TC Yasi estimated to wipe half a billion for sugar industry alone



CANEGROWERS Media Release


02 February 2011: TC Yasi estimated to wipe half a billion from sugar industry alone

 
  • Early indications suggest losses to the sugarcane industry alone could start at a staggering $500 million.
  • 30 percent of Australia’s sugarcane crop is grown north of Townsville (contributing $1.95 b value to the north Queensland community).
  • Cyclone Larry when it hit just five years ago, wiped out 40-50% of crops in its direct path.
  • CANEGROWERS immediate concern is for life and limb.
  
Sugarcane growers in far north Queensland are amongst those nervously awaiting the arrival of TC Yasi, currently bearing down on far north Queensland. The current course is aimed straight at one of Australia’s sugarcane heartlands, with 30% of Australia’s crop grown north of Townsville – in the cyclone’s direct path.

Yasi looks set to follow closely in the footsteps of devastating Cyclone Larry, which just five years ago, whipped through an area from the south of Cairns through to the northern outskirts of Tully, smashing the cane and banana growing mecca with winds of up to 290 km, uprooting trees, toppling powerlines, smashing buildings and shredding sugarcane.

Larry wiped out 40-50% of crops in the direct path of the cyclone, and with TC Yasi upgraded overnight to a category five, far north Queensland is bracing for impact.

Peak sugarcane group CANEGROWERS has said early indications suggest losses to the sugarcane industry alone could start at a staggering $500 million, including crop losses and damage to farming infrastructure including sheds and machinery.

“The half a billion projected losses do not even start to include the cost of broader damage to infrastructure such as the road and rail network, houses, property, mills and ports,” says CEO of CANEGROWERS, Steve Greenwood today.

Greenwood says CANEGROWERS immediate concern is for life and limb, and the group is encouraging those in the path to take immediate action to secure themselves, family and friends ready for impact.

“There were those in Cyclone Larry who lost everything - farmhouses, crop, machinery, sheds, and livelihood during the devastating force,” said Greenwood today. “We are preparing ourselves for damage control mode, so we can move quickly to focus on assisting individual growers for whom there have been immediate severe economic losses.”

There is no insurance for sugarcane growers in the region. Some growers stand to lose 100% of their crop, a blow from which they may never recover. The full impact will not become clear until growers have the opportunity to venture back into devastated fields, and possibly until the commencement of harvesting in late June, when the impact of lower productivity resulting from broken, shredded and lodged cane can be accurately assessed.

CANEGROWERS will work closely with government to assist those growers who have lost their livelihood. In the meantime, CANEGROWERS will work with insurance companies, banks and financial institutions to help any of the growers in the area who need immediate assistance.



Media Comment:
Steve Greenwood, CANEGROWERS CEO, 0488 721 156.
Alf Cristaudo, CANEGROWERS Chairman, 0418 181 204.