FARMERS throughout South Australia and north-western Victoria are faced with crop losses tallying in the tens of thousands of tonnes after a freak series of hail storms ripped through the region on Friday.
Damage was most intense in the eastern Millewa in Victoria where entire swathes of crop have sustained 100 per cent damage.
Merrinee, south-west of Mildura, farmer Chris Hunt estimated there could be up to 50,000 tonnes of lost production in his local area.
“On our own place, I’d suggest around 50pc of the wheat is a 100pc wipeout.
“It’s different to other storms in terms of how much damage it has done, there will be thousands of hectares around here with heavy damage and then you’d obviously get a bigger area that has a lower degree of crop loss.”
He said the majority of grain farmers in the area were covered with crop insurance.
“We are a little luckier in that respect than those in horticulture where it can be a bit too expensive to insure.”
Yarrara farmer Ron Hards in the central-western Millewa said the worst of the damage went around him, but said reports were of a wide strip of heavy hail.
“It seems to have gone through in a band two or three kilometres wide, which is very large for a hail storm, getting out to a peak of around 4km at its peak.”
He said a storm earlier in the day had brought heavy wind, but the destruction was done with another front that produced the hail.
Mr Hards said he had received 30mm of rain in the storm but thought it would not cause crop quality issues.
Across the border in eastern South Australia, Taldra, near Loxton, farmer Tim Pannell said there were strips of severe damage in his area.
“We’ve got lentils we think could have 40pc damage and some canola could be up to 70pc down on yield,” he said.
“It blew through the northern end of our farm and was pretty drastic – it is fair to say the crops didn’t like it too much.”
Grain Producers South Australia chief executive Darren Arney said while the worst of the damage was in the eastern Mallee and the Riverland, reports had come in from areas as far away as Crystal Brook and Saddleworth in the Mid North.
“There’s been patches of hail everywhere, but certainly the worst of it seems to be in those areas near the river,” he said.
Victorian Farmers Federation (VFF) grains group president Brett Hosking urged growers to be on the front foot in terms of involving their insurance agencies.
“Talk to your insurer, get your claim in early and include just as much information as you can.”
“The best results come when you have an open and frank dialogue with the insurers.”
Mr Hunt said the storm had been surreal.
“All the hail on the road, we went for a drive and it felt like you were in North Dakota, it looked like snow.”
He said it was a disappointing event with early yields coming in well above average.
“We’d just got going in the wheat and yields were well above average.
“While we’ve got insurance it is a shame not to get the crop off.”
The storm has also ruined growers’ ability to tap into a lucrative short term wheat price spike.
Domestic end users have been caught short due to the slow start to harvest meaning prices for prompt delivery are markedly higher than what is expected when harvest hits full swing in southern Australia.
Source - http://www.queenslandcountrylife.com.au
