Prices will soar as banana and sugarcane crops ravaged by north Queensland floods
Farmers are calling on the federal government for more funding to restore crucial banana and sugarcane plantations in north Queensland.
Banana prices are expected to rise in coming weeks after widespread crop damage and ongoing road closures from the recent floods in north Queensland.
Floods have ravaged north Queensland, where 94 per cent of Australia’s banana plantations and 80 per cent of the country’s sugar cane fields are located.
Farmers have warned that banana prices will rise in a matter of days due to thousands of tonnes of product being damaged and essential transport routes remaining disrupted with several major roads and bridges still not usable.
Sugar cane crops have also been widely damaged, with the annual output expected to be cut by one million tonnes.
Australian Banana Growers’ Council chair and grower Leon Collins said 40 per cent of banana plantations were underwater in his area of Tully, north of Townsville. “It was scary, we had between one and three metres of water across our paddocks,’’ he said. “It means all that fruit is waterlogged or has silt marks and has to be thrown out.’’
Along with damaged crops, Mr Collins said flood damage to the Bruce Highway, Queensland’s main transport corridor, has led to bananas ready for market being stuck in trucks, unable to be transported around Australia.
“There’s definitely going to be a gap in supply and we can expect that gap to hit by early next week,’’ he said. “For buyers, that gap will last 10 days, up to two weeks. We’re looking at banana industry losses in the Tully area of $20m a week since the flooding began.’’
Sydney Market Reporting Service fruit surveyor Chris Cope said cartons of bananas from north Queensland had been increasing by $2 a day for the past week.
“A 15kg carton of bananas would usually cost $20-$40,” he said. “But currently they’re coming in at $30-$50 a carton, and that number could increase.”
Mr Cope said that blocked Queensland roads, less product and back-to-school demand were all driving banana prices up.
“Traditionally bananas have sold for about $2.50 a kilogram but we could see that get up to about $4, depending on what the merchants want to do,” he said.
Queensland Cane, Agriculture and Renewables, the industry advocacy group, estimates there are up to $50m million in losses to the Herbert sugar cane region around Townsville.
QCAR Herbert district manager Lawrence Di Bella said there would be one million fewer tonnes in this year’s cane harvest.
“Our crops are still small this early in the year, so with a lot of our plants underwater for more than seven days now the cane is actually starting to rot and die,” he said.
“It’s not going to take a year, it’s going to take years to fix up our farms after this. We need better infrastructure and better roads.’’
In a joint statement on Thursday, Anthony Albanese announced disaster assistance grants of up to $25,000 for north Queensland primary producers. But Canegrowers chief executive Dan Galligan is concerned these payments don’t go far enough.
“For many growers the damage is extensive, and it is likely these grants will not even scratch the surface,’’ he said. “Many will need further support through additional assistance measures and an increase to the funding threshold, as seen last year in response to Cyclone Jasper.’’
Third senior exit at CFMEU administration
The exit came as confidential documents show the union’s national office was in deficit and the SA branch insolvent.
Flood warnings issued as Cyclone Zelia downgraded
Tropical cyclone Zelia has been downgraded but heavy rainfall continues to lash parts of northwest WA, where severe weather and emergency warnings remain in place.