Growing conditions have been good in comparison to the difficulties brought about by the continuous wet weather 12 months ago. This coupled with the fact that everyone has plenty of water this year, has probably led to increased plantings.

As a consequence, there is an abundance of high-quality produce but demand from consumers is so low that return to growers is barely covering cost of production.

The central markets are full to the point that agents have very limited orders for their growers with the result that areas are simply being ploughed in.

At Stanthorpe, soft leaf vegetable specialists Taylor Family Produce, have ploughed in lettuce for the first time in all the years they have farmed in the cool-climate Granite Belt. Family spokesman Bill Taylor acknowledged that their plantings were up this year but feels that there may also be a level of caution emerging in consumers' buying patterns that is contributing to sluggish demand.

Feedback from the retail end suggests that shopping baskets are not overflowing with fresh fruit and vegetables despite the low prices. Whether this is an economic factor stemming from the nation's new-found conservatism toward consumption, generally as a result of the GFC, or simply because the weather hasn't been hot enough yet to stimulate demand for salad vegetables, is open to conjecture.

Mr Taylor recalled 2000 as a cold year going into summer and it was mid January before demand for salad vegetables kicked in. He said the window of opportunity for the Granite Belt was January to March, when high summer temperatures can be a limiting factor for growing areas elsewhere.

The current heat wave conditions in Adelaide may spread across southern Australia and work to our advantage, but we don't really know. There may well be adequate levels of supply shaping up in favoured areas such as the Mornington Peninsula; there is no data on the supply side of the equation.

"All we can do is work to the natural advantages that our climate offers and have product available when the market demands it," he said.