In the lead up to the 2019 Federal Election, today the National Farmers' Federation (NFF) is launching its 2019 Farm Workforce Survey.
The very short survey will let us know about the farmer's workforce and labour needs.
NFF President Fiona Simson said the evidence to date shows that farms often faced difficulties finding workers - difficulties that could see them fail to meet critical deadlines. This can mean they rely on less reliable labour sources and increase the risk of produce rotting, livestock being neglected, and their farms declining.
"However, it's difficult, without solid statistical data, to quantify the extent of farmers' labour woes or formulate acceptable solutions," Ms Simson said.
"This survey aims to collect evidence that will indicate the size of the problem and its impact on both individual farm businesses and the sector more generally.
"We will also gauge farmers' level of awareness of, and attitude towards various programs which attempt to address the problem, and their 'real world' effectiveness."
Ms Simson is asking farmers across all sectors to take part in the short survey.
"The survey will take less than 10 minutes to complete and the responses will be critical in shaping the NFF's farm workforce policies and informing our advocacy to the next Government."
The NFF has a vision for agriculture to reach $100 billion in farm gate output by 2030.
"To realise this objective we must address a number of challenges before the sector, including attracting enough workers with the requisite skills," Ms Simson said.
"This will require a multi-pronged approach, made up of boosting the number of Australians pursuing a career in agriculture and leveraging the opportunity presented by seasonal workers and working holiday makers."
The survey is available below and is open until midnight on 20 May 2019.
