The Murray Valley Winegrowers March report has reported a loss of 40 growers in the region, again highlighting the crippling supply and demand issue in the wine industry.
The executive officer of Murray Valley Winegrowers Incorporated Mike Stone said that grower numbers have dropped by 1000 in the space of around a decade.
“You have got to look at the last 10 years, we went through a horrendous drought where water restrictions were in place and there was a period where growers had to buy additional water for more than 100 dollars a megalitre,” Mr Stone said.
“Demand for grapes has declined significantly, resulting in prices that sell below production costs and that has all added up to a situation that has forced many growers out of the industry.”
Mr Stone said the decline in figures can be seen across the board, all the way through to production.
The Murray Darling/Swan Hill wine region were growing 362,000 tonnes as opposed to the 238,000 tonnes produced in last years vintage.
This kind of drop in production can be seen in winery grown products and the average cost per tonne across all varieties.
The overall value of grower fruit has dropped from $134 million a decade ago to just $74 million last year.
“Production varies, it is a seasonal thing but on a regular basis we were achieving grower tonnes of well over 300,000 tonnes, now we seem to be around that area of 200 odd thousand,” Mr Stone said.
For more on this story grab a copy of today’s North West Farmer in the Guardian (April 12)
