Voice of Real Australia is a regular newsletter from the local news teams of the ACM network, which stretches into every state and territory. Today's is written by regional digital editor and millennial Kim Chappell, and national social producer Rachel Clark representing Gen Z.
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It's curious how a digital program can capture the emotion of a human.
In looking for a cover to illustrate this issue, the Good Fruit & Vegetables team turned to the creative power of artificial intelligence (AI).
Instructions were typed in for "an Australian farmer tangled in red tape" and a few seconds later, the program spat back a series of images of various primary producers literally wrapped in a red ribbon of sorts.
Despite the tokenistic farmer representation (ie. male, denim overalls, straw hat, etc) the actual image of a grower hamstrung by regulation is dead on the money.
Food safety, labour standards, supply chain requirements, supermarket specifications, environmental sustainability, plastic packaging reductions, chemical use restrictions, marketing insights - the paperwork trail goes on and on.
This isn't to say regulation isn't important; indeed, much of it keeps people safe, employed and helps feed a nation.
But the strain on horticulture businesses, or more so the people running those businesses, is immense.
They are pulled in multiple directions by multiple requirements by multiple deadlines. Ausveg is backing an independent white paper which will provide a comprehensive overview of compliance costs in the vegetable industry and outline recommended reforms.
It's due out later this year.
The National Farmers' Federation Horticulture Council is gathering its own data from horticulture businesses in its National Horticulture Compliance Survey 2025.
Ausveg chief executive officer Michael Coote hit the nail on the head.
"It is time for smarter, not more, regulation. Let growers get back to growing food - not filling in forms," he said.
The cover picture selected is more of a comic book image, yet it encapsulates the feeling better than the others.
The farmer sits, near exhaustion, while the tape wraps, twirls and flaps around him.
Fruit sits heavy on both the trees and the ground, a result of not being able to cut through the hindrance.
One concern often overlooked is the possibility of growers becoming despondent or disconnected from their trade due to red tape.
Farmers repeatedly express the joy of seeing their crop and tasting the results of their hard work.
To take a moment and simply stand within the greenery, touch a leaf, be awed by the growth cycle of a piece of fruit or smell the turned soil must surely be some of the silent drivers for those who enter the industry.
Yet those moments of reflection in the orchard, the paddock, the greenhouse or the packing shed seem to be increasingly rare.
There's a risk in losing that ground-level connection to the land and therefore the joy that farming can bring.
When that is gone, no amount of online forms or regulatory workshops will be able to bring it back.
