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ABC News
2 days ago
- Climate
- ABC News
Sugarcane fields reveal devastating long-term impact of north Queensland floods
In the early hours of February 3, it was hard to get back to sleep in Ingham. As floodwaters surged, the wind drove rain hard against the windows, keeping residents awake and uneasy through the night. Months later, the impact and devastation of that week are still felt across the community and wider farming regions. From counting crop losses and calculating the financial cost of restoring land, to managing their mental health, the difficult times for cane growers are only just beginning. The once-in-a-century flood left the area completely inundated and cut off from the outside world. Cane grower Ian Kemp has lived and worked on his Ingham farm, about halfway between Cairns and Townsville, for more than 60 years. While Ingham is no stranger to floods and residents generally know what to expect, he said this year was anything but ordinary. "I personally have about, I'd say 2,000 tonne I've lost. "It's going to take me about three to four years to recover ... to pick those paddocks up and get them back to full production again." At John Board's cane farm it was a similar story. Looking down the barrel of an expensive clean-up, his battle with debris, washout and damage to the cane is ongoing. "The actual damage to the crop itself, and then infrastructure damage as well, has been massive," he said. "There's no way I could cut cane on this headland here yet." The Queensland government is providing disaster recovery assistance to affected primary producers. While grateful for the assistance, Mr Board said the system had some challenges. "The way it works is, you've actually got to fork it out up front and then claim it back," he said. "This one headland alone here is probably $34,000 worth of just material and I don't have $34,000 in my bank account. "I've actually got to cut cane on a different part of the property to get some cash coming in to fix this headland." Across the district, the crop yield will be down substantially, which means less income for farmers and harvesters like Brian Mombelli. For him, that shortfall is worth $450,000. "It's cost us about $350,000 just to put machinery back on the paddock," he said. "We're already out of pocket and after such big floods, it's just another hit to the small business owners really." While the water is gone, he says danger still lurks in the paddocks, and harvesters will need to take extra care this year. "We could come across trees, rims, tyres, gas bottles, one tonne pods to pretty much everything, even shipping containers," he said. "The biggest cost that is going to affect us as business owners is trying to find the money to fix everything up." Mr Kemp said farmers were not the only people bearing a mental load. "People in town are struggling." About 100 kilometres north of Ingham is Tully, Australia's wettest town. Parts of the town also experienced flooding early this year and, while not as severe as in Ingham, successive disasters have taken their toll. Last year, Tully was smashed with rain from Tropical Cyclone Jasper and the community is feeling the compounding effects of back-to-back extreme wet seasons. Roy Butcher is manager of a Tully farm that lost about 30 hectares of cane to the flood, after 50 hectares were wiped out the year before. "Here, our major contributor factor … this year was from a levy bank collapsing up the river," he said. "It brought a wall of water through the farm. Mr Butcher said he was still finding trash in the cane fields from last season, which had mixed with mud from this year. At the sugar mill in town, the crush is underway. Tully Sugar sane productivity and development manager Greg Shannon said this season was better than the previous, but not by much. He expected farmers would produce three-to-four tonnes per hectare more than last year. "We got flooded, but not quite as bad and we've had a bit more sunlight, so it's an improvement on last year," he said. Ian Speziali, the electrical engineering manager at Tully Sugar, said water did come through the mill. "Being Tully, flooding isn't unusual but, like any site, we are impacted mainly by water inundation of pumps and motors," he said. "External to the factory itself, there's been damage to the rail infrastructure and those sorts of things, and obviously the farm properties in the district as well." Overall, he said spirits were high this year in Tully, as the 100th sugar crush for the mill is underway.
Daily Mail
06-07-2025
- General
- Daily Mail
Beekeeper at war with neighbours after claims his swarms are rendering their gardens 'unusable'
A beekeeper has become embroiled in a war with angry neighbours after they claimed his swarms were rendering their gardens 'unusable'. Complaints have been made that amateur beekeeper John Board can't control his bees he keeps in hives at the end of his garden. The row in a suburban street in Poole, Dorset, has come to the fore as Mr Board fights his local council to keep his aviary. He bought a piece of vacant land behind his semi-detached house so he could triple the size of his garden and keep bees. But his neighbours say their back gardens have become no-go areas in the summer because he is unable to control his colony of bees. Calvin Dade, 68-year-old retired taxi driver, said his grandchildren are afraid to go in the garden due to the swarming bees. Mr Dade, who has lived in the residential street for 38 years, said: 'We had a swarm last summer, which lasted about three or four days where we were stuck inside and couldn't let the grandchildren in the garden. 'It was a whole hive full, it must have been at least a thousand. 'We had to get one of our friends who is a beekeeper to come round. She put up a temporary hive to catch them all. 'She said that if they are properly looked after they don't swarm. 'When I spoke to him about it, his attitude was just 'so, that's having bees'. We used to get on well with them, but not since this.' Mr Board acquired the plot, that is about a third of an acre, from Knighton Heath Golf Club in 2023. It extended his back garden from 50ft in length to 164ft long. He and wife Lorraine put up three sheds, as well as decking, chairs and other 'domestic paraphernalia'. But neighbours complained and BCP Council told the Boards they would need planning permission for a change of use to a residential garden. This was refused as it would result in 'unacceptable levels of overlooking' of neighbouring homes. So the Boards have now applied for retrospective permission to turn the land into a 'wildflower meadow'. This would allow them to keep their apiary. But their neighbours are objecting, citing the impact of swarming bees on the enjoyment of their own gardens. Stuart Tizzard claimed the Boards took 'no action whatsoever' to deal with a swarm in June last year. Mr Tizzard said beekeeping associations they spoke to advised that responsible beekeepers would take action to prevent a swarm, or in the event of one, and take remedial action to minimise disruption. In a letter of objection, he said: 'Their bees swarmed and clustered in our garden, meaning we and our neighbours could not use our rear gardens for more than one week during the height of summer. 'We had to employ a beekeeper (at cost) to relocate the bees. The situation caused disruption and risk to our children and pets. 'In addition to swarming bees, our patio was littered with a significant number of dead and dying bees, which presented a further risk to people and pets, as well as being indicative of poor bee welfare practices.' Barry Wicking, another neighbour, added: 'We are all for bees and their important job to our environment, however having bee hives in a residential area surrounded by houses is ridiculous. 'We have had to endure a huge bee swarm last year, which then prevented us from having any doors or windows open for a good week during the summer time. 'We could not let our dog out into the garden due to the amount of them flying around or sadly the dead ones on the ground from the aftermath. 'I understand this can happen, but responsible beekeepers would have assisted with solving the issue or even just an apology for the nightmare they caused. But nothing! 'It has petrified my children from enjoying their garden as much as they would like to.' He also said they have had to endure a 'constant invasion of privacy' due to the height of the land. He added: 'This makes it eye level with bedroom windows and also possible to see down into our dining area, living room and garden.' Mr Board did not wish to comment on the matter. But his planning agent said his hives had the backing of the Dorset Wildlife Trust which had also praised his wildflower meadow. Jonathan Leigh, from Chapman Lily, disputed the neighbours' objections. He said a dedicated wildlife meadow was an appropriate setting for bee hives and the swarm last year happened when the owner was abroad and did not believe they were his bees. He also stated swarms can happen 'with even the most carefully managed apiaries' and were not a sign of irresponsible beekeeping. Mr Leigh said the Boards also proposed putting in a 6ft boundary fence to address any privacy or overlooking concerns. Mitch Perkins, from Dorset Wildlife Trust, said: 'I visited the wildlife-friendly space in 2023. I was looking for gardens with good examples of wildlife-friendly spaces to open to the public as part of a pilot project. 'This area has lots of excellent habitats and provides food and water for many species. It is a very good example of how garden features can help wildlife. 'This includes a pond, bird baths, long grass, nectar rich plants & shrubs, native wildflowers, trees plus bat and bird boxes. 'It is a good example of a wildlife friendly space and has received one of DWT awards. It provides an important stepping stone which connects other green spaces enabling wildlife to disperse through the landscape.'
