The pandemic and waning reputation of the harvest industry has resulted in a nation-wide labour shortage, with the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource, Economics and Sciences (ABARES) indicating there will be a 30,000-person shortfall in horticulture workers by March next year.

Frank Galluzzo, the branch manager of APG Workforce in Griffith, says most farms in the region do not have enough hands on deck and are not prepared for the situation.

"The short answer is no, most farms aren't going to have enough workers to properly harvest," Mr Galluzzo said.

"Workers who usually travel to the Riverina for harvest have picked up more secure work ... and the lack of backpackers due to COVID has made it really quite difficult to source labour now."

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The cost to secure a farm worker has risen significantly in the past year and many farmers will have a tough call to make when harvest arrives.

"Land owners are going to have to do their sums and see if they can afford to pick their crop or not, because the cost of hiring labour is going to be a lot more than they are used to."

Mr Galluzzo urged local farmers to adapt their methods if they want to have enough employees for a proper harvest.

"There's the seasonal workers program, there's advertising, there's offering free accommodation," he said.

"The people that are doing the best are the ones that are looking after their workers, paying them fair wages, and making them want to come back."

In a bid to alleviate some pressure, the federal government has confirmed a new agriculture visa allowing foreigners to work on Australian farms will be put in place from September.

However many of these foreign workers will need to quarantine when they arrive in the country, a process which will cost thousands for the workers or their employers.

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Griffith nursery owner Jonathan Moss relies on overseas worker to keep things running smoothly and in busy periods he can have up to 100 working across his property.

Mr Moss, who runs Mossmont Nurseries, is an approved employer with the Seasonal Workers Programme and has been working throughout the year to ensure he is not shorthanded during the planting months at the end of the year.

He's still not confident.

"I've put in extra steps but it's still a major concern to me," Mr Moss said.

"There needs to be more quarantining facilities opening up and the government needs to consider doing the quarantine in rural areas and not just in Sydney."

"There also has to be greater subsidizing for the quarantine costs because right now they are being pushed onto the farmer and it is massively expensive for us to bring in any worker from overseas."

Mr Moss said under-prepared farmers will probably be "praying to the gods for things to get better" if they don't start figuring out how to get workers soon.

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