Farmers amid a seasonal worker shortage face the sad reality of deciding which paddocks to pick and which to leave to rot.
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But a small organic operation at Bridport is bucking that trend, with a small army of devoted locals who turn up each summer, just like this one, to harvest blueberries.
Berry Blue, at Bridport, is the brainchild of Stuart Millwood and his family, but he shares his "ide project with his fly-in, fly-out work in Western Australia.
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He said he was fortunate to have the farm during the height of the COVID pandemic after border restrictions forced him to take extended leaves of absence from his mining work.
But he said the work is typically done around his FIFO obligations due to his flexible work schedule.
The time that it gets most hectic is over the summer, when picking is in full swing, otherwise he said it was easy to manage.
Mr Millwood said Berry Blue started as a hobby, as something he was interested in about 10 years ago, and it's been a labour of love ever since. The crop is sold locally but primarily is sold in greengrocers and supermarkets in Western Australia and Melbourne.
"I'd always been interested in horticulture, I was really interested in trying it out on the side, so when I heard a friend of mine had some extra blueberry plants I took them," he said.
Those plants have grown over the 10 years to become a 1200-plant operation at Bridport and Mr Millwood said he had just planted his first expansion crop at his father's property.
He said he thought blueberries were good to grow, and while the conditions at Bridport can be a bit windy, they proved to be ripe growing conditions for the hardy crop.
Because of how big they are, we just can't compete with Costa, so with the organic product, it's a more premium product so it gives us an edge to keep up with the big producers.
- Berry Blue owner Stuart Millwood
"In Tasmania, blueberries are pretty good, we don't have to worry much about as many pests and diseases, other than the [blueberry] rust, but the previous incursion didn't affect us," he said.
Tasmania first detected blueberry rust among infected plants in the state in 2014 and has endured three outbreaks since then.
About 40 Tasmanian properties had berry plants removed in December 2014 and January 2015 after a blueberry rust infestation was traced to Victoria.
A significant outbreak occurred at Costa Berries' North-West Coast farm at Sulphur Creek in 2016, which resulted in quarantine procedures and impacts on exports.
Mr Millwood said the outbreak then was "contained pretty much to the North-West" so the never felt threatened by the outbreak.
While COVID-19 has a lot of farmers worried they won't be able to harvest their crop due to seasonal worker shortages, Mr Millwood says his small operation had a loyal workforce.
"We usually get about 10 workers out in harvest time, but we work 10-12 hour days during the season," he said.
All of the pickers are locals from Bridport, which Mr Millwood said happened organically.
"It kind of happened due to our scale," he said.
However, most of the pickers return each year, which Mr Millwood said was down to the conditions.
"We always have a bit of fun, it's a pretty relaxed environment even though it's long days," he said.
He said he had employed some backpackers last year, who had done a really good job, but border controls made getting those people back to the farm nearly impossible.
"There is just not a lot of backpackers around, because of the COVID restrictions," he said.
"But if I could have had those guys back again this year I would have done it in a heartbeat."
He said working on the farm was a family affair, with his partner helping out with picker recruitment and helping with other tasks.
Mr Millwood said demand for organic blueberries was continuing to grow, and he'd seen a steep incline over the 10 years.
"Demand just keeps getting stronger and stronger," he said.
"People are a bit more health-conscious now, so they're eating blueberries a lot more than they used to."
Mr Millwood said his suppliers were strong in Melbourne and Western Australia, and he didn't have plans yet to expand further into Tasmania, but he wouldn't count it out just yet.
"We'd like to, but we want to build up the crop before we think about that," he said.
Similarly, the farm only supplies its small local market and its mainland suppliers, it doesn't offer pick-your-own or a farm gate for visitors.
He said he made the decision early on to make the farm certified organic, a process that done quicker than usual.
"The block we farm on hadn't been farmed before, so it was a bit easier for us to provide all the history of the site and the details that were required," he said.
It took them about a year to get certified organic status, instead of the average three years it usually takes.
Mr Millwood said becoming certified organic gave his small operation an edge to compete with the larger producers such as Costa Berries.
"Because of how big they are, we just can't compete with Costa, so with the organic product, it's a more premium product so it gives us an edge to keep up with the big producers," he said.
Another way Berry Blue hopes to give itself an edge over bigger competitors is by speeding up the packing process.
Mr Millwood said he had recently purchased a semi-automatic packing machine from New Zealand.
Berries are packed in the top of the machine and a punnet is placed beneath it. Once the computer is told that there is a punnet underneath it will dispense the berries automatically.
"It will cut our packing time down in half," he said. Mr Millwood said they bought it to help with the 125g punnets because it was taking his employees too long to pack and cut down on productivity.
"But this should make it a lot more bearable," he said.
Plans for the farm include the consolidation of the expansion crop at his father's property, to sure up his yield.
"We will be working on the expansion crop for a few years, to build them up, but we're conscious we don't want to put too many plants in because it affects the berry quality," he said.
However, he said he remained hopeful that he could eventually be able to give up his FIFO work and become a farmer full time.
"It's been a long-term investment, but worth it," he said.
Blueberries are available from July to April, with peak availability from October to February. Harvest time runs over November to February.
Follow Berry Blue Farm on Facebook for more information or to follow their journey.