{"id":186650,"date":"2025-10-03T04:08:11","date_gmt":"2025-10-03T04:08:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/186650\/"},"modified":"2025-10-03T04:08:11","modified_gmt":"2025-10-03T04:08:11","slug":"tasmanian-tractor-convoy-unable-to-break-stalemate-on-potato-farmer-pay","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/186650\/","title":{"rendered":"Tasmanian tractor convoy unable to break stalemate on potato farmer pay"},"content":{"rendered":"

More than 130 angry farmers, along with millions of dollars of mud-splattered machinery, have yet to break a stalemate in an ongoing price battle.<\/p>\n

Tasmania’s potato farmers on Thursday rejected a second pay offer from multinational processor Simplot for the upcoming season that would see the price they are paid a kilo drop from last year’s price.<\/p>\n

Farmers argue the offer would cost them hundreds of thousands of dollars and push many out of the industry.<\/p>\n

Amid the pressure to sign a deal, a convoy of 58 tractors, trucks and machinery from the state’s north and north-west converged in Deloraine to voice their frustration.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Farmers protest outside McDonald’s in Kings Meadows. (ABC News: Laurissa Smith)<\/p>\n

In August, farmers rejected Simplot’s initial offer of a 6 per cent cut on last year’s price.<\/p>\n

The vegetable giant on Thursday morning came back to the growers with a revised 2026 crop offer of a 4 per cent cut plus other incentives, but the growers again rejected the offer.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Tasmanian potato farmer Nathan Richardson at the protest in Deloraine. (ABC News: Laurissa Smith)<\/p>\n

When asked about the protest and ongoing negotiations, a Simplot spokesperson said they were “committed to working constructively” with the farmers.<\/p>\n

“These negotiations are complex and reflect broader industry challenges and increasing global competition,” they said.<\/p>\n

Will you pay more for hot chips? Tassie farmers consider ditching spuds<\/a><\/p>\n

Farmers have rejected a second price offer made by food manufacturer Simplot for their potato crop this season, saying the extra money put forward is not enough to cover the cost of growing their crops.<\/p>\n

Leigh Elphinstone, the chair of the farmer committee negotiating with Simplot, drove his vehicle from Sisters Creek for the protest, and also met with the growers to inform them of Simplot’s latest price offer.<\/p>\n

“The growers are disgusted that Simplot have come back with such a poor, poor offer,” he said after the meeting.<\/p>\n

“They’re trying to take 2 cents a kilo away from us, we really need a 2 cents a kilo rise, and they’re just not listening.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Potato farmers have rejected Simplot’s offer. (ABC News: Laurissa Smith)<\/p>\n

“We did collectively put together a revised counteroffer to take back to Simplot. We just hope that Simplot will continue negotiations in good faith with our committee.”<\/p>\n

Mr Elphinstone said the lack of contracts left farmers in limbo in terms of planting, which would be in full swing if it were not for weeks of rainy weather.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A convoy of tractors descended on Deloraine. (ABC News: Laurissa Smith)<\/p>\n

Imports put pressure on local growers<\/p>\n

TasFarmers CEO Nathan Calman said the negotiations were adding stress at a time of immense pressure for the industry.<\/p>\n

“There are pressures from supermarkets bringing in potatoes from overseas, there are pressures from processors from within Tasmania,” he said.<\/p>\n

“At the same time, costs are rising and I think growers across the state are rightly concerned that they’re not being heard and that without action we might be facing a food security crisis in this country.”<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

The tractors caused some delays for traffic. (ABC News: Laurissa Smith)<\/p>\n

The ongoing contract negotiations also follow the recent detection of potato mop top virus in Tasmania.<\/p>\n

While growers said that particular disease was not expected to have a large impact, the possible breach of Australia’s biosecurity measures was frightening.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Tasmanian potato farmer Tim Cresswell attended the protest. (ABC News: Laurissa Smith)<\/p>\n

Simplot said its track record of investing in infrastructure showed the company’s commitment to Australian-grown spuds.<\/p>\n

“We remain focused on a sustainable outcome that supports the long-term viability of local farming and the broader industry,” a spokesperson said.<\/p>\n

“Simplot is proud to source Australian-grown potatoes and operate the Ulverstone processing facility in Tasmania.”<\/p>\n

An unlikely alliance\"a<\/p>\n

Mike Wickham is from the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union. (ABC News: Laurissa Smith)<\/p>\n

It was not only farmers raising their voices on Thursday.<\/p>\n

Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union state organiser Mike Wickham represents many of the workers at Simplot and fellow multinational vegetable processor McCain.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Tasmanian potato farmer Brendan Thompson in Deloraine. (ABC News: Laurissa Smith)<\/p>\n

\u00a0He also joined the protest, admitting they were “unlikely bedfellows”.<\/p>\n

“You do away with farms, you do away with communities, you do away with communities, you do away with employment,” he said.<\/p>\n

“It’s a vicious circle, and that’s why we are very keen to support the farmers.”<\/p>\n

Cheap potato imports threaten Tasmanian growers<\/a><\/p>\n

Cheap potato imports from India and China are threatening the livelihoods of Tasmanian growers, as stalled negotiations with processors leave some farmers about to plant this year’s crop without a contract.<\/p>\n

Grower and TasFarmers vegetable council representative Nathan Richardson drove his tractor from his farm at Thirlstane near Devonport.<\/p>\n

“One of the levers to pull is to put this issue front and centre of the public, and tractors do that,” he said.<\/p>\n

“When you look at other parts of the world, farmers are doing the same thing. We’re not happy.<\/p>\n

“We have great support from the public because they keep picking up Australian-grown produce.<\/p>\n

“That’s the only reason we have a processed frozen vegetable industry in this country.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"More than 130 angry farmers, along with millions of dollars of mud-splattered machinery, have yet to break a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":186651,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[64,63,99,25977,20666,18466,46625,119006,119005,51389,119003,2647,119004,119002,119001],"class_list":["post-186650","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-business","tag-convoy","tag-farmers","tag-imports","tag-potato","tag-potato-dispute","tag-potato-growers","tag-potatoes","tag-potatoes-protest","tag-protest","tag-simplot","tag-tractors","tag-wage"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/186650","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=186650"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/186650\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/186651"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=186650"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=186650"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=186650"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}