Big dry withering farmers vegetable crops

TASSIE vegetable growers are doing it tough, like their interstate counterparts, because of the dry conditions. Neil Armstrong, managing director of major vegetable producer Harvest Moon at Forth, near Devonport, yesterday predicted price rises of about 10 per cent as a result. With a shortage of vegetable crops, he said increases were already starting to kick in with some vegetables. Mr Armstrong said it was a tough period for vegetable growers because of higher fuel and water costs. Michael Badcock, of Forth, the chairman of peak vegetable industry body AusVeg, said he had 45cm of rainfall last year, compared with 100cm in the previous six months. He said the potato season in Queensland was running out and many crops of potatoes in NSW, Victoria and South Australia were drought stressed and would not be finished off. This meant other states would look to Tasmania for extra crops. Demand was already quite strong for cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli and Asian-style leafy vegetables. Mr Badcock said many Tasmanian growers had crops in the ground they would be unable to finish, with processors McCain and Simplot facing vegetable shortages. Another prominent grower, Fair Dinkum Food Campaign co-ordinator Richard Bovill, also of Forth, said Tasmanian vegetable growers were having a miserable season but were not doing it as tough as mainland growers. "It's definitely the hardest season - 80 per cent of vegetables are grown under contract regardless of price," he said. "Their costs are substantially higher and their yields are down." He said his main crop was lettuces, which he grew at East Devonport, and he had hoped for a price increase this year. Growing lettuces, however, had cost "an absolute fortune". Watering for eight weeks had cost about $16,000. Mr Bovill said many vegetable growers would have reduced tonnages because of the conditions.