Doug Phillips, a banana and paw paw grower from Boogan in the South Johnstone, says prices always make it tough for farmers around Christmas.

"People tend to splurge at Christmas, so there is more competition from more expensive fruits," Mr Phillips said.

"We pick every week of the year, but we always get less for our fruit around this time," he said.

The Phillips family has been farming their Boogan property since Doug was a child, but only planted bananas, now their primary crop, in the late 1980s.

"We used to grow sugarcane," he said.