Citrus Australia says there has been a significant lift in the value of juicing fruit, due to a virus in fruit trees in the US.But for an increasing number of growers of lemons, limes, oranges and other fruit, poor supermarket prices and rising labour costs are pushing them to rip out their trees.Two decades after shifting from wheat and sheep to citrus, the Sayers have decided to leave the industry because of rising costs.
"There’s a number of small to mid-sized growers in the south-west who have pulled out, so the total volume and diversity is reducing," he said."I've worked in mining, dabbled in growing millets, sunflowers, you know, summer crops," he said. He said a string of difficult seasons were squeezing margins, with the pandemic and global conflicts affecting access and trade for key agricultural products.
"That's now to the point where supply out of Brazil can't meet demand and that means the Australian citrus industry is now meeting the demand of local juice and juice drink products, which had recently been filled by Brazilian imports," he said. But in context, the price for the seconds fruit had risen from a worthless $20 a tonne to $200 a tonne, which may cover the cost of growing the fruit.'This issue will destroy New York': How Texas made its border crisis a huge issue for America's big cities'We need to be really concerned': How fitness influencers are creating 'a false sense of the world' for young boys