COUNTRYMAN | WA farmers across all sectors fear the impact of the Federal Government’s visa processing priority changes

Countryman has highlighted growing concern across WA agriculture about changes to visa processing priorities as harvest and other peak seasonal work approaches.

The article points to the grains sector’s heavy reliance on working holiday-makers, with growers warning that fewer available workers could add further pressure to farm businesses already dealing with high input costs and seasonal risk.

Grain Producers Australia Chair Matthew Madden said many growers depend on working holiday visa holders during critical periods such as harvest.

“Many of our members rely on working holiday visa holders to meet their staffing capacity needs at critical times such as during harvest, and this policy position could see them struggle unnecessarily,” he said.

WA Grains Group Chair and GPA Policy Council representative Alastair Falconer said the impact was already being felt on-farm.

“We’ve been recruiting lately, with noticeably less working holiday visa holders around to potentially help us for harvest,” he said.

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