As eastern Australia sloshes its way through its fifth wave of major flooding in two years, the impacts to the agricultural sector are expected to be felt for some time.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
In the northern rivers of New South Wales, region chair of NSW Farmers Chris Mageny, said crops from sugar cane to soy beans had been "severely" damaged.
"[It affects] annual crop production, and it'll affect this into the second year because a lot of it takes two years to grow your crop, so ... this year and next year, the harvest will be dramatically down," he said.
"The ramifications have been right through everybody."
Dairy and beef farming has also been affected as "enormous" amounts of livestock had "vanished" in natural disasters this year, he said.
And it isn't just the floods.
"The continual wet has stopped [farmers] from replanting, like it's really it's been raining now virtually non-stop for 12 months," Mr Mageny said.
"That in itself has been worse than the flooding.
"It'll take quite a number of years for all of agriculture to get themselves back up and get their heads above water."
The increased rainfall is forecast to continue into 2023 and is based on two climate drivers; a La Nina system and a natural climate phenomenon that influences weather patterns around the Indian Ocean, known as Indian Ocean Dipole.
Both are associated with warmer ocean temperatures near Australia which means more moisture over the continent and stronger low pressure systems in the south.
A spokesperson for AUSVEG, the industry representative body for vegetable growers, Shaun Lindhe, said the damage was not just limited to production losses on farms.
"But also delays in getting farm machinery on-farm for harvest and paddock preparation, damage to infrastructure, fencing and machinery, loss of topsoil, and time and investment in preparing paddocks for future crops," he said.
AUSVEG reports the current flooding comes off a period of reduced confidence in the short-term outlook of the vegetable sector with the average cost of production rising by about 25 per cent.
Mr Lindhe said while it was still too early to quantify the extent of the damage, as it was an ongoing situation, it was clear there would be impacts and disruptions across the broader supply chain as a result.
"Such as road closures and disruptions to a wide range of businesses, as well as power outages, which can affect cold store facilities, picking and packing," he said.
"Growers were already operating in a challenging and unpredictable environment, and this is another blow for hard-working farmers trying to feed Australian families."
READ MORE:
