Backpackers clear out after berry blitz clears the cherry trees

Young and old from almost every continent had set up camp just past Nashdale Public School for the past four weeks to assist with picking and packing.

Ryan Dnna from Vanuatu is one of the few still calling a caravan home as he waits for an apple picking job in the region in February.

Mr Dnna is among the many travellers who will work around the countryside for 88 days in the hope of being granted a second year visa for Australia.

Apple and cherry grower Jayne West said the business she runs with husband Tim and his brother Peter West, has become dependent on the seasonal workers.

"They want to earn money to travel so they get out there and work," she said.

Pickers in Orange are typically paid around $14 for a lug, which is usually around 8-kilogram.

The backpackers often start out picking cherries in Young, head to Orange for the cherry and apply harvest, before making their way to Griffith to pick oranges.

Mrs West said this year her three children, aged 16, 19 and 21, worked alongside pickers from France, Canada, Argentina and Germany this year, with 92 wages paid out some weeks.

"There was a big turnover this year, obviously the heat and the smoke effected some of them," she said.

The West's cherry picking was wrapped up on Christmas eve.

Mrs West said the apples still on the trees were a concern.

"They will need rain desperately," she said.