Australia's peak food industry bodies have calculated the food supply chain is short at least 172,000 workers from paddock to plate.
This massive labour shortage will have significant long-term impacts on price and the availability of food for the consumer unless solutions are found quickly.
According to the peak bodies, which have recently collaborated to form the Food Supply Chain Alliance, this is one of the few 'cost of living' pressures the government can influence.
The Alliance believes the food sector, given it provides an essential service to the community, must be a priority at the upcoming Jobs and Skills Summit.
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The Food Supply Chain Alliance represents over 160,000 businesses with a revenue of over $200 billion.
It includes the National Farmers Federation, the Australian Meat Industry Council, Seafood Industry Australia, Independent Food Distributors Australia, AUSVEG, Master Grocers Australia, Restaurant and Catering Industry Association and the Australian Association of Convenience Stores.
The Alliance says there are steps the government can take now to relieve the pressure on food industries and consumers.
The food supply chain urgently requires a suite of tools, including suitable visa pathways to welcome overseas workers, as well as measures to facilitate people in the country take up the work - that is lifting restrictions on work rights for temporary migrants and seniors and support to enable relocation to do the work.
The Alliance believes the government must, as a matter of urgency, develop a National Food Supply Chain Strategy to reduce the impact of both natural disasters and future global challenges.
National Farmers Federation chief executive officer Tony Mahar said the farm sector's labour crisis was not only hurting farmers but also the economy and it was hitting consumers in the hip pocket.
"Farmers are making the difficult choice not to plant some crops, because they can't guarantee they'll have workers for harvest. If crops don't get planted, less food gets grown, and people pay more," he said.
"It's a simple equation. We need appropriate visa solutions to attract workers and ensure they're treated fairly."
Australian Meat Industry Council chief executive officer Patrick Hutchinson said the post-farmgate meat supply chain was already under-resourced to process the number of livestock forecast to be produced in Australia in 2022.
Forecasts for 2023-2025 range between a 15 to 35 per cent increase in livestock numbers.
"This will obviously be catastrophic for Australian farmers if the volume of livestock is far greater than the meat processing industry can process, and the wider supply chain has the ability to manage," Mr Hutchinson said.
Independent Food Distributors Australia chief executive officer Richard Forbes said the ability to transport food was becoming harder by the day due the significant shortages of truck drivers across the country.
"Coupled with that is an ongoing lack of skilled and unskilled workers in food warehouses to help pack and store food products and drive forklifts to unload trucks from suppliers and load them for food retail outlets. Recruiting and maintaining staff is almost impossible," he said.
