A SHORTAGE of baby leaf product in supermarkets across Australia is being attributed to flood damage in Victoria and Tasmania, along with exceptionally cold growing conditions.
The supply of up to 30 per cent of baby leaf product was affected, according to One Harvest’s Adam Christensen.
Consumers have not been happy about the shortage, which will take at least eight weeks to resolve – as evidenced by their activity on social media.
It is the second crisis in the baby leaf industry this year, after bagged lettuce was implicated in 10 cases of salmonella poisoning around Australia.
“Flooding since early July created some short term challenges in sourcing sufficient salad product to meet customer demand,” Mr Christensen said.
“Most of our supply comes from growers in the Lindenow Valley (Victoria) so for about three weeks we’ve had a lot of difficulty filling orders for loose and bagged mixed baby leaf.
“We were only able to supply about 70 per cent to Coles and Woolworths supermarkets nationally.”
A national corporation, One Harvest began sourcing surplus baby leaf from a Mildura grower and out of Western Australia at the end of July, to meet the shortfall experienced by Gippsland growers.
“Flooded growers will also have to comply with our Good Agricultural Practices and Ausveg standards before they can resume planting,” Mr Christensen said.
As successive heavy rainfall in June and July filled the soil profile, some regions have had difficulty with the water getting away.
Agriculture Victoria estimated 45 hectares of crops in the Lindenow Valley were ruined; estimated value of recovery was $2 million.
“Growers know that any land submerged has to be clear of water for 60 days,” Mr Christensen said.
“We also require soil tests to be conducted to ensure good soil quality. The focus is on a guarantee the growers are producing healthy food.”
It will be up to eight weeks before supply resumes normal levels, according to growers Linda Harvey, Boisdale Best, and Andrew Bulmer, Bulmer Farms, Lindenow.
“Baby spinach has been unavailable from growers at Stratford since early July,” Ms Harvey said.
“The weather has been very cold and very wet; the land is too wet to get on to plant and pick. We’ve had to try and source stock from elsewhere.
“We need sunny days and wind. It will be six to eight weeks before our normal supply will resume.”
She said normal daily practice included monitoring for nutrient leaching.
Mr Bulmer said it would be October before baby leaf supply would resume its normal level out of Victoria.
He estimated crop losses of $350-$400,000 and restoration work of $50,000 before production would return to normal at Bulmer Farms.
Fortunately, higher land laying fallow and growing cover crops was able to quickly return to production at Bulmer Farms. Planting began in late July.
“Six out of 10 baby leaf producers in Australia have a footprint in Gippsland,” Mr Bulmer said.
“The flood in July came on the back of very wet and the coldest weather in 20 years.
“Our recovery work will include restoring nutrient losses in the soil and reversing disruption in planting and harvesting.”
In Tasmania, supply of most types of vegetables to supermarkets was also affected by flooding in June and July.
When transport routes to the mainland were closed, one grower donated $50,000 baby leaf product to charity.
“We donated 3000 cartons of baby leaf to help some of the many Tasmanian’s affected by floods,” Houston’s Farm’s Vanessa Ford said.
Charities Foodbank and Secondbite distributed the food.
Houston’s Farm at Cambridge was not directly impacted by flooding nor heavy rain, after harvesting product prior to June’s downpour.
However, resowing is being impacted by the ongoing wet and cold weather.
Further north, Harvest Moon, with farms at Forth and Cressy, went underwater and agricultural director Mark Kable estimated the damage bill would be $500,000.
The processing plant was inundated as well, with floodwater 1.5m high inside the building.
The potato harvest was affected for many growers, after flooding covered crops.
“Because many growers had harvested their vegetables, there was limited impact except for potato growers,” Tasmanian Farmers and Graziers Association CEO Peter Skillen said.
“We had a record dry season followed by a record wet season, so paddocks are still too wet to get machinery on to harvest or sow.
“If we 10mm of rain, water sits on the paddock. The soil profile is very full, well down, and there’s nowhere for the water to go.
“We need a couple of weeks of really good weather, then another three-four weeks to know what the situation is for the season.”
Among the infrastructure damaged, floodwater from the Mersey River lifted a carrot washing facility, slab, shed and equipment in its entirety, moving it about 50 metres from where it had rested.
“That was moved by the two metre tsunami that came down the river; it had a lot of kinetic energy,” Mr Skillen said.
“A lot of farms are still under flood water and many farms have lost all their topsoil.”
Grants up to $10,000 for eligible primary producers impacted by Tasmania’s floods are now available to help with clean up and restoration work.
Local government areas affected are Break O’Day, Kentish, Latrobe, Meander Valley, Northern Midlands and Waratah-Wynyard councils.
The grants were funded by the Tasmanian and Australian governments.
