Lovers of Australian-grown tropical flowers could have trouble finding them after an unusually rainy dry season put Queensland growers two months behind schedule.
Key points:
- Growers say their yields could be lower, or later, this year
- Unseasonal wet weather means preparation has been paused
- The industry body is encouraging consumers to understand their local flower supply
Heidi and Robert Piccolo grow a range of bright blooms, with names such as sassy, beehive, and shampoo gingers, south of Innisfail in the state’s far north.
They normally spend the dry season pruning, fertilising, and preparing their crops.
But standing ankle-deep in the water that’s running through his paddocks, Mr Piccolo said this year’s weather had brought things to a halt.
“It’s going to take a good couple of weeks to dry out,” he said.
“With the [pruning] bobcat we will still slip and slide a bit because … the ground doesn’t dry out that well.”
He said not being able to fertilise often would reduce their flower yield.
“The last few weeks we’ve dropped in production by 40 per cent,” he said.
“You might get 10 to 12 flowers out of the whole row.”
Weather ‘out of sync’ with market
A similar story is playing out for Mirriwinni grower Jodie Sefton.
She said rain was “putting everything back further”.
“It means that whatever we can’t get in the ground now, that would be slowly starting to come through, won’t come through in the right time frames,” she said.
“It means that we’re out of sync [with] our orders that are coming through for next year.”
With the rain dragging on through the tropics’ usually dry months, Ms Sefton said she hoped the wet season would not start until December.
“We’re eight weeks behind,” she said.
“If the wet season comes in November then we’re just going to be another two or three months behind again.”
Silver linings
However, the flower farmers are seeing more than just grey skies.
Ms Sefton said the rain was giving the thirsty tropical plants a good drink, meaning she had spent less time doing the work she particularly disliked.
“I haven’t had to work with irrigation, which we call irritation,” she said.
“So that’s one good thing.”
In Innisfail, the Piccolos are giving a new solution a go.
“Our backup plan is to dig up as many plants as we can of the different varieties that sell the best and replant out over in [another] paddock,” Ms Piccolo said.
“We’ve never really had to do it, but we’ve never had rain like this at the back end of the year before.”
The couple said they were getting as much work done as they could in the hope yields would improve towards the end of the year.
“It usually takes about three months for [the plants] to get the growth back in them and start flowering again,” Mr Piccolo said.
Their business is looking at a 30 per cent drop in sales from the pause in production, but Mr Piccolo said they were still optimistic.
“If we get good rain later in the year they don’t take long to recover,” he said.
“Farmers always live on hope.”
Wacky weather widespread
Flower Industry Australia chief executive Anna Jabour said flower growers across the nation had been grappling with temperamental weather conditions in recent years.
“That is a result of climate change,” she said.
“It does concern me, because it’s people’s livelihoods we’re talking about.
“We’re just going to have to continue to find different ways to grow, and different solutions, and understand the different weather patterns at different times of the year.”
Ms Jabour said customers should take time to understand the flower supply in their region and support local growers.
“Always ask for local Australian-grown flowers,” she said.
“And be understanding if a flower [you] like might be a few weeks late.”
