AUSTRALIA's food processing sector is under a cloud after news the second plant in a fortnight will close.  

About 100 farmers will be affected by the closure of McCain's Tasmanian Smithton plant and 115 workers will lose their jobs.

Last week Berri's Japanese parent company Kirin said it would close the iconic Riverland juice factory, shedding 56 jobs additional to the 50 it axed earlier this year.

McCain had already cut grower tonnage and payments this year, saying it was taking a hammering from cheap imports.

AusVeg chief executive Richard Mulcahy said the flow-on impact of the closure could be "three or four times'' greater than the 115 employees sacked.

"Growers are being squeezed to the brink of collapse by the flood of imported products,'' Mr Mulcahy said.

"Australian processing companies are continuing to move towards packaging rather than growing produce. If this process continues Australian consumers will eventually be unable to buy Australian grown produce in supermarkets.''

Mr Mulcahy said the vegetable industry had "seen this coming for years and yet there is no evidence of government intervention''.

The Tasmanian Farmers and Graziers Association wasted no time getting stuck into McCain, issuing a media release titled "Shame on McCain'' within hours of the announcement.

Chief executive Chris Oldfield said McCain was "ripping the heart out of the north-west coast'' and criticised the company for failing to inform of its plans.

He was "speechless'' the company had signaled an intention to source vegetables from New Zealand.

"Tasmanian vegetable growers have been warning for years that they are threatened by imports and here is clear evidence that one of our biggest threats is across the Tasman."

'Tasmanian vegetable grower Mike Badcock blamed supermarkets and the Federal Government.

"It's an absolute disaster,'' Mr Badcock said.

"Cheap imports are grown without the rules and regulations we use, they undercut … and supermarkets make their margin greater.

"This is what we said would happen if the Government allows these cheap imports into the country.''

Mr Badcock said the closure of Australian processing facilities would increase the amount of imports coming into the country as there would be a lack of farm produce being processed in Australia.

"We won't have the capacity to choose Australian because it won't be there.''

Comment is being sought from McCain.