NORTH Coast horticulturalists fear the small print in the joint Federal-State Government’s $15,000 cash grants for flood-affected primary producers may cut them out of assistance.
The Rural Assistance Authority had provided information that indicated only farmers with direct damage as a result of a flood, not including storm or wind damage, would be eligible, Australian Macadamia Society chief executive officer Jolyon Burnett said.
That criteria would mean dozens of nut and fruit producers across the region who are now facing massive clean-up bills as a result of uprooted trees and snapped limbs, torn netting and severe erosion from water rushing through their properties would not get any help.
The AMS alone estimates the 2009 NSW macadamia crop will be down by as much as 20 per cent as a result of the floods.
“The flood damage, combined with the rain that led up to it, has wiped out a third of the value of the crop – which equates to $30 million plus,” he said.
Some banana growers estimate 25 per cent of their crop has been lost, despite their properties not being directly under flood.
More in The Land next week.
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