This 40-tonne pumpkin patch is destined to be fertiliser unless a last minute call to arms can save the crop and put a fair price in the farmers’ pockets.
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The cost to deliver the two hectare crop to the Sydney markets is rising and Morpeth farmers Matthew Dennis and Tony Milburn are only being paid 20 to 25 cents per pumpkin.
That’s the same price they were receiving 20 years ago and the supermarkets are selling them for up to $3 a kilogram.
If they send the crop to the market they’ll be lucky to break even, so they decided to plough it into the earth to make space for their winter crops.
That’s when Maitland foodie Amorelle Dempster stepped in with a plan to connect the crop with the region’s households.
The Slow Food Hunter Valley leader has been given Maitland City Council’s blessing to hold a pop-up stall in The Levee on Thursday from 8.30am where each pumpkin will be sold for $3.
They hope to offload a few hundred.
Most of the money will go the farmers, with a portion being put towards the city’s slow food movement.
“I couldn’t sit back knowing all of that food was going to be wasted,” Ms Dempster said.
“I believe in paying the farmer a fair price for their produce.”
Ms Dempster has urged the region to buy a few pumpkins at the stall and show their support for Hunter farmers.
“This situation forces farmers out, it’s becoming unviable for small farmers to sell to the markets but there must be another generation of small farmers,” she said.
“How are we going to feed the region and the planet if we don't support our local farmers.”
Mr Dennis said planting, labour and transport costs were rising, as well as the cost of water and council rates.
“You can go through the cost of getting them to the market but you’re not making any money, so what’s the point,” Mr Dennis said.
“We’re not getting the price we need to survive at the end of the day.”