For several years now farmers and other industries including maintenance, and processing sectors have been struggling to get staff, with most potential employees being taken in by the mining industry and the higher pay packages they have to offer.

Central Queensland sugarcane farmer and contract harvester, Rodney Lamb, and fellow contract harvester, Gerry Lucas, are just two of the many employers in the Mackay area who are struggling to find skilled workers for their harvest period to drive haul-out trucks.

Their labour solution came in the form of Filipino workers on 457 visas.

The workers first came to Mackay three years ago and in that first year some accommodation was able to be found, but since then Mr Lucas and Mr Lamb have had to put them up in their own homes or go to more extreme and expensive measures.

"One year I had to rent a unit for 12 months, just so it would be available for when the harvest was going on," Mr Lucas said.

"It is just so hard to find somewhere for these guys to live that we just put them up in our own homes.

"There is a fair amount of interest from people wanting to get the 457 Visa workers over here but they worry about finding accommodation as well."

Mr Lucas said the struggle to find staff was hard enough as the money offered in the sugarcane industry simply couldn't compare with the mining industry.

In Emerald there are only 10 properties listed as available for rent in the area with the average price around $470 a week.

In Mackay there are more accommodation options available but tenants can expect to pay around $320 a week for a two bedroom unit, and could pay as much as $600.

* Extract from a full report in Queensland Country Life, November 20 edition.