Australian farmers reporting labour shortage
Scott Cameron, from job agency MADEC, said about 40 per cent of jobs were yet to be filled.
"We're starting to experience labour shortages already," he said.
"We are probably getting 60 per cent of the workforce of what the genuine needs are out there."
Northern Victoria's fruit growing season began before Christmas but hits peak harvest at the beginning of February.
Mr Cameron wasn't sure what the actual cause was but refrained from pinning the blame on the tax debacle that happened in 2016.
"It's really hard to measure or to tell the exact impact [from the backpacker tax changes]," he said.
"It may have had some impact but these people were in Australia during this time anyway so it's just very hard to tell at the moment."
Mr Cameron said the region had struggled to recruit workers in previous years, but the 2016-17 shortage appeared to be the most extreme in recent years.
"We struggled to fill 100 per cent of vacancies last year as well. We had about an 85 to 90 per cent fill rate, but this year we're lower again at this point in time," he said.
source: abc.net.au
