Expansion and hot weather have strained the labour supply in Australia’s blueberry production centre in Coffs Harbour.
A shortage of pickers this year were mainly the fault of weather stress, which reduced the number of hours available for picking, as well as expansion of production in the region, reported the Coffs Coast Advocate.
Some growers in the region are planning to expand production in future with new varieties designed to spread the picking season to make better use of the labour supply.
The region’s largest producer, meanwhile, had not been significantly impacted by labour shortages. Berry Exchange, part of the Costa Exchange group, had noticed more pickers from Bhutan and India this season, alongside the traditional Sikh and African pickers, said general manager Peter McPherson.
