The east coast of Australia has seen a phenomenal amount of rain this year so far, and this has been accentuated by a massive downpour at the end of last week, while the weathermen are predicting more to come.

Coolibah Herbs has farms in both the north and the south of Victoria. Vincent Eysseric, General Manager Operation and Sales at the company said the farm in the north is where they produce herbs and vegetables through the winter, but the fields are now flooded and access to the farm is difficult.

“Production at the farm had been good until September this year, as we moved into spring there was excessive rain. The soil is a heavy clay and the land is flat so water is not draining off, we are also having to make a 3 hour detour to get to the farm as the roads in the surrounding area are impassable due to flooding. We are crossing major rivers, which as more rain falls, may also flood and cut off the roads we are currently using, meaning no access or bigger detours. We have lost a good part of the production and the other parts will have quality issues.”

“We need to get onto the land and find a way to clear the water off or it will sit for weeks, we are now coming into summer so hopefully some warm weather will help. This is our farm for winter production which will end in November, but production in the remaining weeks will be lower and will have quality issues.”

Queensland which is seen as the garden of Australia in the winter months was also severely affected by flooding. Northern Tasmania has also seen excessive rain.

These exceptional weather patters come on the back of a few difficult years for growers, Victoria was particularly affected by lockdowns during the pandemic. The shortage of labour is ongoing and freight rates and input costs are still high.

Source - https://www.freshplaza.com