Despite the late start, AU strawberries showing excellent quality
Queensland Strawberry Growers' Association president, Luigi Coco, said damage caused to runner stocks in Stanthorpe left most of Queensland's 200 growers weeks behind in production.
Sunshine Coast grower Rick Twist said he was about three and a half weeks late this year. "We've never been that late in our whole career," Mr Twist said.
"We were short of water, and pumping water for about five weeks cost us about $10,000 worth of fuel and just when we filled our big dam, Cyclone Debbie come along and knocked our patches around.
"But I think at this point of time now the industry is in good shape.
"Our berries look brilliant, I almost think they're the best I've grown, which is a credit to our own ability in difficult times."
"It cost a lot more to grow them to this standard because we were late, we pushed them hard and didn't want to grow too big a bush, but we're pretty happy," Mr Twist said.
"When you hear your pickers saying 'Hey, these are the best you've had' and the packers are saying the same thing we're pretty happy with it."
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