The job no Australian wants: Furious farmers question why dole bludgers are choosing to take government handouts instead of picking fruit and cashing in on $6K relocation incentive

Struggling farmers have issued a desperate plea to jobless Australians to take up fruit picking instead of relying on government handouts. 

Many farmers say they have no choice but to plough their bumper crop back into the ground due to a critical shortage of fruit pickers in the peak season, despite high unemployment rates in some regions. 

The desperate plea comes after a recent Ernst and Young report warned the Australian horticulture industry will have a shortage of 26,000 workers over the next six months.

The claims have been refuted by recruitment group AgriAus, which says it has been 'impossible'  to find Australians farm work in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic because of farmers' preference for employing backpackers and foreign workers.

The federal government has urged JobSeekers recipients to give fruit picking a go. Pictured is a peach picker.

The Seasonal horticulture labour demand and workforce study predicts the casual shortfall of workers will keep increasing before reaching a peak next March.

Cairns and Wide Bay in northern Queensland will be among the hardest areas hit by the horticultural worker shortage, despite the fact there are 20,000 JobSeeker recipients in each of the regions. 

Other hard-hit regions include north-west Victoria, Coffs Harbour and Grafton on the NSW north coast, the state's Murray region and South Australia's south-east. 

Not even a $6000 relocation allowance and the ability to earn up to $300 a fortnight without affecting their Centrelink payments can entice the unemployed. 

National Farmers' Federation horticulture spokesman Tyson Cattle said growers were at their wits' end and warned produce prices will soar in the lead-up to Christmas unless the situation changes drastically.

'They have battled drought, floods fires, all those conditions they can't control, then this year they have a reasonable year,' Mr Cattle told the Courier Mail.

'It just blows their mind that some guys have had to plough their crop into the ground because they can't get a workforce.'

Federal Social Services Minister Senator Anne Rushton also urged job seekers to give a fruit picking a go. 

'While many people may have never considered seasonal work, as a former horticulturalist I can say from experience that working on a farm is very rewarding personally,' she said.

However, AgriAus claims it's been unable get farm work for any of the 1500 job seekers on its books due to farmers’ preference for backpackers and foreign workers.

'We started making contact with farmers to gauge if they wanted people to go out there or not,' an AgriAus co-founder told The New Daily.

'What we've been finding is the moment you say you want to get an Aussie a job, the farmer doesn't want to listen.

'We did a bit of digging around why, and farmers said "one, they're lazy", and "two, we have to pay them".

The horticultural industry is currently experiencing a shortage of fruit pickers (stock image) 

Many farmers have no choice but to plough their crop themselves due to a shortage of fruit pickers. Pictured is an orange orchard near Griffith in the NSW Riverina region

Australia’s peak industry body for vegetable growers recently pleaded with state and Federal Governments to listen to farmers concerns.

'Immediate interventions are required to increase the availability of willing and able workers to work on fruit and vegetable farms, including the urgent prioritisation of the Seasonal Worker Program to resume flights to neighbouring countries with ready workers wanting to work on our farms and appropriate incentives in place for domestic workers who are willing and able to work on our farms,' AUSVEG chief executive James Whiteside said.

'Growers always have a preference to employ local workers, particularly during the current economic environment that is resulting in many Australians losing their livelihoods, but more needs to be done to develop targeted incentive packages to entice willing and able local workers to work on farms.'

Cairns in Far North Queensland is among the hardest areas hit by the horticultural worker shortage, despite having 20,000 JobSeeker recipients. Pictured is a worker in a papaya orchard in the nearby Atherton Tablelands