‘There’s no joy’: Riverland grape growers on the edge
The Riverland’s wine industry is going through a tough patch, with InDaily being told growers are struggling financially and personally as they “cannot afford to leave and cannot afford to stay”.
InDaily asked Riverland Wine grower engagement officer Charles Matheson about the mood among growers during an ongoing industry slump, and how recent support offers are being received.
“There’s no joy,” he said.
“The outlook for red wine or red grape prices in the Riverland is not good for at least, at least a couple of years.
“It costs them [growers] somewhere between six and nine thousand dollars a hectare to grow a crop, and they might get 20 tonnes a hectare at $150 a tonne. Twenty tonnes a hectare at $150 a ton, that’s $3000, so their losses are somewhere between three and five thousand dollars a hectare.”
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Targeted supports for South Australia’s wine industry have been introduced recently amid an ongoing red wine glut, with the state government last week announcing a $260,000 support package, following a $1.85 million China re-engagement package after tariffs eased earlier this year.
Other supports have included a $3.5 million Grape and Wine Sector viability package, the development of the Riverland Wine Industry Blueprint, and $4.4 million in the most recent state budget towards financial planning and counselling for producers.
The Renmark Paringa Council has now offered grape growers its own support, with the announcement of a $500 rate remission per property.
Riverland grape growers are facing another couple years of poor industry conditions, said Charles Matheson. Photo: Riverland Wine.
The council said the provisions “aim to strike a balance between providing genuine relief for grape growers, ensuring sufficient cash flow, and displaying a level of compassion and empathy to those affected”.
The provisions implemented include fines and interest waived for all properties with a land use code containing the word ‘vines’, from July 1 2024 to June 30 2025, with application fees to change land use in the same period to be waived as well.
“The rate relief from Renmark Paringa Council is fantastic, but there’s just no blue sky at all,” Matheson said.
“There’s a real sense of despair and loss of what to do, pretty substantial mental health issues. At the same time, a lot of them are just too proud to apply for Household Allowance or to go and speak to a mental health practitioner.”
In a letter sent to Matheson by a Riverland-based grape grower, seen by InDaily, the farmer said there was little willingness in farmers to change to different crops.
“There is a very long list of what will grow in this environment, but to sell to whom?” they wrote.
“Add in the potential costs of different machinery, labour costs etc, it’s easy to see the levels of despair.
“The commonality in conversations is the lack of direction, lack of leadership. With an ageing population base, almost no one has family waiting to take over due to the emotional/financial/economic struggles they have witnessed growing up.
“They cannot afford to leave, but cannot afford to stay.
“I respectfully suggest, based on my conversations, the fundamental problems need to be addressed first before money is wasted on what is considered tokenism.”
There’s no blue sky for some Riverland grape growers in the current slump, says industry body Riverland Wine. Photo: Riverland Wine / Instagram
Matheson said growers in the region hoped to receive targeted assistance to either remove their red wine grapes and transition to a different crop or “to be able to retire with dignity”.
“There’s too many people who have had a great lifestyle being wine grape growers and they don’t want to give that up. But the reality is starting to dawn on them that they’re going to have to,” he said.
“Their vineyards aren’t worth enough to be able to buy a house in the nearest town, let alone move closer to Adelaide where their kids are or grandchildren are.”
Matheson said Riverland Wine, the union of the Riverland Wine Grape Growers Association and the Riverland Wine Industry Development Council, was encouraging farmers to rest their vines.
“That can be just by reducing the amount of water you put on, but there’s also a chemical called Ethephon which you can spray which causes the flowers to abort so grapes aren’t produced,” he said.
“That enables them to keep their vines in a healthy state going forwards, at a vastly reduced cost.
“There’s a lot of people just turning the taps off and letting things die at the moment, which is going to present all sorts of biosecurity risks, especially with fruit fly.”
