s in Queensland's major growing region are expecting big yield losses this season, more than a year on from record floods.The Australia Day floods destroyed about 15 per cent of the Wide Bay Burnett's production, which accounts for most of the state's citrus.
This season, tree loss from the floods, frost, a long dry and late rain have reduced yield, skin quality and size.
But fruit quality and prices are high.
One of the region's 70 growers, Timothy Ulcoq, who farms 9,000 trees outside Gayndah, expects his harvest will be down about 30 per cent.
"The main factor is we had a very late frost in September. Half the trees were already flowering, so it's basically cooked quite a lot of flower."
Down the road, mandarin grower Ken Roth lost 6,000 of his 20,000 trees in the flood, and expects to pick about half his normal rate this season - only 1,300 half-tonne bins.
He says the lower volumes mean growers are fetching good prices, up an extra $10 per box.
"They're a reasonable price this year. Other years we're in a glut and it's very low; you're looking at a $10-$16 market; and they're still reaching their $18-$26 now for a 10-kilo or nine-kilo box."
But he's warning growers to be aware of the quality of their fruit, and select only the best to keep the market happy.
"Some people got in early and had a disastrous start... the skin's just deteriorated and went brown... and it turned up at the markets... and the buyers would bring it back," he said.
"If we don't give good quality to the (market), all we do is get buyer resistance."
There may not be as much fruit coming off farms, but the doors of the Gayndah Packers Co-Op are staying open longer.
The association is made up of nine growers, but membership is on the decline because of grower dissatisfaction with the system of pooled production and marketing.
However, general manager Barry Scott says they've picked up extra contracts which will create almost year-round production.
"We've taken on a number of contract packing, and that's included quite a lot of lemons, and lemons come out of the mandarin season, so it extends the packing process."
The co-op expects to pack 35,000 bins this year, which is a bit down.
Allen Jenkin exports mandarins from his 75,000 trees near Mundubbera to Indonesia, Thailand and China for seven months of the year.
He says the long dry has lowered his fruit size but raised sugar and acid levels.
However, his biggest problem has been poor fruit colour, forcing him to delay his season to wait to give his fussy importers what they want.
"We delayed the start of our season by maybe two to three weeks, and even now we're just getting to get what we consider very good quality."
Mr Jenkin says importers have been very aware of the flood situation, but have still demanded good product.
