A worldwide movement linking volunteers with organic farms has launched a desperate bid to lure domestic travellers in Australia as the pandemic continues to lock out backpackers.
World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms (WWOOF) is marking its 40th anniversary in a time with few greater challenges.
"We sort of had that double whammy where we were hit by the bushfires and then straight on top of that we were hit with COVID," spokeswoman Traci Wilson-Brown said.
"Pre-COVID we would have had probably 80 per cent overseas travellers and about 20 per cent volunteers from Australia.
The volunteer exchange program caters to people aged 18 to 80, allowing so-called WWOOFers to stay with organic farmers and growers in exchange for four to six hours of work a day.
Its ethos is to build a sustainable global community.
'Part of the family'
Sophie Curtis works with her parents on their property, Bellevue, 20 kilometres from Millmerran on the western Darling Downs.
The cropping, prime lamb and dorper stud has welcomed WWOOFers since 2018, but no-one has stepped through its doors in 18 months.
"We had a guy from Taiwan, Johnny, and then a guy from Germany, Leon, and I remember having conversations about COVID with them, and it was all sort of a big unknown but they did end up heading home," Ms Curtis said.
But it's about more than just labour.
"We've had such a positive experience with all the people we welcomed onto the farm," Ms Curtis said.
WWOOFers wiped out
At Giru, south of Townsville, Bruce and Helen Hill have operated their achacha plantation for 12 years, growing the South American tropical fruit using biodynamic principles.
"WWOOFing worked very well for us. We would have backpackers coming to stay with us, and generally when they came they would want to stay three months," Mr Hill said.
"They had good accommodation, they knew they had people who would look after them, and they'd get to know Australians, which is really important: that's why the working holiday program was set up."
Long before the pandemic, however, a federal taxation change to the working holiday visa scheme dried up the Hills' volunteer workforce.
The budget measure reduced the attractiveness of volunteering by preventing working holiday makers from counting their WWOOF experience when applying for a second-year visa.
"We had a list of people waiting to come; it was good for them and us and all of a sudden it was gone," Mr Hill said.
Since 2016, WWOOFers have come occasionally to the Hills' farm but in far reduced numbers, and it's been exacerbated by the pandemic.
Mr Hill said it had been a lost opportunity.
"They could establish such good relationships with Australians. Instead, they live in pretty poor, crowded accommodation with other foreigners. They rarely get to speak to Australians."
A new era
As Australia looks to a post-pandemic future, WWOOF is changing face and trying to tap into the domestic market.
"Where we've been really targeting international travellers and backpackers, we started really looking for ways to make this something that would be attractive to Australians," Ms Wilson-Brown said.
She urged Australians to seize the opportunity to explore a different side of the country.
"There are hosts all over Australia who are looking for help," she said.
But the organisation is hopeful international volunteers will again become an integral core of the WWOOF community after borders reopen.
"We're starting to get some international memberships coming through now," Ms Wilson-Brown said.
