Farmers miss sugar caning

PETER MARTINELLI for farmers down the line. “It will definitely be a harvesting issue,” Mr Calcagno said.

“That’s all part of wet-tropics farming.”

Farmers had dreaded further rain forecast from Cyclone Iris, expected on the back of flash flooding in late March.

“We are just grateful that Iris didn't cause worse flooding,” Mr Calcagno said.

“That would have had a far worse effect on the industry.”

Freshwater sugarcane farmer Mark Savina said his crops had shown signs of damage.

“Debris will be a major problem,” Mr Savina said.

Mr Savina farms 600ha of sugar cane between Freshwater and Yorkeys Knob.

He said the floodwaters would have pushed trash, timber and bamboo through the crops, making harvesting difficult. Games start at 10am and will run into this afternoon, with the under 18 boys’ grand final scheduled for 1.15pm and the open men’s final tipping off at 1.30pm.

“There’s lots of stumps and timber in the paddock,” he said.

“It is not as bad as I thought it would be.”

He was relieved Iris did not hit.

“The rain we can live with but cyclones really slow us down,” he said.

Although trash had been seen around rail lines used to transport sugarcane during the cutting season, Mulgrave Mill had not identified any specific areas of concern.

“It is to be expected when we get wet weather,” a Mulgrave Mill spokeswoman pointed out.

“It was a typical wet season.”