A group of 250 workers from Vanuatu will begin working on Victoria’s labour intensive asparagus harvest from next week. The workers are a necessity because sourcing local labour has become too difficult, and because of the delicate nature of the ‘trendy’ vegetable, which has grown popular enough to be included in family meals during the week within Australia, according to reports.
“It’s a huge challenge for us as an industry to make sure we’re doing the right thing,” said the new president of the Australian Asparagus Council, James Terry “Having the workers here from Vanuatu has been a great success on the whole, and we hope that continues for years to come,” he added in an ABC Country Hour interview. “There’s a lot of labour involved to cut all of the acres involved in the industry now.”
Asparagus is expanding in Koo Wee Rup, where more than 93 percent of the national crop is harvested, as well as Mildura (also in Victoria) and in Western Australia. It is still a niche product, however, and one that requires a lot of manual assistance in the packing shed, even when computer grading is in use, according to Mr Terry. “People are trying to push and grow local asparagus for longer, which means consumers can have it on their plate for a longer proportion of the year."
The seasonal workers are shipped in to Australia under the Federal Government’s Seasonal Worker program, which requires that farmers also provide accommodation for the duration of their stay. "It varies from paddock to paddock, but roughly speaking one person can harvest four to five acres themselves, on a daily basis," Mr Terry said.
The Australian Asparagus Council represents 99 percent of the national harvest, and Mr Terry also owns a farm, and works for a company, Cormack Produce, one of Australia's biggest asparagus producers.
James Terry took over as president from Joe Vizzarri, of Vizzarri Farms.