Damaging winds and more than 450 millimetres of rain combined to rip mature trees laden with fruit out of the ground just weeks from harvest. In cases where the entire stool has come out it could take three years to return to production.
Local growers’ association president Wally Gately said losses up to 20 per cent had made many growers rethink their future, as margins creep closer to the cost of production.
As the storm was confined to the coastal strip, falls in the hinterland were just perfect with 150mm on the Upper Clarence and Upper Richmond giving parched soil a good drink, setting the region up for spring.
