THE prune industry, one of the few remaining profitable cash crops for the region’s farmers, is teetering on the brink of a major downturn.
Sunbeam last week held a crisis meeting with local growers, confirming this season’s crop will attract up to $200 a tonne less than last year’s, which was already $500 less than the historic per tonne peak.
Hanwood grower and newly elected Australian Prune Industry Association president Grant Delves said the decision could break the back of many local growers.
“Anecdotally we are hearing a lot will pull out; it’s just not profitable, especially if you don’t have your own harvesting and drying facilities,” Mr Delves said.
“There’s very little profit margin left when you take into account the harvesting cost (about $200 a tonne) and the drying cost (about $700 a tonne).”
The average price paid by Angas Park, a subsiduary of Sunbeam that controls 80 per cent of the market, is expected to be as low as $1300 a tonne this season. Mr Delves said the major supermarket chains were “sucking the life” out of the industry.
– The Area News
Readers Comments:
Kamikaze
This story is common place across Australia for Australian farmers, the multinationals and Foreign State owned companies are not having these problems in Australia, with their endless line of credit and political concessions. Both the National / Liberal Coalition and Labor / Greens are to blame, via crazy trade agreements, W.T.O, RAMSAR and so much more, over many years, both these governments have turned their back on Australian farmers and it is vomit worthy to listen to their fake concern for the Australian farmer. The Australian farmers are drowning in debt, the flood of imports and the negative policies surrounding Australian farming, is it any wonder the suicide rate is tragically so high amongst farmers. Australian farmers are leaving the land in droves, it is a mass exodus and many of these farms are being snapped up by cashed up foreigners for their own countries purposes. There are many examples of the problems being encountered by the Date farmers, Cherries in Young, An orchardists in Shepparton has apricots rotting on his trees as there is no market for them and all this on the doorstep of SPC, who have chosen to use cheaper imports, something is very, very wrong. A vote for the National Party at this years Federal Election on the basis of this long drawn out painful death of Australian farming, is a Kamikaze vote, as a vote for the others is, but the Nationals have the particular problem that for so long now they have pretended to be the farmers friend, clearly history proves this to be false.
Peter Knox
in 2005 at the Griffith Showground there was a Tasmanian Farm Tractor Drivers Rally . At that protest meeting i held two placards one had labels of vegetable .fruit cans and frozen packages of produce that was in our supermarkets from all over the world,
The other one which i still have was written"WHERE IS KAY HULL & THE NATIONALS TO DAY ? ARE THEY IN QUEENSLAND AT THE NATIONAL PARTY TALKFEST SELLING TELSTRA???"
Back Further in 1993 when a world recession was on the stone fruit fruit industry begged John Fahey for assistance to keep the Leeton Cannery going..He declined them consequently we lost the best stone fruit industry in the world from the MIA,
The Victorian Government at the time assisted the ShepeRton & has battled through.
About the only product that you can buy in the supermarket that only comes from Australia now is kangaroo meat & they will be importing that next.
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