Australia Weather News

Wet weather has continued to plague parts of cyclone-affected north Queensland overnight, hampering farmers' efforts to survey damage to their properties.

The conditions are, however, beginning to ease.

Vegetable growers in Australia's largest winter vegetable growing region have been hit particularly hard, with the planting of winter crops just getting underway.

Queensland Agriculture Minister and Minister for Rural Economic Development Bill Byrne said the most significant agricultural impacts were damage to horticulture crops, sugar cane fields, irrigation equipment, and cane train infrastructure.

Mr Byrne said, based on initial damage reports, joint State and Federal Category B assistance under the Natural Disaster Relief and Recovery Arrangements (NDRRA) had been activated for producers in the Whitsunday and Mackay Regional Council areas.

"We want to help producers recover quickly, so we've activated Category B assistance, which includes concessional loans of up to $250,000, essential working capital loans of up to $100,000, and freight subsidies of up to $5,000," Mr Byrne said in a statement.

"It's understood that the cane fields at Proserpine, Mackay and Sarina have been flattened and it's expected that production will be reduced and harvesting costs increased.

"At this preliminary stage, the beef cattle industry is also impacted from the high winds, debris and flooding."

Disaster relief starts to flow

Call traffic to the Queensland Rural Adjustment Authority's (QRAA) office in Mackay and freecall number (1800 623 946) has been lower than expected, but that was due largely to conditions on the ground.

QRAA regional co-ordinator Craig Turner said applications for concessional loans were not time-critical and were available for the next two years.

He said officers were ready and able to assist as producers calculated their losses and worked through the process.

"There's no doubt communications is still an issue," Mr Turner said.

"We're keen to assist however we can. People need to know that they're not alone, there is assistance.

"Our recovery work takes months, not necessarily just weeks, but there are also other recovery partners there to assist people, not just financially but also with their own wellbeing."

Battered mango orchards will take years to recover

Australian Mango Industry Association chief executive Robert Gray said there were concerning reports from growers in Bowen and Proserpine of significant wind damage to orchards, as well as flooding of packing sheds and cold storage facilities.

About 1 million of Australia's 8 million trays of mangoes are grown in the Bowen-Burdekin region — about 15 per cent of the national crop.

At least half of that production area has been significantly damaged.

"Branches have been broken, whole trees ripped out of the ground, and that's the infrastructure that drives the mango operation," Mr Gray said.

"It's quite concerning because that will take many, many years to get back to full production."

Mr Gray said concessional loans would make a difference to growers trying to re-build, but it was still too early to say specifically what disaster relief might be needed.

"Our main focus is really doing that assessment of the extent of the damage and what needs to be worked on first," he said.

"This is going to be a slow process of rebuilding. It's not like vegetable crops … tree crops take a much longer time to recover.

"Most trees don't get into full production until they're eight years old. The issue could linger on for that period of time in some areas."

Scale of damage not yet known

Queensland agricultural lobby group, AgForce, has welcomed the assistance.

North regional manager Paul Burke said it remained "too early to get out in the paddock to assess damages".

"Over the coming days, we will work with the Government to ascertain what the level of damage is and where that assistance will be best targeted," Mr Burke said.

"We certainly know they're real.

"We certainly feel for all the producers but we just need to build an accurate picture in the coming 24 to 48 hours to be able to respond effectively."

Sugar cane losses

Federal MP George Christensen said he believed more assistance would be rolled out in the coming weeks when farmers and authorities have had the opportunity to access to their land, crops, infrastructure, and livestock.

He said sugar crop losses could be up to 15 per cent due to lodged and broken cane, but authorities were still unsure of the extent of damage.

"Obviously there are going to be washouts of a lot of small crops, some of the crops just do not withstand a massive drenching at one point in time, so it remains to be seen what the losses will be there, but it will be immense," Mr Christensen said.

"What I am going to do, in consultation with the minister responsible for emergency services, is write to people in all affected areas who are on the electoral roll and inform them of all of the different things that people are entitled to."