Tomato producers in Carnarvon, Western Australia, told ABC News that they are struggling to make a profit after the discovery of tomato potato psyllid near Perth affected the supply of seedlings to the region.
A quarantine zone was put in place following the discovery in Perth in February, preventing seedlings of crops such as tomatoes, capsicums and eggplants being transported out of Perth for two weeks.
For about one third of the tomato growers in Carnarvon, such as Duc Nguyen, the hold-up delayed planting by nearly a month.
Mr Nguyen said the delay meant the market window for growers tightened, and instead of crops being spread out, they came into production all at once, flooding the market and seriously affecting prices.
"We're losing money at the moment, definitely losing," Mr Nguyen said.
"[We're] averaging a dollar a box maybe, if we're lucky."
Mr Nguyen said if the seedling stock had arrived as expected, growers could have spread their season out and received prices of about $5 or $6 per box.