Farm workers will get $6000 from the federal government if they make the move to regional areas to work for more than six weeks.
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The funding package was announced during the new federal budget this week, which is aiming to plug an expected 30,000 worker shortage in regional areas across the country.
Farmers employing out-of-work Australians between the ages of 16 to 29 will get $200 a week for each new job, and $100 a week for every job created for people aged 30 to 35-years-old.
The people will only be eligible for the incentives if they have previously been receiving JobSeeker, Youth Allowance or Parenting Payments from the government.
Griffith and District Citrus Growers Association secretary Vito Mancini welcomed the extra incentive, but said it might take more than just throwing extra money at the problem as they were several factors at play.
In Griffith, Mr Mancini said getting accommodation could be challenge at times, the work could be tough for people who are new to it and farmers had to balance their own budgets.
"The logistics of being able to pay rent in Sydney and moving to the country and trying to move to a place like Griffith which has been shown to be inaccessible can be challenge," he said.
He said there was a fine balance between paying workers picking fruit or helping at harvest and the price that farmers could get for their produce.
"It would be great to pay fruitpickers more than minimum wage, but we have to worry about whether the consumer will pay for the fruit picked at the higher price at the retail shelf," Mr Mancini said.
Mr Mancini said juice companies forecast their prices months ahead as part of supermarket supply arrangements which made it difficult for growers to increase wages to attract more workers.
Mr Mancini said there was a cultural issue which could be addressed to help find more agricultural workers.
"City folk think think country work is below them, that it's not worth the money," Mr Mancini said.
However, he said while tough the rewards were there, and the majority of farmers paid their workers properly. He said his grandfather had worked from Queensland on sugar cane fields down to Victoria picking fruit, before eventually buying a farm in Griffith.
"He wanted to do the work to better himself and he was able to buy a farm," he said.
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Declan Rurenga
Declan Rurenga was the editor of Griffith's Area News and Leeton's Irrigator until September 2023. Before landing at the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area, he reported news in Junee, Wagga Wagga, Orange and Cootamundra.
Declan Rurenga was the editor of Griffith's Area News and Leeton's Irrigator until September 2023. Before landing at the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area, he reported news in Junee, Wagga Wagga, Orange and Cootamundra.
