Mango growers say they fear changes to the Working Holiday visa program will lead to a shortage of backpacker pickers, leaving premium mangoes unharvested and potentially rotting on trees.
The reports describe concerns that any reduction in available seasonal labour would disrupt picking schedules during the peak fruit period. With fewer workers able to travel for farm work, growers say fruit quality and marketability could be affected if harvest timing slips.
While both outlets cover the same core issue, they focus on the prospect of labour shortfalls rather than providing new details about the specific policy changes. Neither report identifies individual farms or quotes detailed projections, but both point to the same linkage between visa availability, harvesting capacity, and the risk to fruit left beyond its optimal picking window.
