‘Devastating’ — Albany broccoli grower loses 80% of crop due to waterlogging after 1100mm

While September sunshine has helped dry out waterlogged crops and buoyed Great Southern grain farmers’ spirits, vegetable growers in the region have dubbed this winter a “disaster”. Some have lost up to 80 per cent of their crops and tens of thousands of dollars as their livelihood “dies a slow death”. Albany’s Chris Meuzelaar — who grows broccoli, cauliflower, lettuce and potatoes with his wife Tania — said it had been devastating. He has lost upwards of 70 per cent of his winter broccoli and cauliflower crops planted in April, estimating his total losses at $70,000 so far this year. “It’s been horrendous,” he said. “Never in my 35 years have we seen crop loses of 70-80 per cent over a five-month period. “It’s not that the crops got flooded but when there’s that much water in the soil the plants don’t get enough oxygen. “We’re watching plants die a slow death.” He said some plants died early, others got bigger but never got a head on them or had a “rubbish” head on them, with only a small proportion growing into something that would end up on shelves. The growers have clocked up 1100mm on the farm this year, including a 300mm July, after a “super dry” 2020 which just nudged 600mm. “It’s been an eye-opener,” Mr Meuzelaar said. “Our rain gauge has overflowed so many times I’ve lost track. “I’ve been laying up at night listening to it on the roof, not sleeping.” Unable to get on to paddocks, they have been fertilising by hand with a bucket, which he said was “not fun”. “We’ve spent five months in mud,” Mr Meuzelaar said. “We’ve tried to stay off the paddocks as much as possible so you’re not sinking into the mud because that’s a killer on the body.” After a 200mm March in 2005 which wiped out much of his crops, Mr Meuzelaar put substantial measures in place. But even those plans and extra pumps could not prepare him for July. “This year taught me a lesson in risk management,” Mr Meuzelaar said. “The sheer amount of water we have had to pump off is huge.” While the second-generation farmer said he now had two to three weeks of “rubbish harvesting”, a silver lining to the situation is the crops due for harvest a couple of weeks after “look really good”. The financial blow has set the growers — whose long-term goal is to become organic — back a couple of years in their plans. “I still have food on the table so we are still OK,” he said.