Farmers: Work to do, but no staff
Afarming leader in the Wimmera has vented his anger and frustration at the impact the COVID-19 pandemic is having on agricultural industries in the region.
Government and bureaucrats were the target of his frustration, as labour and supply-chain issues have strangled the productivity of agricultural work across the transport, farming and wholesale industries.
Victorian Farmers Federation Wimmera branch president Graeme Maher took a break from shearing on his Lubeck property to talk to The Weekly Advertiser about the situation.
Mr Maher said a shortage of agricultural workers in the Wimmera, partly caused by a lack of available rapid antigen tests and supply-chain blockages, had left businesses with work to do but no staff.
“As farmers we have worked hard to have produce available, but we cannot get it processed,” he said.
“Whether that is fruit, meat, vegetables or whatever, the farmers have got the goods but no ability to process it.
“Rapid antigen tests are a part of the solution, but it is a big-picture issue not being addressed by people who should be addressing it.”
As staff and supply issues persist, Mr Maher said the focus for government should be on how to navigate the consequences of these shortages. “What do these processing failures mean for everybody? It is out of farmers’ hands now – we are already dealing with the medium term, not the short-term impacts of these problems,” he said.
On his own property last week, Mr Maher said one worker was forced to turn down three offers to shear 1000 sheep because of the lack of available shearers.
“It just means the sheep do not get shorn. Across agricultural industries, the work is just not getting done and that has been the case for a while – it is not like people do not want to work,” he said.
“Even when it comes to farming machinery, you might be able to purchase new equipment, but you cannot use it because there are a shortage or parts or tyres. These shortages then have a flow-on effect.” Mr Maher said he was furious about a ‘lack of state and federal government guidance’ for producers and wholesalers to deal with these issues and was unsure when these problems would begin to reside.
“I would love to know when it is all going to stop, but I think it is just getting started. Hold onto your hat,” he said.
“We are not getting any guidance or any help from state or federal governments, which should have a better idea about how long the current crisis will last.”
Mr Maher said the shortage of rapid antigen tests was contributing to the confusion, but was only one part of a wider impracticality of COVID-19 policies unsuitable for regional industries.
“Obviously truck drivers have been hit pretty hard and they are over it,’ he said.
“There is a never-ending demand for drivers and they are working as hard as they can, but procedures and policies are changing so fast you cannot plan your work to a reliable schedule.
“These issues have been ongoing for a while, but their results are more visible now because of wide-spread food shortages.”
Mr Maher said VFF Wimmera branch had not yet formalised its grievances about these issues, partly because bureaucratic regulation and procedures were constantly changing.
“We have not had a chance to really work it all out yet. We are after some direction from all governments on what happens next,” he said.
“I really think the whole system is about to collapse, but for the moment we are trying to stay in business and do the best we can.
“As farmers we are used to it.”