First it was lettuce, now strawberries are being sold for staggering prices, with a Canberra supermarket asking $11.99 for a 250g punnet.
Wet weather and disease have delayed winter production in QueenslandTo put it in perspective, the same supermarket selling the pricey Victorian-grown punnets was discounting fruit at three for $2 in August last year.
But farmers in Victoria and Stanthorpe have continued to pick because Queensland's peak winter growers, around the Sunshine Coast and Bundaberg, have had production delayed by up to a month.Berries Australia executive director Rachel Mackenzie said severe weather in key growing regions was behind the steep prices.
But co-owner Brendon Hoyle said the Sunshine Coast harvest had only just started, when it would usually begin in May. He said other factors such as the rising cost of production and transport were also having an effect.Disease hinders harvest
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