SOME of the blueberry bushes on Guido Cossignani's half–acre plot at Gapsted have grown old and unproductive, but he won't be replacing them.

"I have replanted a bit, but I'm not doing it anymore because of what's happening in the industry," he said.

Like other berry growers in the alpine region Mr Cossignani is considering downsizing his berry plot due to the rising costs of berry production.

Many of the issues cut across the whole fruit and vegetable industry, including increasing costs of transportation, packaging, and fertiliser.

But growers like Mr Cossignani are also being squeezed by a lack of workers and the new hourly award wage for pickers in the labour–intensive berry industry.

Without many workers available growers are concerned they may employ inefficient pickers under the new hourly wage, and there won't be better pickers to replace them.

"If we go to an hourly rate, the person picking six buckets an hour is at a disadvantage to the person picking two buckets," Mr Cossignani said.

"Unfortunately, we haven't got the worker numbers so we have to put up with it."

Merriang berry grower Stefan Saric was equally vocal about the hourly wage, saying it encouraged inefficient workers.

"If you're working next to a workmate who's picking 10 buckets and the next is picking two and getting the same money – what are you gonna do?" he asked.

"You're gonna pick two buckets."

Under the new horticulture award pickers must be paid an hourly rate, but can earn more if their piece rate exceeds the hourly wage, according to the Fair Work Ombudsman.

Since July 2022, the hourly rate for a full–time and part–time level one picker is $21.38 per hour, and $26.73 for level one casual workers – not much more than a reasonable picker would have received under the old system, according to Rachel Mackenzie, executive director of Berries Australia.

"If people had been previously applying the piece rate properly then the increased cost should not be that significant," she said.

But she admitted the lack of workers meant berry growers can't easily replace bad workers.

"If there were heaps and heaps of workers it wouldn't matter so much because you'd just get rid of the ones who are underperforming," she said.

However, even for berry growers who are less impacted by the hourly wage, the pressures are considerable.

Smoko mixed berry farmer Rocky Russo said the new hourly wage for pickers wasn't an issue for him as he already paid an hourly rate, but he cited rising costs of insurance, electricity, and packaging, as well as trouble finding workers as reasons why he was considering downsizing or moving to a pick–your–own setup.

"Why do I want to work 12 hours a day and not get anything for it?" he said.

Meanwhile, options for the mechanised picking of the delicate fruits are limited.

"There are quite a lot of horticultural commodities that are hand–picked, but we are very labor dependent," Ms Mackenzie said.

Mr Russo knew of no berry growers near him that use mechanical harvesting.

"You can get mechanical harvesting, but it's mainly for jam," he said.