Add Category
A wild hailstorm that devastated orchards in the Goulburn Valley yesterday has crushed the morale of growers in the region, according to Fruit Growers Victoria.
Key points:
- Fruit Growers Victoria says orchardists will need financial support to stay afloat
- The organisation says some growers have lost their income for the year
- The SES responded to scores of calls for help and 9,000 homes lost power, which has largely been restored
It was the third hailstorm to significantly damage fruit crops this season.
Fruit Growers Victoria growers services manager Michael Crisera said the storm followed a similar course to one that hit a few days before Christmas last year.
"Growers that did have anything left, it's pretty much wiped them out totally," he said.
Most farmers have picked their pears, but apples have been badly impacted.
Mr Crisera said morale among orchardists was "as low as it's ever been".
Losses could top $100m
Wild weather had already destroyed an estimated 200,000 bins of fruit from the region, Mr Crisera said, worth $80 million.
He said the cost of yesterday's storm could amount to a further $40m worth of damage, and that some growers had lost their income for the year.
"When you get hail late in the season, you've spent a lot of money to grow this season's crop, so whatever you've spent is lost as well — you've got no income to pay that back," Mr Crisera said.
"We're really in the midst of doing an assessment with all growers again to see how many more bins we've lost for this season.
"Most growers have been reporting it was like a mini-tornado or a mini-cyclone."
Mr Crisera said strong winds had uprooted trees and large hailstones had damaged netting.
"Some areas have been spared," he said.
"But there's not much left, to be honest."
Financial support 'critical'
Fruit Growers Victoria is lobbying for more financial support for growers, including concessional loans of $1m.
"Having capital to operate over the next 18 months will be critical," Mr Crisera said.
Greater Shepparton City Council Mayor Shane Sali said his thoughts were with the region's growers and he would always have the agriculture industry at the front of his mind in discussions with state and federal governments.
"More needs to be done to protect the food bowl of Australia," Cr Sali said.
The Victorian State Emergency Service responded to 90 requests for assistance around Tatura and Shepparton in the wake of the storm, which also caused widespread power outages.
A Powercor spokesperson said 9,000 homes were without power in the Goulburn Valley on Thursday afternoon, with 100 still to be restored on Friday morning.
Shepparton Search and Rescue and SES crews from Tatura, Kyabram and Euroa collaborated on the clean-up effort.