Rotting Stone Fruit in Swan Hill as Prices Plummet

Due to COVID 19, restrictions were imposed on the usual gathering of backpackers and all of the overseas workers. As a result of this unfortunate pandemic, many farm owners were left in the lurch as their stone fruit was left to rot. In fact, many growers were also thinking of giving up on the industry. However, this problem is extremely deep-rooted. The stone fruits that the farmers are managing to salvage are now being sold at extremely low prices. In the worst-case scenario, these fruits are not being sold at all. This is causing the prices to decrease at an alarming rate.

Due to these unwanted circumstances, shoppers are being requested to buy local produce to support the farm owners. Additionally, stone fruit exports are expected to drop down by 20 per cent towards the end of summer. Since the price at the retail stores can heavily vary, the prices become very hard to predict and thus this becomes a great concern for the farm owners. The loss of exports has also created a glut in the markets. Since stone fruit is considered to be priced cheaply, it is astonishing that the price has been cut into half since last year. Because of this, fruit stone growers are extremely unhappy.

The only way to deal with this problem in the stone fruit industry is to provide it with support from the regular citizens of the nation. People need to buy their produce from local greengrocers. Unfortunately, there is very little progress on the deal that promises to bring 1,500 Pacific Island workers to Australia. However, it should also not be ignored that they also need to quarantined before they can resume work. Due to this, it would be too late for the stone fruit industry. Hence, there needs to be a few solutions chalked out for this grave problem.