A decade of growth: horticulture hits $15.62 billion

While the Australian horticulture industry may have grown by $6.15 billion in the past decade, the increasing costs of production and long-term impacts of extreme weather events are increasing pressure on the industry.

The dramatic rise in production value is the biggest takeaway from the Horticulture Statistics Handbook, developed by Freshlogic on behalf of Hort Innovation. The Handbook is released every February and captures the previous financial year’s data.

This year’s Handbook also shows that Australia is producing 850,000 additional tonnes of produce than we were in 2012/13, with the industry adding, on average, around $680 million in value every year for the past decade. However, in 2021/22, the increase in the prior year was only $381.3 million, with the production value of Australia’s horticulture industry growing to $15.62 billion.

According to Brisbane Markets wholesaler, Alfred E. Chave’s Paul Joseph, at the start of the decade, volume and value were flat due to weather events experienced across Australia.

“Then from 2014 growth in volume of production increased steadily until 2020, when it flattened out due to the global pandemic. After the two or three years of COVID, growers were forced to reduce their plantings due to uncertainty in demand and overseas labour shortages and naturally we saw prices increase,” Mr Joseph said.

“Then, in the beginning of 2022 we witnessed a large and prolonged weather event, down the entire east coast of Australia. We saw prices that I have never seen before in my 30 years’ experience in the industry. In some cases, prices were double the previous highest price. It was quite a unique event.”

While the Handbook provides a look at what has happened in the past, the latest release of the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (ABARES) Commodities Report, shows the forecast for future.

According to the ABARES report, during the 2022/23 and 2023/24 seasons the gross value of horticultural production would reach record heights of $16.3 billion and $18.2 billion, respectively.

“We’ve just been through an amazing growing period over the summer. With most water tables now replenished and a more stable summer season, we have seen high quality and high yielding crops in many cases,” Mr Joseph said.

“The concerning thing is we’re back at the other end of the spectrum now. We’re seeing low prices for very high-quality produce and a lot is getting left in the field because the costs to harvest outweigh the return on investment.”

According to the ABARES Report, “fuel, freight and fertiliser prices have remained a burden for producers despite falling back from their peak in recent months”, and Mr Joseph agreed, saying fluctuating and increased costs made it very difficult for growers to predict their cost of production.

All vegetable supply chain and consumer metrics - financial year ending June 2022

“The cost to get a crop to harvest is just one part of the equation. Cost of production multiplies once the crop is at harvesting stage. Growers are having to decide whether to pick or not. If you don’t take the produce out of the paddock it’s a much smaller loss than if you put money into additional labour, packaging and freight,” Mr Joseph said.

You can view or download the Horticulture Statistics Handbook visit https://bit.ly/40HfVG7 and to read the ABARES Commodity Report visit https://bit.ly/3zgq5Sy