Carnarvon Floods - How different growers were impacted

Up to 20 per cent of Carnarvon’s crops were wiped out by this week’s once-in-a-decade floods, in a further blow to growers already grappling with the horticulture industry’s labour crisis. The Gascoyne River swelled to an 11-year high at the weekend and while some farmers woke from the dirt-stained chaos to replenished topsoil and a healthy water table, others woke to devastation. Pumpkin and melon growers had whole crops washed away, while banana plantations were relatively unscathed. Carnarvon Growers Association manager Nic Cuthbert surveyed the damage on Monday and said floodwaters from the Gascoyne River — which peaked at 7.1m on Saturday — brought advantages for some and losses to others. Small areas of pumpkin and melon crops, planted outside the usual winter growing period, were destroyed. Mr Cuthbert said the area west of the Bibbawarra road — typically used to grow tomato, capsicum and eggplant — bore the brunt of the floods and crops there would be a write-off. “Fortunately, it is outside the main production period. If this had happened a few months later in the season, the amount of damage would have been far worse,” he said. Phil Frzop, who is west of the Bibbawarra road, said a one-hectare patch of butternut pumpkins due to be harvested this week had washed away. He said the crop was not insured because it was not viable to cover vegetable crops against flooding. “It’s disappointing as we have put a lot into it — infrastructure, seed, planting, wages and we won’t recoup that,” he said. “A bigger impact is that we have lost a lot of topsoil. The erosion means we will have to replace soil and are unlikely to get our next crops in the ground in time so there’s a big loss to future income.” Sweeter Banana Co-operative executive officer Doriana Mangili said while a big clean-up was needed, there was little damage to banana plantations, so most growers were breathing a sigh of relief. Shire president and mango farmer Eddie Smith said while the flood was “heartbreaking” for some farmers, the area had desperately needed heavy rain. “This has guaranteed our plantation industry a water supply for at least the next two years,” he said. Carnarvon’s last major flood in 2010 caused an estimated $100 million of damage and prompted the Government to build a $65m flood mitigation network in the shire’s agricultural region in 2013. The weekend was the levee investment’s first real test. Carnarvon Growers Association president Paul Shain said “the jury was still out” on the levee system. He said the levees provided security from most parts of the river but what had happened in other areas — particularly in the western part of the agricultural region — was “gut-wrenching”. Mr Shain estimated 30 growers’ crops had been destroyed by the flood, or between 10 and 20 per cent of Carnarvon’s agricultural industry. One of those farmers is Thy Nguyen, who estimates her property sustained $100,000 of damage. The well-reported labour shortage in WA’s agriculture industry has also hurt Ms Nguyen’s bottom line. “My mangos were falling to the ground. I was already behind on my budget ... I need some help here,” she said. Although the levee system didn’t protect her property, she said she was happy for every property the system had secured. “But I am also sad for myself,” she said. Grower Phil Frzop was less diplomatic about the levee’s impact on his property, saying the system made things much worse for him. “They should have leveed the whole lot. The water had to go somewhere,” he said. Johnny Tran, another local grower, also estimates the storm damage to his property is north of $100,000. He said he was devastated to see his work washed away. Mr Tran said the whole Carnarvon agricultural region needed help from the government. Without support, he said the winter vegetable supply for Perth would suffer.