Strawberry workers are being promised the chance to pick a winner, but it seems not even a $100,000 cash prize is enough to create a stampede to the farms.
Berry farmers have resorted to offering a massive sweetener in a desperate bid to attract 4,000 more pickers and packers for the peak August season.
Unless they can find enough labour within the next few weeks, operators will have no choice but to kill off their own crops, losing truckloads of delicious strawberries.
Changed border rules because of COVID mean essential workers from the southern states are no longer being allowed into Queensland to assist with seasonal picking.
So to try and encourage Queenslanders to head to the fields, the industry is giving away the chance to win one of 10 cash prizes of $100,000 to people who sign up for a job.
Those who stay longer earn more “points” towards the big draw in October.
To further attract Queenslanders, eligible workers each receive an extra $1500 cash #pickqld bonus from the State Government.
The drastic promotion comes as farms across the nation struggle to attract Australians who are wary of pay and conditions for work that is often undertaken by backpackers and foreign workers.
About 3,000 people signed up to the first stage of the promo which was launched in April but the industry needs another 4,000 to get through the peak season in August.
However, it’s not that easy to win the strawberry lottery. The way it works means 10 workers’ names will be drawn at the finale, but they’re not automatic winners. They then have to play a “game” in which each has a 1 in 100 chance of taking home $100,000 or 99 in 100 chance of winning just $1000.
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Queensland Strawberry Growers’ Association (QSGA) president Adrian Schultz said farmers had endured a rough time, from the “needle nonsense” to severe drought and now a chronic shortage of picking and packing staff because of COVID.
The lockdowns in Sydney and Melbourne, with markets and fruit shops closed, were also having a terrible impact on sales, he said.
Mr Schultz said without enough pickers and packers for August-September, farmers would have to kill off their own plants.
It had reached the point where the industry “had to think what are we going to do, how are we going to attract people,” he said.
“Recent events are making this season perhaps the most challenging in living memory,” said Mr Schultz.
“As a farmer you are only ever looking forward and this year we’ve planted out our fields with the stubborn anticipation that COVID-19 would be under control by the time our peak harvest arrived in August.
“However, due to the recent outbreak in NSW and the associated border closures it leaves us with no choice but to appeal to the people of Queensland to get on a farm and get picking.”
Mr Schultz said the type of Queenslanders who may be interested in applying could be gap-year students, Aussie backpackers or “anybody who’s fit and healthy and enjoys working outdoors”.
Brendan Hoyle, from Ashbern Farms in Beerwah, said already some farmers were getting rid of their own plants so they could focus on harvesting part of the crop using the available labour they had.
“Within the next week or two we’ll start to hit the winter peak season and that’s really when we need people on deck,” said Mr Hoyle.
“If anybody’s looking for work, we urge them to get on a website and look for a farm close to you and touch base with them and see if they they need a hand.
“And support farmers so they can get through to the next season.”
Mitchell Baker-Spence, a local 22-year-old worker from Pim’s Organic strawberry farm in Glass House Mountains, encouraged people to give picking a go.
“The best part of picking strawberries is getting up, getting into it and then having the whole rest of the day to be able to do whatever I want,” he said.
“There’s also so many opportunities to go and do stuff around here, such as going to the beaches, climbing mountains, checking out waterfalls, going on bush walks — you name it. The whole area’s got so much to do in the winter.”
Queensland supplies the winter production of strawberries for Australia, with the season running from May to October.
There are approximately 80 strawberry growers in Queensland, with many located between Caboolture and the Sunshine Coast.
The wholesale value of the fresh supply annually is about $470 million and the industry is worth more than $150 million a year to the economy.
Picking a winner
But with any rich lottery, there is fine print and it’s not that easy to win the $100,000.
Each ‘entrant’ receives 100 points for each ‘average working week’ they complete on a participating farm.
They would essentially need to work 10 average working weeks in order to win points in the promotion, and the longer they work the more points they get.
When the promotion ends in October, 10 entries will be drawn and those 10 people will play the game in which each will have to pick a winner from 100 envelopes, 99 of which hold $1000 and one which contains $100,000.
Hopefully, they select the right envelope.
The Queensland Government’s $1,500 #pickqld bonus is available to anyone over the age of 16, new to farm work and who has started on a Queensland farm since 1st June 2021.
- To find out more and register visit www.qldstrawberries.com.au
- Terms and Conditions of the strawberry promotion are here.
