Harvest trails in Australia: Patterns of seasonal migration in the fruit and vegetable industry

Against a background of declining employment in agriculture, a mobile workforce plays a crucial role in meeting seasonal labour demand in Australia. The dynamics of this labour force have received surprisingly little attention. We situate seasonal migration within the rising diversity of present-day mobility, and capture images of its early history in Australia. Statistical and documentary sources provide a basis to illustrate patterns of demand for seasonal labour and estimate the size of the workforce. Drawing on fieldwork in three case study regions of Queensland, we then seek to establish the composition of the seasonal workforce, identify their motives for undertaking seasonal work, and discover their harvest trails. Combining these data generates a typology that distinguishes key groups. Our results point to a fall in the numbers of Permanent Itinerants compensated by a sharp rise in Retirees and Working Holiday Makers from Overseas, each with distinctive spatial circuits. We argue that consumption motives play a growing role in the dynamics of seasonal labour mobility, and identify an emerging organisational apparatus that shapes and controls the industry. Drawing on the experience of other developed countries with more open labour markets, we anticipate continuing transformation in seasonal labour dynamics.