Food prices to soar after fire and floods

Story from The Land

The impact of the North Queensland floods and the Victorian bushfires will be felt by consumers, according to Federal Agriculture Minister Tony Burke.

While there are estimates of up to 150,000 cattle killed by the floods, it will be some time before an accurate figure is known.

However, Mr Burke said estimates already showed that up to 20pc of the cane crop had been lost in some areas.

And with the Victorian bushfires devastating fruit crops, consumers are in for a shock at the supermarket shelves.

“Sugar cane’s taken a 20pc hit in parts [as have] a number of our fruits, our stone fruits,” Mr Burke said.

“Similar with apples down south, there’ll be a number of fresh produce items where if people are willing to put up with more blemished fruit the next couple of months, that will certainly help the farmers to do the best with the produce that has survived.

“If there was ever a time to be picky, it’s not the next few months.”

Mr Burke said there would not be an immediate shift in meat prices in the supermarket, as it would take until “the first muster in May or June before we know exactly what the cattle numbers are”.

“Some cattle, the stronger ones, can swim for a couple of weeks, but certainly most of the calves of the last season will have been taken out,” Mr Burke said.

“And you’ve got to remember, Queensland is the calf factory for the Australian beef industry so there will be some very significant challenges in total beef numbers.”

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