It took just four days for floodwater to significantly change the landscape of Ingham cane grower Wal Giordani’s farm.
In the middle of what used to be a flat paddock is a 2-metre-deep crater.
“There are those moments when you’re struggling to think ‘where do I start?,'”
Mr Giordani said.
He estimates more than 50 truckloads of dirt will be needed just to fill that wash-out, and there are plenty more on the farm.
“That’s just a drop in the ocean for the repairs of damage we need to do across our 330 hectares,” he said.
It is the kind of damage Mr Giordani said would affect his farm for years.
“Are we going to get to the stage where we can get it repaired and then plant it?” he said.
“The reality is probably not.”
Eroding recovery
Across the district many growers are only just getting a chance to assess the full scale of the damage to their paddocks.
Among them is Hinchinbrook Shire mayor and cane farmer Ramon Jayo, who estimates it will cost as much as $300,000 to rebuild the washed-out creek bed on his farm.
Hinchinbrook Mayor Ramon Jayo has lost part of his farm to the river. (ABC Rural: Brooke Tindall)
“From what I’m observing it’s a much larger event,” he said.
“There is much more damage and much more severe damage in the district.”
The federal government has activated Category C Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements (DRFA) to help with the clean-up, but Lawrence Di Bella from grower collective Queensland Cane, Agriculture and Renewables (QCAR) fears that will not be enough.
“Some growers like Mr Jayo have only just been able to access their fields and what they’re seeing is devastating,” he said.
“It has to be seen to be believed.”
Mr Di Bella, whose own farm was also damaged, said there were reports of hillsides washed into creeks, rivers carved through paddocks, drowned crops and lost topsoil.
More than just a productivity problem for farmers, the gullies left behind by fast-moving floodwaters have ongoing ramifications for the Great Barrier Reef.
In October 2024, the federal governments set aside $200 million for gully and stream-bank erosion control projects to reduce sediment runoff.
With Tropical Cyclone Alfred looming off the coast, James Donaldson from Wet Tropics Waterways, a not-for-profit group that collects data on water quality, said more needed to be done to prevent the damage during weather events.
“What we know is that these record-breaking rainfall events in our region and around the world are predicted to increase into the future,” he said.
“Thinking about the resilience of our landscapes and our waterways is now more important than ever.”
Repair and prepare
In 2017, after a flood caused significant erosion to their farm west of Ingham, Andrew Trovato and his father Angelo set out to stabilise the bank of the nearby Stone River.
Angelo and son Andrew Trovato had the riverbank stabilisation work done after flood damage in 2017. (ABC Rural: Brooke Tindall)
It involved installing an 8-metre-high rock bed along 70 metres of the river, as well as planting different types of grasses and trees to hold the bank in place.
Andrew Trovato said its strength was tested in the recent flood when the river rose a metre above the wall.
“It held together. There was no extra sediment run off or loss in that area, which we’re really happy with,”
he said.
The project, which was completed by a local contractor through the Herbert River Improvement Trust, cost more than $100,000.
Riverbank stabilisation projects of this scale can cost more than $100,000 to complete. (ABC Rural: Brooke Tindall)
He said more funding for riverbank stabilisation would help farmers maintain their paddock sizes and prevent erosion.
“Everything’s pretty hard to make ends meet and you want to have an optimal operation and business, so you’d hate to have a loss,” he said.
Under the Category C Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements, farmers can access grants of up to $25,000 as well as concessional loans of up to $250,000 at reduced interest rates to get back on their feet.
Industry body Canegrowers chief executive Dan Galligan said the package was “a good start”.
“For many growers the damage is extensive and it is likely these grants will not even scratch the surface,” he said.
“Many will need further support through additional assistance measures and an increase to the funding threshold, as seen last year in response to Cyclone Jasper.”
QCAR was also pushing for Premier David Crisafulli and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to agree to activate Category D funding that would allow for grants above $25,000.
Last week, federal Minister for Emergency Management Funding Jenny McAllister announced funding would extend west and north, adding 17 local government areas to the list.
“As we understand the full extent of damage from this flooding event we are moving quickly to activate appropriate support for these communities,” Ms McAllister said.
“The Albanese government will continue working hand in glove with the Crisafulli government to support impacted communities in Queensland.”
Recent flooding has left rivers of water in the Pace family’s paddocks. (ABC Rural: Brooke Tindall)
Mr Giordani said the Herbert River Improvement Trust quoted him about $75,000 for stabilisation works on just one of the creeks running through his farm.
That creek has now eroded further, with the bank sitting almost on the edge of his paddock’s headland.
He said the current disaster recovery payments would not cover repairing the damage.
“I can’t put that money into the river. That money needs to go into my farm to get us back up and running to where we need to be as a business,”
he said.
