Australia - Murray River flooding persists with grape, citrus growers facing uncertainty over harvest

09.12.2022 1073 views

Three quarters of Roberto Fuoco's table grape property in north-west Victoria is underwater and more rain is expected in the coming days.

The harvest at his Nichols Point property would usually begin in February, but at this stage it's unclear if any of his fruit could be picked. 

The situation was probably not helped by the fact the only way he could get around his vines was via canoe.  

Mr Fuoco expected crop losses and redevelopment costs on his property to add up to millions of dollars. 

The Australian Table Grape Association's industry development manager Jenny Treeby said hundreds of hectares of crop was under threat.

"There are two different types of growers, ones that have built levees, they are going to be worrying for a long time about whether they'll break or not," Ms Treeby said

"Then there's a smaller number of growers that are fully inundated."

Ms Treeby said it was unclear what kind of impact the flooding would have on vine health and grape production.

"Most of the science we can access has only been for vines that have been inundated for up to six weeks, this will be much longer," she said.

Thousands of hectares impacted

The latest figures from Agriculture Victoria shows more than 498,629 hectares of farmland had been flood affected.

There's been 15,662 livestock deaths reported and almost 12,000 kilometres of damaged fencing.

Rural Financial Counsellors are helping flood-affected farmers apply for grants, loans and subsidies.

Further downstream in New South Wales, flooding was also affecting John Waters's eight hectares of citrus.

"I can't even do anything on the property because there's water through everything. If there's disease control or anything it can't be done unless you bring in an aerial sprayer," he said.

The flood peak has been revised several times and was now not expected to arrive until later this month.

That means Mr Waters would need to continue accessing his property by boat for several weeks.

"When the floods come up here, they stay around for a long time, so it will be months before I can get back in the orchard again," Mr Waters said.

Authorities predict the Murray River at Mildura will peak between December 15 and 17.

Source - https://www.abc.net.au

11.08.2026

Romania - Agra Asigurări launches 2026–2027 season: Increased compensation for farmers and extended protection

Agra Asigurări, Romania’s leading agricultural insurance company, has launched the quotation campaign for the 2026–2027 agricultural season, making its Agrar Basis crop insurance product available to farmers.

11.08.2026

Typhoon losses expose the gap Philippine crop insurance was never built to close

A co-insurance pool launching next year is designed to address it.

11.08.2026

Nepal - Parliamentarians Demand National Action Plan for Monkey and Wild Boar Crop Damage

As the damage to agricultural crops by monkeys and wild boars is becoming serious, a proposal of urgent public importance has been registered in the House of Representatives demanding the creation of an integrated national action plan for a long-term solution to this problem. 

11.08.2026

USA - Oregon hazelnut growers consider crop insurance to manage risk

Willamette Valley’s signature nut crop among the last to adopt the tool.

11.08.2026

USA - Lawmakers say data loss is keeping hurricane-harmed Georgia farmers from insurance payments

Nearly two years after Hurricane Helene unleashed flooding and fierce winds across the South, some Georgia farmers say they still haven’t received compensation for damages, despite efforts from both sides of the political aisle.

11.08.2026

India - Recalibrate crop insurance for perennial plantations, MP urges Centre

On Tuesday, Dakshina Kannada MP Captain Brijesh Chowta called upon the Centre to conduct a thorough examination of the Restructured Weather-Based Crop Insurance Scheme as it applies to perennial plantation crops such as arecanut, coconut, cocoa and spices. 

09.08.2026

Canada - Prairie producers filed more than 4,000 crop insurance claims in stormy July

A stormy July in the Prairie provinces led to insurance claims being filed on more than one million acres of land, according to the Canadian Crop Hail Association (CCHA).

09.08.2026

Government announces free EC$1.5 million crop insurance for Dominican farmers

Farmers in Dominica will receive government-funded crop insurance under a new EC$1.5 million facility aimed at shielding agricultural livelihoods from hurricanes and other climate-related disasters.