Tasmania: Apple yields down due to low pollination and bad weather
Brett Squibb grows 10 varieties of apples on 100 hectares in Spreyton, north-west Tasmania. Mr Squibb said it had been a season like no other.
"It's been a funny season with the weather. After all the wet in winter and spring last year, then from the start of February this year it's just forgotten how to rain"
"I've never seen a season like it. We had a lot of sites that just didn't get pollinated," Mr Squibb said.
"So when you get a limb that's got no fruit on it, it simply hasn't been pollinated."
"We had 17 wet days and wet, cold, yucky weather, so the bees just didn't come out into the orchard."
But Scott Price from Huonville said he had no difficulty finding workers, "None at all," he said.
"At the moment we've got apples, pears, viticulture, berries and vegetables all looking for the same type of worker. At the moment it's okay, people are knocking on our door but it can change really quickly."
source: abc.net.au
