POTATO farmers are currently earning $500 a tonne – around $200 short of making it worth their while.
“That really needs to be $700 a tonne to continue,” potato and cattle farmer Trevor Hall said.
He said profitability is the main issue for farmers.
“On the vegetable side of things, the vegetable industry in Australia is going to struggle because our input, machinery and labour costs are so dear.
“But a lot of the smaller vegetable growers will take the impact and so we will bear the brunt, meaning conditions in 2026 will only get worse.”
Leader of The Nationals David Littleproud said farmers would still hurt in 2026 at the hands of big supermarkets, after Labor had failed to act and fully implement its Australian Competition and Consumer Commission price inquiry report.
This is despite Labor saying before the election, it would firstly implement the ACCC recommendations, but it is now almost 300 days since the report and hardly any recommendations have been implemented.
Prior to the election, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese promised; “We will, if we are elected, implement firstly the ACCC’s supermarket inquiry recommendations. That’s about improving transparency.”
Mr Littleproud said farmers are continuing to have margins squeezed, and with 40 per cent of vegetable farmers considering leaving the industry, this is of great concern to Australia’s farmers and food security.
“Action should have been taken by now,” Mr Littleproud said.
“Recommendations to assist balance supermarket buying power relate to providing information about supply forecasts, harmonisation of accreditation and auditing requirements, and transparency in weekly processes, wholesale fresh produce prices or volumes, rebates suppliers pay to supermarkets and how supplier funding contributions to their inhouse retails media services are used.
“The large supermarkets are the market, which means suppliers still have little bargaining power and can still be treated unfairly in 2026.
“This will have enormous implications in 2026, because fresh food suppliers are particularly vulnerable in negotiations with large supermarkets.
“In addition, training of farmers and suppliers to understand their rights under the mandatory food and grocery code of conduct and to build their capacity to negotiate with supermarkets won’t begin until at least February, nine months since Labor promised to implement it.
