Households urged to support local growers after cyclone damage
By Kirra Livingstone
FLOODING from ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred has impacted some local growers with crops damaged and property impacted.
Peachester’s Green Valley Fingerlimes, was hit hard from torrential rain last week, which resulted in a hit to her business.
Green Valley’s Jade King, said she was facing losses in the thousands of dollars, after fruit prematurely ‘popped’ and trees were felled during the heavy rain and winds that hit just prior to full harvest.
“We have lost a bit of fruit, it’s peak season, so they are just holding on at the moment,” she said.
“It’s something that I had accepted, I knew there was going to be a loss, so I tried to harvest as much as I could before the rain.
“Over the coming days more of the fruit will pop open from the extra water, but I’ll probably lose a few 100kgs.”
She added that the farm had received some additional damage from the intense rain.
“Some trees have come down, but they were probably ones that were ready to come down,” Ms King said.
“The road washout is probably my most expensive issue at the moment.
“With the amount of water that went down my driveway, it makes it unable to go up in a normal vehicle, even in a 4WD it’s difficult.”
Glasshouse Plantations owner, Lisa Palu, said they expected the worst from the flooding, but luckily came out unscathed.
“It was actually beneficial to us and the rain has been terrific,” she said.
“We were expecting our coffee trees to tip over from the wind but not only did we not lose any trees, we didn’t lose any branches either.
“The branches are very heavy now with the coffee cherries, and we were expecting the rain to weigh them down and cause them to snap.”
Tropical Pines general manager, Anthony Dobson, said while the floods didn’t cause any crop losses or damage, the warmer conditions following the heavy rain would result in earlier flowering, meaning a glut of pineapples would hit the shelves in the cooler months.
“(Alfred) hasn’t caused any damage on the farm, we haven’t had any plants wash away, and certainly have had no where near the impacts that Townsville has had from the rain,” he said.
“We were a little concerned about heat after the rain, the danger with that is we will get sunburn on the fruit.
“We weren’t flooded in, we didn’t lose power, so we are pretty good with everything.”
He said that the last three years of adverse weather had changed the seasonal growing patterns of pineapples in the hinterland.
“We have another natural flowering event coming up which will start to hit around May, so we will have an increase in volume as we head into Winter,” Mr Dobson said.
“This is not ideal for us, it’s still warm in Queensland that time of year but not in other states, so sales will drop off for pineapples as it gets cooler and other products are more popular.
“It’s a bit of a challenge for us, and because the natural flowering is coming early, it has an impact on our Spring crops, so we will have a shortage heading into September/October.”
Macadamia crops were also impacted by the heavy rains.
Australian Macadamia Society (AMS) CEO, Clare Hamilton-Bate, said the release of their crop forecast was now delayed.
“It has been a challenging few days for many growers,” Ms Hamilton-Bate said.
“The priority now is ensuring safety, followed by orchard clean-up and assessing crop loss and orchard damage as soon as conditions allow.”
The updated figures in the AMS’ crop forecast will be released within two weeks.
Sunshine Coast Food & Agribusiness Network (FAN) CEO, Nicole McNaughton, said the best thing people can do during this difficult time, is to buy from local farmers and producers.
“Now is the time to support our local producers, makers, and growers,” Ms Naughton said.
“They are the backbone of our region, and as they face the challenges brought by recent floods, the best way we can help is to buy local and support local businesses.”
“Every purchase makes a difference.”
A FAN spokesperson said the full extent of disadvantages on local farmers was still being investigated.
“Early reports suggest that crop losses, soil erosion, and infrastructure damage could pose challenges for some farmers, but more time and assessment are needed to evaluate the broader effects,” they said.
The FAN spokesperson added they will continue to provide support to local farmers and businesses.
“We’ll be sharing information on available resources and funding, facilitating connections with relevant government agencies, and exploring opportunities to support business recovery through our network.”
kirra@gcnews.com.au
