The news has moved on to other things, but most people would have heard plenty about the damage caused by Cyclone Marcia last month, so for my Friday Farming post today I just wanted to share a little bit of the story of one farmer’s experience with the super storm. For those that are in the areas around Rockhampton, the clean up from the cyclone is still happening, now 3 weeks later.
The area of Yeppoon was one of the locations hardest hit by Cyclone Marcia and we have been following with much sadness/amazement the clean up efforts and witnessing the destruction caused to another tropical fruit farm located in this area, called Groves Grown Tropical Fruit. We first got to know Ian who owns this farm via Instagram and were lucky enough to have him pop in and visit us in real life last year! Our two farms grow several of the same fruits, so we have much in common and Ian has been very good to us, always willing to pick up the phone and answer any of our questions. Groves Grown Tropical Fruit is one of the best farming instagram accounts getting around, Ian’s hash tagging often has us in fits of laughter and he takes some great photos too.
Here a few shots from the Groves Grown Tropical Fruit Instagram feed recently.
I love the story that these posts of Ian’s tell. We are able to see the huge amount of damage his farm has sustained but he remains so positive and upbeat despite it all. As Ian says in one of his posts he is determined not to be a ‘whingeing farmer’ and that is a mammoth effort when you see everything he is dealing with as a result of Cyclone Marcia; a year’s fruit crop on the ground for the lorikeets to eat, new trees blown away or knocked over, damage to infrastructure and his home, not to mention the hours, days and weeks involved in the clean up, on top of the regular farm work to be done at the busiest time of the year for a tropical fruit farm!
I love the way that friends and family have travelled to lend a hand to Ian, as he said that is ‘aussie mateship’ for you and they even brought their own beers hehehehe.
Farming can be such a tough gig at the best of times, but when mother nature lets loose with an event such as this – gee it is heartbreaking! The agricultural losses caused by Cyclone Marcia are still unclear but so many farming industries have been severely affected as reported in this Weekly Times story.
However, we have been so inspired by Ian and the way he has just gritted his teeth and got on with things. His approach to farming and life is definitely something for us as new farmers to aspire too. Good on you Ian and family, as well as all of the other farmers and folks still recovering from the cyclone! Good luck with the clean up, wish this avocado season of ours would hurry up and be over so we can head down and give you a hand!
If you are on Instagram, please pop over to Ian’s account and say hello and leave a little message of support for Groves Grown Tropical Fruit – I’m sure it would be appreciated, sometimes the smallest words of encouragement and kindness from strangers can make all the difference in tough times!
Recent Comments