IT will be six months without an income stream for Yeppoon pineapple growers after Cyclone Marcia barrelled their crops in February.
That’s if they return to the industry at all.
The area north of Rockhampton is one of the key pineapple growing areas in the country, with a majority of producers supplying major fresh processor, Tropical Pines.
Yeppoon resident and Tropical Pines managing director Derek Lightfoot met with growers the week after Cyclone Marcia in order to compile a damage report.
“There are some that are certainly wondering if they can recover,” Mr Lightfoot said.
“It was a pretty sad Monday walking around those farms.”
Crop loss has been estimated at between 3- 3.5 million plants.
At $1 per plant, plus half a million dollars on infrastructure repair and replacement, the monetary cost is substantial.
“The pineapples that were due to be harvested have been blown over on their sides and the extreme heat which followed the cyclone has cooked them,” he said.
Younger fruit has also suffered with flowers (a precursor to fruit) suffering wind damage.
“We think they might recover but it’s hard to tell with the foliar damage,” Mr Lightfoot said.
Workers will most likely be put off.
Farm sheds, pallets and crates have been strewn across paddocks, many damaged in the process.
Mr Lightfoot said he saw one shed where large round, 6m wooden posts had been lifted from their concrete footings.
Pineapple growers have been facing challenges on multiple fronts in recent days.
Apart from battling the proposal to import fresh pineapple from Malaysia on the grounds of disease concerns, growers in the Yeppoon area experienced an undesirable 2014 growing period.
“It was a really bad winter,” Mr Lightfoot said. “There were huge temperature variations which meant all the plants flowered prematurely, creating small fruit which can’t be sold.”
“They’ve just gotten over that hurdle when the cyclone came along.”
Unlike a cyclone’s impact on the banana industry in north Queensland, the majority of pineapples are grown on the Sunshine Coast which means growers will most likely not see a spike in the price of fresh fruit.
Mr Lightfoot said he doubted whether there would be a price rise at the supermarket shelf either.
Some growers have opted to harvest the tops of spoiled pineapples in the hope of replanting.
They are also looking for any salvageable fruit, an exercise which is providing slim pickings.
Mr Lightfoot’s role as vice chair of Growcom saw him assess the damage to other industries.
He said anyone with tree crops suffered terribly.
Yeppoon fruit grower Ian Groves, Groves Grown Tropical Fruits, said he estimates the clean-up team would have logged about 300 man hours so far.
“But there is a long, long way to go,” he said.
The majority of the permanent netting over his trees was blown away while he estimates he’s lost two thirds of his Keitt mango crop, and about 90pc of his avocado fruit.
His carambola (star fruit) trees also suffered extensive damage, as well as his lychee orchards.
An initial calculation puts his fruit loss at about $300,000 while his netting and infrastructure damage comes in at around $150,000.
But Mr Groves is hopeful many of the trees will recover, despite having undergone savage pruning and endured scorching temperatures since the cyclone.
Mr Groves said any trees under eight years of age were belted around.
A 6-year-old plantation of specialist lychee varieties was hard hit with about eight trees left upright out of 40.
A vast majority of the 1000 three-year-old Honey Gold mango trees were blown down with 20 or so completely missing.
A bulldozer has subsequently shifted and stacked these into a heap.
“I’m watching them burn right now,” Mr Groves said.
The damage is such that he is not able to get complete access to all parts of the property.
Ongoing problems are anticipated but yet to arise, such as the airborne disease threat to his mangoes since portions of his well-established wind breaks were destroyed.
“There are now big gaps in the windbreak which is making it act like a tunnel. Bacterial spot is just going to go ballistic so we’re a bit fearful of that issue,” he said.
With his cashflow taking a severe knock, his 25 or so casual fruit pickers have been laid off.
He said there will be knock-on effects throughout the community with services like transport and packing carton supplies all grinding to a halt.
Physical damage is one thing; the emotional toll of such an ordeal is another.
“You look out the window each morning and think, oh, it wasn’t a dream,” Mr Groves said.
“I’ll just have to put the new helicopter and yacht on hold for the moment.”
In terms of government assistance, he said a reduced electricity tariff or a wage subsidy for workers would be welcome but even if nothing was forthcoming the family would remain in the business.
As a former president of the Australian Lychee Growers Association, Mr Groves assisted in the clean-up efforts for northern growers after cyclones Winifred, Larry and Yasi went through.
“I’ve seen what damage they can do so I knew it would be tough,” he said.
When Good Fruit and Vegetables spoke to Mr Groves, he’d just had the electricity restored to his property.
