour change campaign to boost vegetable consumption, reinvigorating grower’s capacity to invest in innovations and efficiencies for their businesses, and addressing overwhelming compliance burden.”

Compliance burden remains one of the major factors leading growers to consider leaving the industry, and an AUSVEG report released late last year confirmed compliance is conservatively costing the industry upward of $200 million each year, while also providing a suite of implementable recommendations to reduce duplication and improve efficiency and productivity.

“Our compliance report identified that there was upward of $50 million in savings to be achieved in the short term by implementing recommendations to make industry compliance more streamlined and efficient. With growers under immense financial duress, a reduction in compliance and regulation is now needed more urgently than ever, as current pressures may prove too much for many Australian vegetable producers,” said Mr Coote.

“Vegetables, like fuel, are staple commodities for most Australian households, and increases in retail prices are keenly felt, particularly at the moment. Just like relieving financial pressures on Australian households was a major motivation for the Government to temporarily halve the fuel excise, so too should limiting further hip-pocket pain for consumers be a key driver for the Government to address vegetable growers’ key issues and provide much needed certainty to a sector that is critical to Australia’s food security.

“This Easter, all Australians should spare a thought for the nation’s vegetable growers, who are dealing with the immense responsibility of feeding the country while not knowing if they will be able to harvest a crop they a considering planting today – and even if they do, not knowing if they will be able to get it to market, let alone receive a viable price for it.”

Key immediate priorities for government to address include:

• Greater regulatory scrutiny on the retail sector from the ACCC to ensure evidence-based cost increase requests from growers to their customers are enacted in good faith.
• Prioritise Australia’s vegetable industry as an essential sector of national importance to enable priority access to inputs such as diesel and fertiliser.
• Public statement and commitment from the Prime Minister and Agriculture Minister that fresh food producers will be prioritised for supply of critical farm inputs including fuel and fertiliser.
• Freight and distribution sector prioritised to ensure refrigerated trucks can continue to collect and distribute fresh produce from regions across Australia.
• The National Food Supply Chain Assessment must consider both on-farm and flow-on impacts of any supply chain weaknesses or shortages impacting on supply of fresh vegetables to the Australian market.
• Delay or pause the implementation or reporting of non-critical compliance and regulation, such as annual sustainability reports and climate related financial disclosures.
• Ensure that the banking sector supports vegetable growers with initiatives such as loan repayment deferrals, waiving fees and charges, and increased client support to assist growers navigating unforeseen additional production costs.

ENDS

About AUSVEG

AUSVEG is the national peak industry body for Australia’s over 3,600 vegetable, potato and onion producers, who account for 3.8 million tonnes of vegetable production worth $6 billion in farmgate value annually. This accounts for one third of Australia’s $18.4 billion horticulture industry

MEDIA CONTACT: Andrew MacDonald, National Communications Manager, AUSVEG
Phone: 03 9882 0277, Mobile: 0406 836 330, Email: andrew.macdonald@ausveg.com.au