Nature has not been kind to farmers around Australia this festive season. There have been multiple reports of affected harvesting process and times in different regions in Australia.

Strong and cold winds in Tasmania have pushed back the berry harvest season by about two weeks, as reported by ABC.

Hillwood Berries, which is a farm located in the northern side of Tasmania that produces about 40 hectares of fruits, has been affected by the weather conditions.

On the other side of the country, farmers in Riverland, South Australia, are facing concerns regarding a fruit fly outbreak after the region was struck by a hail storm on November 4.

According to an ABC report, a SA farmer has estimated about $60,000 worth of fruit has been rendered ‘unusable’ due to hail damage. Therefore, the the danger associated with a fruit fly is worsened due to the increased amount of hail-damaged fruit.

Farmers are worried that history would repeat itself after last year’s fruit fly outbreak in the town of Loxton. The SA Government lost about $1.7 million due to the outbreak, which led to the implementation of a zero-tolerance regulatory approach that aims to protect the agriculture and horticulture of Riverland.

Meanwhile in Sydney, fresh produce consisting of Tomatoes, strawberries and seafood is expected to spoil in warehouses as the means to transport these goods have been halted due to highway closures caused by fires.

78,000 hectares of farmland and forest are estimated to have been burned north of Batemans Bay on the NSW South Coast (ABC). These factors have negative impacts on both production numbers and delivery times.