Queensland Floods Devastate Fruit and Veg Growers

0:00It's March 20th, here's your sending news in two minutes. Major flooding struck the Bundaburg and Burnett regions in Queensland last week when the Burnett River peaked at 7.4 meters on March. 11th? Fruit and vegetable growers there face potential production losses of up to 50 percent for the year, hitting crops like macadamias, avocados, citrus, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, cucumbers, and zucchinis, hard. Global weather disasters across the state, including floods in areas like Longreach and Chinchilla, plus tropical cyclone Arella in foreign north. Queensland are compounding the problems. High fuel costs are making it tougher to transport produce from unaffected spots, which supermarkets usually rely on. Farmers are still tallying the damage, with orchards covered in mud and nuts rotting on the ground after trees set underwater for days. Many report financial hits in the tens of thousands of dollars, plus ongoing costs like paying staff, even when fields are inaccessible.

1:02The Department of Primary Industries' notes producers have self-reported about 150 missing or dead livestock, over 450, kilometers of damaged fencing, and more than 300 kilometers of affected private roads in the nearly two weeks since the floods. Industry leaders warned this could mean tighter fresh produce supplies and higher prices ahead. Those growers wait to see if their crops bounce back from. The triple hit of water, fuel, and fertilizer expenses.