Mushroom Farm Closes After 45 Years Due to High Costs

Topic: Cost of Living

Saturday, 8 August 2026, at 9:41 am

Saturday, 8 August 2026, at 9:44 am

Joanne Willemse hoped her children could continue the family business.

In short:

SjW Mushrooms will fill its last boxes next week and then close.

The family farm has produced mushrooms for over 40 years.

What's next?

Farmers say they need more help to stay in business.

Joanne and Steve Willemse tried everything to keep their farm open.

They made their business smaller, sold an apartment, and an investment property.

Now, they are not making money and are actually losing it.

Joanne Willemse holds one of the last boxes of mushrooms from the farm.

SjW Mushrooms supplies supermarkets, fruit shops, and markets.

The price of mushrooms has not changed much in 20 years, but the cost of growing them has increased a lot.

The war in Iran has also made things harder for them.

Steve and Joanne Willemse have decided to leave the industry.

Mushrooms are good for you, low in calories, and high in vitamins and antioxidants.

But people in Australia are growing fewer mushrooms.

In 2024/25, mushroom production went down by 12 percent to 52,784 tonnes, worth $338.3 million.

People bought 7 percent fewer mushrooms that year.

Some ingredients for a vegan dish include noodles, mushrooms, and broccoli.

People are not buying mushrooms because they are expensive.

It's a bad cycle.

Shops want farmers to keep prices low so they can attract more customers.

The Willemse family has grown mushrooms in Queensland since the 1950s.

Joanne and Steve started their own farm 15 years ago and later moved to a bigger place.

Workers at the farm are very sad about it closing.

The farm used to have 65 workers, but now it only has 15.

The workers have been with the farm since the beginning, and it's hard for them to leave.

Joanne and Steve's children, who help with the farm, have to look for other jobs.

Joanne has grandkids and was hoping they could take over the farm one day.

The last mushrooms will be picked next week.

'Less choice' for consumers

Adam Forbes from The Produce Partner is sad about the farm closing.

They buy a lot of mushrooms from the farm every week.

The farm's closure will hurt the local market.

It will make prices go up.

Adam Forbes says farmers are struggling to stay in business.

Chefs and restaurants can't raise their prices, so farmers are suffering.

Tough environment

AUSVEG spokesperson Andrew MacDonald says things are very hard for farmers.

Farmers kept planting despite the uncertainty of the war, but now they're paying for it.

Production costs have gone up, and it's hard for farmers to make a profit.

The war in the Middle East has made things worse.

Australian vegetable consumption is very low and getting lower.

Andrew MacDonald says the government and consumers need to support farmers.

New industry entrants

There is still hope for the future of mushroom farming.

Martin Anfosso and his partner rented a big shed to grow mushrooms.

They grow 50 kilograms of gourmet mushrooms every week.

The business grows nine different types of mushrooms.

They will soon grow 70 kilograms of mushrooms per week.

The business is doing well, but they know it's hard to be a small business.

Back at SjW Mushrooms, Joanne Willemse says farmers need help.

Farmers pay a lot of taxes, but they also feed the country.

We feed the country.

Get local news from ABC Sunshine Coast.

See more ABC news in your search results.

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Mushroom Farm Closes After 45 Years Due to High Costs

Topic: Cost of Living

Saturday, 8 August 2026, at 9:41 am

Saturday, 8 August 2026, at 9:44 am

Joanne Willemse hoped her children could continue the family business.

In short:

SjW Mushrooms will fill its last boxes next week and then close.

The family farm has produced mushrooms for over 40 years.

What's next?

Farmers say they need more help to stay in business.

Joanne and Steve Willemse tried everything to keep their farm open.

They made their business smaller, sold an apartment, and an investment property.

Now, they are not making money and are actually losing it.

Joanne Willemse holds one of the last boxes of mushrooms from the farm.

SjW Mushrooms supplies supermarkets, fruit shops, and markets.

The price of mushrooms has not changed much in 20 years, but the cost of growing them has increased a lot.

The war in Iran has also made things harder for them.

Steve and Joanne Willemse have decided to leave the industry.

Mushrooms are good for you, low in calories, and high in vitamins and antioxidants.

But people in Australia are growing fewer mushrooms.

In 2024/25, mushroom production went down by 12 percent to 52,784 tonnes, worth $338.3 million.

People bought 7 percent fewer mushrooms that year.

Some ingredients for a vegan dish include noodles, mushrooms, and broccoli.

People are not buying mushrooms because they are expensive.

It's a bad cycle.

Shops want farmers to keep prices low so they can attract more customers.

The Willemse family has grown mushrooms in Queensland since the 1950s.

Joanne and Steve started their own farm 15 years ago and later moved to a bigger place.

Workers at the farm are very sad about it closing.

The farm used to have 65 workers, but now it only has 15.

The workers have been with the farm since the beginning, and it's hard for them to leave.

Joanne and Steve's children, who help with the farm, have to look for other jobs.

Joanne has grandkids and was hoping they could take over the farm one day.

The last mushrooms will be picked next week.

'Less choice' for consumers

Adam Forbes from The Produce Partner is sad about the farm closing.

They buy a lot of mushrooms from the farm every week.

The farm's closure will hurt the local market.

It will make prices go up.

Adam Forbes says farmers are struggling to stay in business.

Chefs and restaurants can't raise their prices, so farmers are suffering.

Tough environment

AUSVEG spokesperson Andrew MacDonald says things are very hard for farmers.

Farmers kept planting despite the uncertainty of the war, but now they're paying for it.

Production costs have gone up, and it's hard for farmers to make a profit.

The war in the Middle East has made things worse.

Australian vegetable consumption is very low and getting lower.

Andrew MacDonald says the government and consumers need to support farmers.

New industry entrants

There is still hope for the future of mushroom farming.

Martin Anfosso and his partner rented a big shed to grow mushrooms.

They grow 50 kilograms of gourmet mushrooms every week.

The business grows nine different types of mushrooms.

They will soon grow 70 kilograms of mushrooms per week.

The business is doing well, but they know it's hard to be a small business.

Back at SjW Mushrooms, Joanne Willemse says farmers need help.

Farmers pay a lot of taxes, but they also feed the country.

We feed the country.

Get local news from ABC Sunshine Coast.

See more ABC news in your search results.

Promotion

Top Stories

Topic: AFL

Topic: Air Transport Industry

Analysis by Clare Armstrong

Topic: World Politics

Analysis by Laura Tingle

Top Stories

Topic: AFL

Topic: Air Transport Industry

Analysis by Clare Armstrong

Topic: World Politics

Analysis by Laura Tingle

Just In

Topic: Pregnancy and Childbirth

Saturday, 8 August 2026, at 12:00 pm

Topic: Explainer

Saturday, 8 August 2026, at 11:53 am

Topic: Divorce

Saturday, 8 August 2026, at 11:54 am

Topic: Air Transport Industry

Saturday, 8 August 2026, at 11:08 am