Farmers are desperate to fill labor shortages, but Bella says packing fruit is a 'pretty good' first job

Teenager Bella Mahiny spends her summer vacation sorting and packing mangoes in a shed on the road from the Queensland family home.

"Mom found it [the job] on Facebook," Bella said.

After a week dawn begins and hours immersed in the sweet but intense smell of freshly picked mangoes, the 15-year-old said she landed a "pretty good" first job.

"C is so much fun," she said.< /p>

"I love the people here, they're really nice."

Bella was one of the few people to respond to Tim and Jenna Keogh's call on social media for workers to harvest mangoes from their 5,000-tree orchard west of Rockhampton.

"Getting enough workers has been a problem this year, probably the biggest problem we've ever had," Mr Keogh said.

Australia's unemployment rate fell to its lowest level since 1974 in November - 3.4 % - as estimated by the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

Mango pickers and packers will work at Tim Keogh's farm until mid-January. (ABC Rural: Megan Hughes)

Labour shortages have plagued many industries, including agriculture, but with rookie pickers and packers ready to try , Mr. Keogh is optimistic the problem will subside.

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Good news after hail damaged harvest

Keoghs harvest mangoes and avocados on their Kabra property for eight years, but last season's fruit did not reach the commercial market.

"We had no harvest l last year because of the hailstorm," Mr Keogh said.

Selling the cosmetically damaged fruit to vendors wasn't viable, so the Keoghs opened the doors to their closes so locals can pick themselves, saving the tasty but tarnished harvest from the trash.

From the tree to the packing cartons, care is taken at every stage of the harvesting process. (ABC Capricornia: Erin Semmler)

This season, Kensington Pride and R2E2 mangoes have had favorable conditions although the harvest is later than usual.

"Normally we've been around this December 10th, this year we only started on the 20th," he said.

"We are pretty happy with the fruit.

"The size is good. We had some help with some rain while filling the fruit, which always helps."

Mr. Keogh said picking conditions had been fantastic...