NSW farmers fill employment gaps for Western Australian harvest

NSW farmers are leaving their bone dry paddocks and are heading west to help their WA counterparts for harvest because of the chronic worker's shortage.

Many have their flights paid for, some are lured with financial incentives while others just want a break from the NSW drought.

While some WA producers still employed seasonal workers like backpackers and those from overseas, WA Farmers' Federation grains president Duncan Young said many were turning to the eastern states especially NSW for experienced operators to help with harvest.

Mr Young, who runs a property at Beverley on the western fringe of the WA wheat belt, said he had employed a spray and seed contractor from Inverell to help with his season.

"He came to seed, then went back home and came back to spray and now it's likely he will come for harvest," Mr Young said.

"We want experienced workers who know what they are doing and a lot of WA farmers are prepared to pay for experience.

"We can't get workers in WA depending on where you are as one of the biggest things for our state is the mines are taking away all the good skilled workers from farms."

WA harvest hot spots for farmers looking for workers include Mr Young's region 130 kilometres east of Perth, north at Geraldton and south at Esperance.

Some of the ways in which farmers are being lured west are through friend and family connections, meeting on the hay runs from WA and through social media call outs.

"We pay well as mining has driven wages up," he said.

But he said the harvest would not be as big as it was expected.

"It's getting dry here and we are not talking the kind of drought you have there is NSW," Mr Young said.

"Things are going backwards here but we will still get a crop and that can't be said in places of NSW and Queensland."

In a normal year Mr Young said harvest was 15 million tonnes of wheat, barley, oats, canola and pulses but this year it was looking more like 12 to 13 million tonnes, well below last year's 19 million tonnes.

At his place, Mr Young has planted 2000 hectares of crops when in a normal year it would be 2400ha.

"We live in a high rainfall area but it's been a woeful season with 300mm when the average is 520mm," he said.

Around 420km south at Ravensthorpe, Lloyd and Cheryl Burrell also put the call out for NSW farmers.

"We usually get backpackers but we wanted to try looking for workers in NSW as they are experienced and we need someone for five weeks this year," Mr Burrell said.

Mr Burrell echoed Mr Young's sentiments saying it would be a below average season as they have only recorded 160mm of rain when a normal year is 400mm.

This year the Burrells planted 4000ha, down from their usual 5000ha.

NSW Farmers' president James Jackson said it was a fantastic idea by WA farmers.

"I dip my lid to them for thinking of this as it will be a great distraction for our guys who are just numb," Mr Jackson said.

"It will be useful for those who can get away and are not feeding stock to take up the offer."