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Why is there a lettuce shortage? Australians Shannon Moss' Locyrer Valley cos lettuce crop was destroyed by water and mud
and had to be ploughed back into the ground.(ABC Rural: Alys  Marshall)
warned prices won't come down any time soon
ABC Rural / By Alys Marshall
The February flood was swiftly followed by another catastrophic rain event that
Supermarkets are struggling to keep shelves hit the Lockyer Valley right as lettuce was due to be harvested, wiping out entire
stocked with major supply chain disruptions in
crops.
lettuce varieties. (ABC News: Brian Hurst)

But now, Mr Joseph said the cold front moving in would prevent farmers from
Consumers are being warned to get used to
quickly growing more food to ease the shortage.
cabbage in their burgers or paying more than
$10 for a lettuce, with no end in sight for high fruit and vegetable prices.
"The really concerning thing about this is that we've got these high-pressure
systems coming through as we head into winter, and we're going to see really low
Key points:
temperatures," he said.
 The cost of certain fresh produce, like lettuce and tomatoes, has more than
"We've got ground that's wet and cold. Crops just aren't going to grow in these
doubled in recent weeks. 
conditions."
 The industry is warning these prices are set to continue for months.
 Along with these price hikes are supply chain disruptions that are resulting in
empty supermarket shelves.  When will prices come back down?

While the sudden price spike hit quickly, wholesalers say it will take longer for
prices to come down as growers face a 'perfect storm' of bad conditions.
Anthony Joseph, a fruit and vegetable wholesaler and exporter, said wet weather in
south-east Queensland meant growers lost one crop and struggled to plant the
next one as freezing temperatures set in.
"Things like baby leaf spinach and wombok are going for three to four times their
normal price," he said.
The combination of crops lost to the rain, and struggling plantings due to the cold
means wholesalers like Mr Joseph expect the shortage of fresh produce to last for
at least the next couple of months.
Carlo Trimboli,  the chair of the NSW Chamber of Fresh Produce and the managing
director of Samson's Fruit and Vegetable Supply, said as long as the supply was
low across the industry and demand continued, so would high prices.
He estimated that his wholesale supply was down by 80 per cent.

Mr Joseph, who is the managing director of Alfred E. Chave, at the Brisbane "It's really critical," he said.
Markets, said the flood event in February was detrimental to land preparation for
the autumn and winter crops, which, he said, caused the gap in supply experienced "The prices of produce are high, but the volume that normally goes through the
over the past four to six weeks. central market system and through to retailers is dramatically reduced."
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So while it might be tempting to think farmers and suppliers are profiting from the
high prices, the reality is prices are high because many simply don't have any crops
to sell.
"No-one is really benefiting," Mr Trimboli said.
"That's the honest truth."
"Prices are strong, and some [farmers are getting] potentially high prices, but their
volumes are down, and there's also a lot of farms that missed out on [a crop]
totally."
No-one is getting ahead
Out near Stanthorpe in southern Queensland, the Gasparin brothers are three
growers who have never seen their produce sold for so much.
Andrew Gasparin said vegetables like cauliflower and wombok lettuce were going
for $10 each, $80 per box.
And while for consumers, it feels like a sudden spike, he said prices had been up
for most of the season.
"We've probably averaged $40 a box for the whole season," he said.
"I'd say a normal season. We average $20 [per box]."
But the Gasparin brothers, like many other growers, have not had an easy season.
"We've had a lot of days walking through paddocks cutting vegetables in
gumboots and walking through mud and bogging tractors," he said.
"We're at least getting double what we normally would get, but we need our prices
to go up now because all our commodities have gone up."
"There have been big price [increases] in fertilisers, fuel, and even just our
packaging costs are going up 70 cents per unit."
So even while the prices are good, if you are lucky enough to produce to sell, it
costs more to grow, pack and ship, which means farmers like Mr Gasparin are not
actually making any more money than in the past year.
Those costs are high due to global factors like the war in Ukraine, which for Mr
Gasparin means it was hard to know when the costs might ease.
"We don't know where things will go from here," he said.
"Now it's off-season, and, my family, we still buy fruit and veg, and we're feeling
the prices too."
Comprehension Questions
1. What has caused the sudden decrease in produce available and increased in
price? Floods and bad growing conditions
2. What is some of the produce that is affected? Lettuce, tomatoes, Spinach,
Wombok and other vegetables
3. What price factors have influenced producers making money off their selling
of produce? Other financial factors that influence making money are “there
have been big price increases in fertilisers, fuel and even just our packaging
costs are going up 70 cents per unit.
4. What are some ways these issues might be combated in future farming?
These issues can potentially be combated by farming through large
greenhouses, community gardens and flooding mitigation processes.