Strawberry season arrives with no sign of seasonal workers to pick the crops

The strawberries at Handasyde are ripe for the picking but there is one crucial element missing before harvest begins. Neil Handasyde can usually employ 50 to 70 workers during harvest but this year he is unsure where these workers are going to come from. With few backpackers left in the region, and government subsidies aiding those extra jobseekers who are out of work due to the pandemic, he is begging for a solution to the the seasonal worker shortage so he can get his strawberries on to shelves. “Look, it is going to be tough,” he said. “We have got some people that we have had in previous years coming back but we are still going to be short. “It is hard work, and generally the Aussies do struggle with it. “With a lot of stimulus money around, people are a bit less keen to be involved in it at the moment.” Strawberry picking is tiring work but in a typical year, he would have no trouble filling these positions. The season will crank up this week and run until at least April. “I am not as pessimistic as some of the other Perth guys, where there is a big group of growers and a pool of staff who are really struggling to find workers and their crops are really coming in,” he said. “I am reasonably optimistic, but the first step would be big chunks of the farm would be pick-your-own if we can’t keep up. It does help, but it is certainly not the answer. “The next step would be having to let patches go, but I don’t want to have to think about that yet. “We have never had to do that and I am sure there will be some sort of good common sense happen once the Government understands that we are needing people, and we aren’t alone. “There won’t be anywhere to hide for people who say they can’t find a job very soon.” Handasyde Strawberries has tried the “pick-your-own” method before but found it was only successful on weekends. Mr Handasyde said he hoped he could get some locals picking fruit, even with flexible hours. “Whether Aussies need to become those seasonal workers, that is another option,” he said. “You need to pick the whole crop, and if you miss 30 per cent of the potential, because you have planted it, watered it and grown it, that actually really hurts.” He said that thankfully, the demand has not disappeared with COVID-19. “Supermarkets customers are still here in Australia and they need getting fed. “We can’t import stuff quick anymore so it is important that we have these people that can do that work. “It is going to make a big difference not having these people and not going through the whole food chain.”