{"id":581832,"date":"2026-04-03T01:16:12","date_gmt":"2026-04-03T01:16:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/581832\/"},"modified":"2026-04-03T01:16:12","modified_gmt":"2026-04-03T01:16:12","slug":"fears-red-meat-fresh-produce-will-soon-cost-more-amid-ongoing-fuel-crisis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/581832\/","title":{"rendered":"Fears red meat, fresh produce will soon cost more amid ongoing fuel crisis"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Red meat could soon become more expensive as the oil crisis caused by the ongoing war in the Middle East continues to wreak havoc for Aussie farmers.<\/p>\n<p>More than three quarters of red meat producers surveyed by the Red Meat \u00adAdvisory Council (RMAC) last month said they have enough fuel to continue for just one more week.<\/p>\n<p>Less than half said they could potentially stretch their supply over two weeks.<\/p>\n<p>Every part of the supply chain, from transporting feed and pumping water to the animals, to running machinery, and transporting, processing and storing product, is impacted by the fuel crisis. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis isn\u2019t a future problem &#8211; it\u2019s happening now,\u201d RMAC independent Chair John McKillop said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cProducers are already facing difficult decisions, including the potential early slaughter of animals, where access to feed, water and transport cannot be guaranteed.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>MORE:<a class=\"body-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.realestate.com.au\/news\/major-blow-for-aussies-hoarding-fuel-at-home\/?campaignType=external&amp;campaignChannel=syndication&amp;campaignName=ncacont&amp;campaignContent=&amp;campaignSource=newscomau&amp;campaignPlacement=realestatemodule\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"www.realestate.com.au\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Warning: Major bill for petrol \u2018panic\u2019 buyers<\/a><\/p>\n<p>He warned the situation is \u201crapidly deteriorating\u201d and consumers will likely see an increase in price and limited choices on supermarket shelves if urgent action to prioritise fuel access isn\u2019t taken.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cUp to 76 per cent of producers identified April and May as a peak period when reliable fuel access is absolutely critical,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWithout it, they simply cannot operate.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"poster-img\" src=\"https:\/\/content.api.news\/v3\/images\/bin\/a6d317a160e94f81dfb9878455432d08\" data-sctrack=\"op-poster-img\" alt=\"Australia's fuel plan explained\" fetchpriority=\"high\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Australians are also bracing for an increase in the price of fresh produce with the rising cost of fuel and fertiliser hurting farmers.<\/p>\n<p>The price of nitrogen fertiliser urea has roughly doubled since the war broke out. About two thirds of Australia\u2019s supply of urea comes from The Gulf, with prices skyrocketing due to restricted passage through the Strait of Hormuz.<\/p>\n<p>National Farmers\u2019 Federation (NFF) President Hamish McIntyre told news.com.au last week that winter crops could be halved if farmers can\u2019t get in-crop requirements of urea after May.<\/p>\n<p>In a worst-case scenario \u201cwe\u2019re looking at a massive reduction in production of winter crop, then we\u2019re potentially very worried about securing next year\u2019s summer crop as well\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>MORE: <a class=\"body-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.realestate.com.au\/news\/how-petrol-price-spike-could-hit-home-values\/?campaignType=external&amp;campaignChannel=syndication&amp;campaignName=ncacont&amp;campaignContent=&amp;campaignSource=newscomau&amp;campaignPlacement=realestatemodule\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"www.realestate.com.au\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">How petrol price spike could hit home values<\/a><\/p>\n<p>On Thursday, the NFF\u2019s Horticulture Council released an open letter to Australian supermarket chains, urging them to take up price increases as a result of rising fuel costs.<\/p>\n<p>It said, \u201ctimely acceptance of cost\u2011reflective price adjustments was essential not only to maintain current supply, but to send the confidence signals required for growers to continue investing in future production.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFuel prices, fuel levies and transport surcharges are rising rapidly and, in some cases, changing daily. For a sector that relies heavily on refrigerated, long\u2011distance freight, these increases are placing immediate pressure on growers and suppliers across Australia.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Chair of the Horticulture Council, Jolyon Burnett, urged supermarket chains to \u201crecognise the real costs being borne by suppliers.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He said that by supporting continued domestic production through the passing on of increased prices, supermarkets help prevent future product shortages and food price spikes. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Red meat could soon become more expensive as the oil crisis caused by the ongoing war in the&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":581833,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[64,63,99,164],"class_list":{"0":"post-581832","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-economy","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-business","11":"tag-economy"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/581832","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=581832"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/581832\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/581833"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=581832"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=581832"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=581832"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}