Stock shortages as Queensland’s big wet cuts roads and railways

Supermarket shelves in north Queensland have been stripped bare after a week of heavy rain cut the highway and freight line from the south.

Flooded roads and cane fields near Mackay in northern Queensland. Picture: Zoe Devenport

Supermarket shelves in North Queensland have been stripped bare after a week of heavy rain cut the highway and freight line from the south.

The rain, which had eased by Wednesday, is not expected to have a significant impact on national fruit and vegetable supplies, with most of the North and Central Queensland crops already harvested.

Farmers say the wet season rain will be mostly beneficial and have only short-term negative impacts for producers unable to get their product to market because of damaged roads.

Woolworths operations manager Gary O’Donnell said closed roads and rail lines had contributed to stock shortages on supermarket shelves around Mackay, Townsville, Bowen and Cairns.

“We are now having to unpack cargo trains to get the stock to put on trucks to get where they need to go,” he said.

Bowen Gumlu Growers Association president Carl Walker, who grows tomatoes, capsicums and cucumbers, said the 600mm of rain that fell around Bowen had filled farm dams and would top up underground aquifers.

“The mangoes have been picked and everyone’s pretty much finished up, so this is the best time of year to get rain,” he said. “Most veggies at this time are coming out of other areas like Bundaberg, South East Queensland or from glass houses in the southern states.”

Queensland Farmers Federation chief executive Jo Sheppard said local road closures would have a short-term effect on dairy farmers and nursery seedling providers.

“There are going to be impacts of course because it’s a fair amount of water,” she said. “Currently, what we’re seeing is really disruptions to transport and logistics.”

 

Australian Banana Growers Council chairman Stephen Lowe said the impact of rainfall and flooding on bananas, most of which are grown in North Queensland, would be minimal.

“There may be some small disruptions to supply in the short term, where transport is affected,” Mr Lowe said.

The week-long rain event put an abrupt end to the already hampered sugarcane harvest, leaving about one million tonnes of cane in the region standing in soggy paddocks.

Burdekin-based Canegrowers chairman Owen Menken said early rain, “average mill performance” and worker shortages had led to significant amounts of “standover cane … which is disappointing because prices are good at the moment”.

Mackay Mayor Greg Williamson said council officers were already out assessing damage to roads and infrastructure.

“There’s been no homes inundated but … there are 47 roads out of action, and highway systems out of action. There are a lot of fields waterlogged.