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Australia is rolling in spuds and swimming in carrots.

In fact, the nation's potato farmers grew enough of them in the past year to fill the MCG. Not just cover the hallowed turf knee-deep or to the top of the boundary fence. Actually fill the 1.574 million cubic metre arena to the brim.

By any measure, that's a hell of a lot of mash.

Aussie carrot growers are no slouches either. They raised enough of the juicy orange blighters to pack 300 Olympic pools.

Australia's vegie growers are indeed going swimmingly, according to AUSVEG national manager Shaun Lindhe.

Not only are they among agriculture's strongest performers, they're part of a technically advanced and rapidly growing sector.

"It's a major contributor to agricultural employment and provides economic benefits to all businesses throughout the agricultural supply chain, Mr Lindhe said.

"It's the lifeblood of many regional and rural communities."

As the peak body for vegetable and potato producers, AUSVEG reckons the rest of Australia needs to appreciate what they do too.

#knowyourAUSVEG aims to spread the word about the sector's substantial contribution to the national economy, the livelihoods of its workers and the health and wellbeing of every Australian, Mr Lindhe says.

With an annual farmgate value of almost $5 billion, it's hard to argue.

Vegetables are Australia's largest horticulture market, according to the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics.

They're a bigger concern than fruits, nuts, flowers, turf and nursery products. They outdo most domestic meat markets and all fisheries, forestry operations and grain crops.

The dollar value of the nine billion litres of milk produced by the nation's dairy herd is roughly on par.

"The vast majority of vegetables that are sold in Australia are grown in Australia," Mr Lindhe said.

"This tremendous effort is possible because of the hard work and determination of our growers and the support from the broader supply chain to ... supply vegetables for Australian and international consumers."

Australian farms have grown more than 3.8 million tonnes of vegetables in the past year, enough to put 87kg of them on the table for every woman, man and child.

The nation's top vegie by value and volume is, of course, the humble spud. More than 1.45 million tonnes of them were dug from the ground and sold for $800 million.

Tomatoes are second, with the annual 470,000-tonne harvest worth $560 million.

Australia's leafy salad vegetable production is valued at $410 million, mushrooms $360 million and broccoli $280 million.

By volume, carrots rank third (335,000 tonnes), onions fourth (270,000 tonnes) and lettuce fifth (139,000 tonnes).

© AAP 2021

Image: https://pixabay.com/photos/vegetables-organic-vegetables-power-2726800/ (free image)

Australia has been urged to remain vigilant and maintain COVID-19 control measures as a new and stronger variant threatens to spread from southern Africa.

The latest variant, given the name Omicron by the World Health Organisation on Saturday morning, first emerged in Botswana and has been detected in South Africa, Hong Kong, Israel and Belgium.

It has double the number of mutations as the Delta variant that sparked a third wave of outbreaks and lockdowns in Australia this year.

"It is not time to break the glass on the alarm, I don't think, but I'm as concerned about this as I have been since Delta," Burnet Institute director Brendan Crabb told ABC TV.

"A state of heightened alert and caution is appropriate for us in Australia and for the world."

Professor Crabb described the new strain as having "a whole host of mutations that, I must say, makes me have a sharp inhalation of breath".

He stressed the most important thing wasn't borders, but keeping up vaccine coverage and infection control measures.

About 86 per cent of Australians aged 16 and older are double-dosed.

Prof Crabb said this translated to between 72 and 73 per cent of the entire population. Just 1.5 per cent of the country have received a booster shot.

"We have to be serious about other interventions and that's what I'm concerned about: masks, clean air, our test and trace system," he said.

"These are things that are not onerous on our society. We need to keep them whether this new variant takes hold or not.

"We're crazy to drop those 'plus' things in the vaccine-plus strategy that we've adopted so well."

Health Minister Greg Hunt did not think the new variant would have any immediate effect on Australia's plan to reopen after rolling lockdowns.

"The world is looking and learning about the strain," he told reporters.

"We've always been flexible, and if the medical advice is that we need to change, we won't hesitate."

The federal government is sending letters to every household in the country urging people to get their booster shot six months after becoming double-dosed.

Victoria recorded 1362 new infections on Friday and seven more deaths, while there were 261 cases in NSW and eight in the ACT.

© AAP 2021

Image: News

Victoria has hit its long-awaited 90 per cent full vaccination target, as a new poll suggests three-quarters of people agree with the state's COVID-19 jab mandate for workers.

The state reported 1254 new COVID-19 cases and five deaths on Thursday, taking the pandemic toll in Victoria to 1306.

The health department also confirmed the state now has 90 per cent of people aged 12 and over fully vaccinated, the final target tied to the state's reopening roadmap.

A raft of restrictions were eased across the state on Friday, including the scrapping of hospitality venue caps and masks in most indoor settings, after the Victorian government predicted it would reach the target at the weekend.

Premier Daniel Andrews said he could not be prouder that nine out of ten Victorians had "done the right thing".

"Because of you, we're open and getting back to the things we love," he tweeted.

Mr Andrews expects the state will reach 95 per cent full vaccination of its eligible population, given 94 per cent of residents aged 12 and over have already received at least their first dose.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison also praised the achievement, saying Victorians had "done it tougher than anyone over the past two years".

"Victorians have earned every freedom they now once again enjoy," he tweeted.

Some public health experts have argued unvaccinated Victorians without an exemption should not be subject to venue bans when the state hits 95 per cent double-dosed.

Mr Andrews has previously flagged the "vaccinated economy" would remain until 2023, and last week said it would stay until "at least" Melbourne's Formula One Grand Prix in April.

"It's not going to be there forever," he told reporters on Thursday.

"But we do have boosters to get through, we've got paediatric vaccines to get through. I don't have health advice to get rid of it. So on that basis, it stays."

A new Roy Morgan survey, conducted on Wednesday and published on Thursday, shows an overwhelming majority of Victorians are in lockstep with the government on its vaccine mandate for authorised workers.

Some 76 per cent of the 1335 respondents to the statewide poll agreed an employee in Victoria should not be allowed to enter their workplace unless fully vaccinated.

Roy Morgan chief executive Michele Levine said support for the policy was widespread across age demographics as well as men and women, but varied based on people's politics.

"A near unanimous 96 per cent of ALP supporters agree with the policy and almost as many Greens supporters (91.5 per cent)," she said.

"Only 55 per cent of LNP supporters agree employees must be fully vaccinated to enter their employer's place of work."

VICTORIA'S COVID-19 DAILY NUMBERS

* Active cases: 10,276, up 502

* Hospital patients: 310, up 26

* Seven-day hospitalisation average: 309

* Actively infectious ICU patients: 48, down four

* Cleared ICU patients: 48, down five

* Patients on a ventilator: 31, up two

* Tests processed: 75,348

* Vaccine doses at state hubs: 4718

© AAP 2021

90% of Victorians are fully vaccinated.

9 in 10 Victorians who have done the right thing to protect themselves, their families and the entire state.

Because of you, we're open and getting back to the things we love.

And I couldn't be prouder.

— Dan Andrews (@DanielAndrewsMP) November 24, 2021