A postcode might seem like a little thing, but in some parts of southern Queensland it is driving people nuts.
"It's very, very frustrating. It's a local issue that's become a massive issue," said avocado grower Andy Veal, from Mount Binga.
He and his wife Judy are tired and stressed out after a busy harvest. The warm, dry winter has meant their trees needed plenty of extra care.
In a perfect world, backpackers would help pick the crop, but for more than a decade the Veals have been turning away working holiday makers.
The problem is their postcode — 4306.
Postcode 4306 is split in two and covers a vast area, from remote Mount Binga to urban outer Ipswich, more than two hours' drive from the Veals' property.
Backpackers who want to extend their visas must prove they have worked in a regional postcode for three months.
The Department of Immigration has a list of postcodes it recognises as regional, but 4306 is not one of them.
"On their visa forms, I have to put postcode 4306 for Mount Binga and straight away that comes up with 'This is not a recognised postcode for a rural application'," Ms Veal said.
It means people who farm in the area have to do much of the grunt work themselves.
Nuts rot because of lack of help at harvest time
At the organic avocado and macadamia farm next door, Mel Rosentreter tells that macadamia nuts have been rotting on the ground because she cannot harvest them in time as there are no backpackers.
"[During the] peak season, sometimes we're getting three or four emails [from backpackers] a week," she said.
"The majority of them are looking for their second-year visa so we just have to say no to them."
The Department of Immigration said regional postcodes were chosen to "address chronic and severe labour market shortages in Australia's major agricultural regions".
But farmers at Mount Binga said local workers were hard to secure because fruit picking was seasonal work.
