Fuel has eased slightly at the bowser, but long drives, freight bills and the cost of getting workers to farms continue to shape what regional Australians pay, what growers earn and where families holiday.

A vegetable grower in Bowen needs diesel to get the crop out and enough people to pick and pack it. A worker outside Bairnsdale needs somewhere to live within reach of the farm. A family weighing up a week on the road has to make the fuel, food and accommodation fit the same budget.

All three are paying for distance. The family can shorten its holiday. The grower still has to get the crop to market, and the worker still has to get to the farm.

Fuel: A little relief at the bowser

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission reported that average retail petrol and diesel prices edged lower across regional locations in the week covered by its 6 November update. That followed a much steeper rise earlier in the year. The Australian Bureau of Statistics recorded automotive fuel prices up 23.6 per cent in the year to September across its eight-capital-city measure.

The regional impact comes down to how many litres people and businesses have to buy. A household that drives 500 kilometres a week in a vehicle using 10 litres per 100 kilometres buys 50 litres. Every extra 20 cents a litre costs it another $10 a week, or $520 over a year if the difference holds.

For growers and rural businesses, the bill can come through several doors. There is diesel for machinery and work vehicles, freight on supplies coming in, and transport for goods going out. A small fall at the service station helps with the next fill. Freight and supplier bills can take longer to reflect cheaper fuel.

Food: Higher shelf prices can still leave growers squeezed

Food and non-alcoholic beverage prices were unchanged in September but remained 3.2 per cent higher than a year earlier in the ABS capital-city measure. That gives a benchmark for the broader direction of food prices. The grocery bill in a particular regional town also depends on delivery costs, store turnover and how much competition shoppers have locally.

Fresh produce shows how pressure can build on both sides of the checkout. A grower pays to plant, irrigate, pick, grade, pack and cool a crop. The produce then has to reach a wholesaler, distribution centre or store while it still has enough shelf life to sell. Each step costs money, and the farm’s return depends on the price it can secure when the crop is ready.

A higher shelf price can therefore arrive in the same season that a grower’s margin shrinks. And a town can grow vegetables for supermarkets across Australia while local shoppers still buy much of their food through the same distribution networks as everyone else.

Labour: Bowen and Bairnsdale need workers when the crop is ready

Around Bowen and Gumlu in North Queensland, growers bring in extra hands to pick and pack winter crops including tomatoes, capsicums and beans. The Bowen Gumlu Growers Association estimates that the region employs about 1,500 workers year-round and adds about 2,000 during harvest. It has told a parliamentary inquiry that working holiday makers give many farms the flexibility to fill seasonal picking and packing jobs.

Around Bairnsdale and nearby Lindenow in East Gippsland, the calendar looks different. Demand for workers in salad crops typically runs high from November to April. Leafy vegetables are highly perishable, and harvest crews and packing sheds have to work to delivery schedules. A farm can have a good crop in the ground and still lose part of its value if it falls behind on picking or packing.

Backpackers are one part of a workforce that also includes local employees and other seasonal workers. The practical question is whether enough people can be on site for an early start. A job can be available while affordable accommodation is scarce or the farm is too far from town for a worker without a car. In that situation, a room and a reliable lift can make the difference between filling a roster and leaving a shift short.

Tourism: A dearer drive changes where visitors spend

A 1,500-kilometre round trip in a vehicle using 10 litres per 100 kilometres takes about 150 litres. At $2.40 a litre, that is $360 in fuel. A towing vehicle averaging 16 litres per 100 kilometres would use 240 litres and cost $576 at the same price. Both figures come before a caravan site, motel room, meal or tour.

Families can respond by choosing a destination closer to home, staying fewer nights or taking more of their own food. Those decisions affect towns differently. A town within day-trip range of a major population centre might still get a busy Saturday. A town further along the route can lose an overnight stay, a dinner booking and the next morning’s trade when visitors turn around earlier.

Tourism Research Australia’s June-quarter figures show why spending alone can give an incomplete picture. Across Australia, domestic overnight trips and nights away were both down 2 per cent from a year earlier, while overnight spending rose 2 per cent. Day trips rose 8 per cent. Those national figures cover different kinds of travel and destinations, but they show how more money can be spent even as fewer overnight trips are taken.

The Times View

For rural producers, the pressure is in the cost of getting inputs and workers onto the farm and getting goods out at a price that still leaves a margin. For regional towns, it is in what households have left after essential travel and how much visitors spend once they arrive.

Over summer, watch what people can afford to do with a tank of fuel. A cheaper fill helps straight away. Broader relief will show up when a grower’s delivered costs ease and a family can still afford the extra night that takes them to the next town.