THE shift to using Pacific nations contract workers instead of backpackers will yield future benefits for horticulture, according to the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (ABARES).
The organisation's Agricultural Commodities Report March quarter 2023, released this week, takes a look at how the composition of horticulture farm labour is changing.
It said in 2021-22, farms relied more heavily on Australian residents and workers under the Pacific Australia Labour Mobility (PALM) program.
"The proportion of PALM contract workers as a percent of all contract workers used on farms rose from 58 per cent in 2019-20 to 82pc in 2021-22," the report said.
"It is expected that this trend will continue as participation in the PALM scheme grows.
"This is expected to have the added benefit of improving the productivity of the average horticultural worker employed on farms."
ABARES research has found that the productivity of seasonal workers is on average 20pc higher than that of working holiday makers (backpackers).
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"The PALM scheme now allows seasonal workers to remain working in the country for up to four years," it said.
"This is expected to lead to greater productivity gains as returning seasonal workers have been found to be 15pc more productive than new seasonal workers.
"This is mainly because returned workers require minimal induction and training in subsequent seasons compared to new workers as they have previously acquired skills and knowledge of farm operations."
Those established skills have become increasingly important with the drop in the overall number of on-farm workers.
The ABARES Labour Use in Australian Agriculture Survey showed the total number of workers used by Australian horticulture farms declined by 20pc over the past three years.
This represents a fall from a monthly average of 146,200 workers in 2019-20 to 116,900 workers in 2021-22.
The fall was largely due to international border closures as a result of COVID-19 and a large reduction in the number of working holiday makers entering the country.
But despite the decline in labour use, production increased on the back of favourable seasonal conditions, cheap water prices and area expansions.
The productivity gains delivered by PALM workers are expected to contribute to boosting production volumes and improving farmers terms of trade as they produce more output from less labour use.
- ABARES Agricultural Commodities Report March quarter 2023
ABARES said horticulture farms have adapted to a constrained labour supply by adjusting productions systems and management practices to effectively ease their demand of labour and maximise productivity per worker.
Looking further down the track, ABARES predicts as economic conditions improve in Australia (and globally) the total supply of labour will increase.
"It is not expected that a tight labour market will be a limiting factor to growth in the volume of horticulture production," it said.
"The horticulture labour force is expected to be made up of a greater proportion of PALM scheme workers, representing a composition shift compared to pre COVID19 years.
"The productivity gains delivered by PALM workers are expected to contribute to boosting production volumes and improving farmers terms of trade as they produce more output from less labour use."
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Ashley Walmsley
Ashley Walmsley is the editor of ACM's only national, fresh produce magazine, Good Fruit & Vegetables, while also covering horticulture stories for the agricultural papers and websites. He also writes the weekly, The Ringer, column in the Qld Country Life.
Ashley Walmsley is the editor of ACM's only national, fresh produce magazine, Good Fruit & Vegetables, while also covering horticulture stories for the agricultural papers and websites. He also writes the weekly, The Ringer, column in the Qld Country Life.
