North America Edition
A hail storm has wreaked havoc in the Griffith area, with some citrus growers now looking at years before their next harvest. The hail ripped into fruit and stripped bark from trees, causing estimated losses up to 100 per cent of crops on some farms. The resultant damage will either mean costly picking with no crop to sell, manual thinning and pruning, or mechanical hedging that could see no crops harvested for three years.
NSW Farmers Horticulture Committee Chair Guy Gaeta said state and federal governments had been responsive to calls for disaster assistance after floods and storms last year, and was hopeful something could be done for Griffith’s citrus growers.
Source: nswfarmers.org.au
Photo source: Dreamstime.com
