Fruit picking is hard work. It involves moving and climbing ladders, carrying heavy picking bags, and of
course picking fruit.Not everybody wants to do it, and in fact farmers in Australia are having some problems getting enough pickers when they want them. So this makes it an ideal way for budget travel and backpacking visitors to earn a little cash for the backpacking travel fund.
Anyone who is motivated and in good physical condition can pick fruit, and new pickers are trained in how to pick the fruit according to the required colour and size. If you are a beginner it may take a week before you earn reasonable money.
The most successful fruit pickers are the patient and consistent people who stick it out for that first week and develop their fitness and speed (and their income). Your earnings are hard to estimate as it will depend on how quickly you can pick - as a rough estimate filling a bin should earn you between $20 and $30. If you can fill 3 or 4 bins a day you should earn an average wage.
When work is available be prepared to move quickly - usually backpacker jobs are well paid and often they are only advertised in budget travel hostels, so they don't remain available for long before somebody takes them.
Safety is a big issue in Australia, and sometimes this is a source of amusement to visitors. To work here you must be willing to support our high standards of occupational health and safety. Not doing so will usually mean the farmer can't risk employing you.
Many crops are harvested for the fresh food market, so quality is a big deal. This means great care when picking and handling to avoid damaging the fruit - so be prepared for farmers completely lacking a sense of humour in this regard.
Fruit picking weather is usually hot, and sometimes in North Queensland the humidity can be uncomfortable.
There are a few different methods of fruit and vegetable picking, but they fall into two main arrangements.
Fully manual picking involves placing a big bag with a wide strap over your shoulders - and then you either pull or cut the fruit off the tree or vine and put it in the bag. When the bag is full (or you want a break) you empty your bag into a bin.
The bin holds around half a tonne so it sometimes takes beginners a little while to fill their bins.
Some farmers (vegetables at Gatton and pineapples at Yeppoon) use more automation, and pickers walk behind a machine - they pull a cabbage (or whatever) from the ground and put it on a conveyor which is always just in front of them.
The automated way requires less climbimg and carrying, but there is a lot of bending down - and pay is usually an hourly rate, because it is not easy to tell how much any one person is picking.
Use plenty of 15+ sunscreen and wear sunglasses. Get a good hat with a wide brim to protect your face and the back of your neck - wear jeans and a long sleeved cotton shirt with a collar that you can turn up to protect your neck when bending down - and don't even think of going without boots! Get some gloves (light cotton gardening variety) even though the locals may laugh at you - when your hands toughen up you can leave them in your bag.
Carry a couple of 2 litre water bottles - I say a couple because if you only have one I guarantee it will leak and you will go thirsty. You can re-fill them in the evening and put them in the refrigerator overnight, so they are cool for next day.
A lot of budget travel workers in the fruit picking industry get a small esky (styrofoam cooler box - with a couple of cooler blocks that you put in the frige overnight - then put them in the esky during the day) to cool your water and lunch which is appreciated when out on backpacker jobs.