For months the farming sector has been bellyaching that it can't get labour to pick and plant fruit and vegetables. One of the well known reasons for this shortage of labour in the sector has been worker exploitation through poor wages and conditions. In a major breakthrough the Fair Work Commission has effectively abolished "piece rates", being paid for what you pick, and replaced it with a minimum hourly rate. Often piece rates are as low as $3/hour, in an extreme case a worker was earning $9 a day. The Australian Workers Union (AWU) argued before the Commission for a minimum wage of $25.41/hour, the 'Usual Suspects' in all this, the exploiting farmers claimed a minimum wage would be burdensome and result in an increase in prices for customers. By burdensome I assume they mean it will cut into their super profits, and of course the free market will determine their final price of their pickings. According to the FWC the existing piecework provisions in the horticulture award are not fit for purpose, and they do not provide a fair and relevant minimum safety net. The FWC found piece rates were widely used to underpay workers.

The real test will come as dodgy employers try to flout the law and pay below minimum standards, which is not unusual in Australia. Employers big and small have for years exploited workers through under payment of wages, and so called "contractor" arrangements.

Low wages don't constitute slavery. Slaves are paid nothing.

However, any primary producer not prepared to pay decent wages should do all the work himself or get off the land.

Perhaps they might now get the harvest done, and they can stop moaning about fruit 'rotting on the ground', and begging for more immigrant workers who will take rubbish pay if there is a chance of getting a permanently visa.

The moaning and groaning about labour shortages is bullshite. $25 an hour might go some way to putting a stop to the whingeing; although there will be complaints about that too.

I'm all for Australia, private enterprise, buying local, and the other patriotic mantras, but we need to wake up to the fact that we are are bullshited to people taken our money in this country.

Farmers are price takers. They do all the work of producing a product, then send it off to market & have to take what is offered.

A few case studies.

A mate, organic vegetable grower for 10 years near Torbanlea. No employers, the family did all the work, & produced great stuff. He bought a service station when for 8 consecutive months he did not once get the cost of even the cartons & shipping to Brisbane markets for his stuff. State laws required his produce go to Brisbane markets.

Bundaberg tomato grower. Big operation with 20 happy permenant employees. Told me he loses money on shipments for 7 months average each year. Breaks even for another couple of months. Makes all his profits in the other 3 months. Trouble is no one knows when prices will be up, so must ship fruit every week to catch the rare good prices.

Citrus grower Howard. On the get big or get out principal he bought out 2 adjacent citrus farms. Rented the houses on 2 farms, & he & 1 employee with one lot of equipment handled all but the picking. It worked for a while, but eventually the rising costs of fertiliser, fruit fly spray along with machinery & irrigation costs made the operation a loss business. He had to rip out all the trees or continue to spray to control the fruit fly.

Vietnamese family Tamborine. 20 acre small crops farm. All family work, & I have never seen people work so hard. After 2 years of barely making a living they sold off the equipment & bought a couple of trucks. A much better business they assured me.

3Th generation 1600 acre wheat farmer Jandowae. Almost lost his farm after 2 years of failed crops. Did not have the borrowing capacity left to fund another years planting. One thunderstorm saved a 200 acre non irrigated cotton crop, or he was gone. Farming is an expensive high risk business in Oz, certainly not a place for get rich quick rip off merchants

Not to worry, I bought a bag of boiled lollies at Woolworths today, good tasty product, made in China.
We’ll soon be a net importer of foodstuffs.
I know a number of farmers who have given the farming game away; the only crops that we grow are fodder for our own animals and the ‘roos and deer and we grow vegetables for ourselves.
When we have too much we give the extra away to people who need a hand.
The eldest son always plants more than we need and if the ‘Roos don’t break the garden fences there is always some to give away.

"We’ll soon be a net importer of foodstuffs".

We're getting close. With all this Zero 2050 BS, we'll have few manufacturing or farming industries, but we will be importing more of what we no longer make of grow from foreign countries, whose emissions will sky-rocket keeping up with the demand.

With the cost of farm inputs skyrocketing, & doubt that any profit will be achieved, there is even less chance of farm kids being silly enough to want to stay on the farm.

I did quite well growing advanced shrubs for the nursery trade. Knowing that growing food is a mugs game, leading to bankruptcy, I have never fallen for it.

When I moved here I planted over a dozen fruit trees, along with grape & passion fruit vines. By the end of the second season the white cockatoos had destroyed all but one of the vines, they saved that for the next year.

I had decided I did not like the nasty sprays required to control the fruit fly, so I didn't mind when The magpies & crows picked holes in the citrus, & the lorikeets ate the half grown apples on the trees, leaving the cores hanging on there like sad Christmas decorations.

I decided that with the cost of fertilizers, sprays & irrigation, it was cheaper to buy rather than grow your own. My son took great delight showing me how versatile his Ford Ranger is by pulling the useless things out of the ground, leaving just the white mulberry, Brazilian cherry, & a couple of more recently planted dragon fruit.

At least the birds plant dozens of cherry tomatoes in any clear garden, & even in the pots of pot plants. They don't mind leaving a good supply for us.

I'm not very knowledgeable about the agri-sector. Hasbeen seems to have some interesting practical information-

There used to be some employment agencies that organized workers for farms in different cities and also helped with transport. I found the farms themselves to be criminally careless about safety- in one case someone with a sore back was told that they needed to train their back muscles up. Both the farms and the farm helpers are price takers- sounds like a race to the bottom- sometimes helpers get free produce as a great side benefit. But there are issues in the agri-sector I'm not sure how to solve. Usually these sorts of problems are solved by analyzing the business processes and through-puts. Some ideological groups perhaps want to see us less self sufficient to their advantage.

In regards to Hasbeen's interesting comments-

If perhaps the tomatoes and fruit were bottled into paste- citrus into juice- there would be less waste, also dried tomatoes/ fruit which produce better prices- but the government "red tape" around packaged food is different than fresh.

I suspect that expeditiously scattered bottling and drying facilities could stop waste crops- especially at the moment when many keep stocks of non-perishables- when trucks may not run as expected due to restrictions. I haven't seen much concentrated orange juice here for example- but in the US appears to be very common.

The Coles/ Woolworths duopoly also plays a role in the agri-sector.

Maybe they could run some chickens or other animals in with the crops- to keep the fertilization costs down- and reduce reliance on transport and supply networks- probably wouldn't work- but that's what I'd try.

The current restrictions demand that different resources are available and so different practices may be required.

Regarding Hasbeen's comment on fruit fly- I heard somewhere that pests are harder to control in the tropical zone rather than seasonable climates.

Somebody recently said that they and some kids put up some netting to protect the lemon tree from the birds- not sure how effective it will be.

On similar vein, I'm pretty browned off with the Australian business class. Their latest lurk has been to start a rumour that there will be shortages this Christmas, so buy, buy, buy now so you don't miss out. A couple of days ago they started chirping about the 'best November ever'. All the drongos have believed them, panicked, and started buying up - probably on After Pay. It's not hard to con people who rush to buy toilet paper when they hear the word 'lockdown'.

Australian businesses, including agribusinesses, are about as trustworthy as politicians these days.

The clocks just been turned back 150 years. In the days of beché de mer, Pearl shelling & Cane cutting they brought in Pacific Islanders by force, through visa applications or whatever other ways there were to get workers in. Now they're doing it again.
Talk about progressive regress !

Paul1405,

There will be more robots picking fruit into the future. We can't afford to pay too much (across the board) or people will simply be 'priced out'.

http://youtu.be/3vAKuWUQb0I

Canem Malum I grew up on a peach, nectarine & grape orchid in Young NSW. Thankfully no fruit fly down there. Our problems were fungicide spray required weekly, & hail storms which would wipe out an entire years income in 20 minutes.

Birds are a big enough problem for small crops or fruit tree crops, without introducing chooks as well. You would need a lot to fertilise a 50 acre small crops or tomato farm.

The idea of preserving crops is nice, but running any sort of farm today requires specialisation & a lot of hours work. A mate had a dairy farm, & kept some pigs to utilize any excess skim milk. His son did the math & found it cost more in labor to raise the pigs than they earned.

Dairying has become so unprofitable that he & his son, alone were milking 150 cows, maintaining a 300 head breeding herd, working from 5.00AM to 600PM 7 days a week for less income each than a labour would earn. They sold some of the herd, but gave most away, no one wanted dairy cows, subdivided 100 acres, & now live comfortably. The son has gone to uni, vowing never to work on the land ever again.

Another mate had an apple orchard at Bilpin. About half their fruit went to a local cannery. Lousy return for hours worked. They sold & went back to teaching.

The 10,000 acre farm across the river from me lost 7 kilometers of fencing in the last flood. Replacing it cost 2 years profit. They sold to Japanese interests last year.

The only "farmer" I know who is doing well is a bee keeper, who owns no land, & uses other peoples properties for his hives, & a shearer. He sells sheep as pet lawn mowers to city folk, & contracts to crotch, pest treat, & sheer the sheep. His wool sales are quite profitable.

With the price of meat graziers should be doing OK, but I don't know any of them well enough to ask.

Thanks Hasbeen for your reply.

I've been making jerky which I've noticed sells for good per kilo prices- of course I'm not allowed to sell it due to "red tape"- it takes about a quarter of the space- but I still keep it in the freezer.

It's tragic to see a business go to the wall.

We were once able to get a side of lamb for pretty reasonable prices before we exported it. Now it's $35kg or more for some cuts.

I suspect that the supermarket duopoly gets most of the profits these days- they have some pretty impressive contracts- not sure what Ayn Rand would think of their "all or nothing" contracts. If farmers were able to form a local co-op fund to set up a shop- city folk might be willing to travel for a side of lamb or two. Though less people have deep freezers these days. Of course these would need to be marketed correctly- maybe someone could "take orders" for the co-op at the country markets.

Yes- I understand the need for farmers to focus on their core.

I try to come up with solutions rather than complaints but must admit that the problem has gotten worse over the years.

If I was a diary farmer I'd be looking at investing in a "drum dryer" to make powdered milk again perhaps through some sort of co-op- then you can sell when the price is high- but again lots of government "red tape". Surely with modern testing machines farms and independent labs should be able to put a packet past the "test strip" once a day or month without too much government interference. There seems to be a prevalence of non-productive jobs appearing to regulate the strangulation of industry.

Thanks again Hasbeen for your feedback. Kudos.

What the pinhead left whingers from the extreme left forget is that Brown eye Bob was paying his au pair way below minimum wages.

Having picked fruit as a teenager, the quota system worked well for most veterans as I seldom finished later than 1pm to get a full day's pay. Left whingers would like to give sit down pay.

SM,

Are you claiming the 'Fair Work Commission' is made up of "left whingers"?

'Fair Work Commission'
Paul1405,
The words Commission & Fair don't really go well together !

Paul,

The "Fair" work commission was set up by Juliar and stuffed with commissioners that are ex trade unionists. It's decisions have overwhelmingly been biased against business.

shadow minister,
Our resident bureaudroid will never admit to anything his outfit stuffed around with !

Again another lie SM, of the 48 members of the Fair Work Commission, 30 have been appointed during the regime of the Coalition government, and there are 3 vacant positions to be filled. In its finding, the Fair Work Commission's full bench "expressed the view that the existing pieceworker provisions in the Horticulture Award are not fit for purpose".

BTW of the 10 Deputy Presidents of the Commission all are Coalition appointments. They should have been hearing the Cry Baby Porter case, see if there was any fair work done by Porter on that poor 16 year old girl he is alleged to have raped.

Paul,

Your first lie is that I didn't comment on the present status. Secondly, as you have shown 18 of the 48 are Juliar appointees.

Your second lie is that Porter raped the girl.

Finally is Terence Kelly a member of the greens?

However, not all greens are paedophiles.

SM,

Once more I wipe the floor with you!

You claimed; "stuffed with commissioners that are ex trade unionists" then I showed 2/3 of Commissioners are Coalition appointees.

"Porter raped the girl." No, I said; "(he is) alleged to have raped", and the allegation is public knowledge.

I had to think for a moment who is this "Terence Kelly", Ah! then I remembered the fella in WA who it is alleged kidnapped little Cleo Smith for 18 days. To answer your question; "Finally is Terence Kelly a member of the greens? with the inference added "However, not all greens are paedophiles." Not that I am aware of, and I doubt he is a member of any political party. If there was public knowledge of such a fact you would be free to spruik the rubbish.

Please remember our ARMISTICE, today being the big Armistice Day, 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month. Remember it was I who extended the olive branch of kindness to the vanquished, that being you, Foxy can attest to that fact. Unsubstauated rubbish such as Terrence Kelly-Greens-paedophiles, may put you in breach of the Treaty of Paul, where in return for me referring to you as showdowminister or simply SM you agreed to desist in making unsubstauated inflammatory comments about pedos and the Greens and me. BTW, I'm yet to receive 100 steam locomotives and half your backyard as part of our treaty conditions.

BTW, getting an unintended reference from individual, is about as good as Heinrich Himmler giving Adolf Hitler a character reference, saying; "Like me, he's a good lad, who don't make much trouble".

Paul,

I creamed you. I made no comment about the current status so your claim that I lied is a lie on your part. That the commission is still stacked with 2/5ths of Juliar's cronies nearly a decade later makes my point.

If I claimed that Adam Bandt was an alleged rapist it would be as true as your claim that Porter is.

As for the armistice, you have no problem breaking it. So you can't hold me to something that you don't.

SM

What, I refer to you as shadowminister or simply SM, as agreed, no breaking of the Treaty of Paul on my part. In the case of Porter, the allegation of rape is in the public arena, and has been freely aired in all sections of the media. To make such an allegation about Adam Bandt is false as its not in the public arena and is only attributable to you. Can you see the difference?

Farmers will have to develop machinery to harvest crops and send it to canneries because of mechenical damage. Fresh fruit and vegs will be pick your own at prices per KG paid to farmers at the markets without the labour costs.

Paul,

So essentially because some left whingers have "alleged" something it is open season?

Because someone irrelevant has alleged that Bandt is a pedo then by your rules I can call him an alleged paedophile.

You are defaming Porter and you know it.

So what do you think about the alleged rapist Bandt?

Is this discussion about farm labour?

SM,

If something is alleged and it becomes general mainstream news, like the allegation made by a rape victim against Porter, its open to discussion. If I'm defaming Porter then, every news outlet in Australia has also defamed the cock.

You try to use a hard right counter of alleged rape, your own invention, against Bandt. if it was covered by the general media then it would be open to general discussion, its not, so therein, there is a difference.

Paul,

Bollocks, Alleged is alleged. whether it is in the mainstream news or not. You happily defame Porter and then try with feeble logic to defend the "alleged" greens rapist. That twat should also be in the news.