PUT simply, Peter Sherriff's farm copped it.
Cyclone Marcia waltzed across his Tanby pineapple property last month, stripping iron from roofs, blowing apart sheds and wiping out about half of his crop.
"I have never seen the dam water rise so high - not because of the rain but because of the wind," Mr Sherriff said.
"We have these pineapples with sunburn, but we also have a winter crop coming on."
The ruthless near 200km/hr wind pushed fruit over, exposing one side to high temperatures in the days after, causing skin to go soft and burn under the sun.
Pictured is Peter showing off the sunburn damage to his pineapples.
"It took so much of our crop because of the wind factor," he said. "Other farms have even more fruit close to harvest."
Eligible primary producers, small businesses and non-profit organisations hit by ex-Tropical Cyclone Marcia in the local government areas of Banana, Livingstone, North Burnett and Rockhampton have access to low-interest concessional loans and essential working capital loans under the jointly-funded Commonwealth-State Natural Disaster Relief and Recovery Arrangements (NDRRA).
Member for Capricornia Michelle Landry said Tropical Cyclone Marcia would have a long-term impact on central Queensland's agricultural sector.
"When crops are wiped out, farmers lose mature trees that take years to replace. Some of our primary producers are looking at huge losses and a lengthy recovery period, which will obviously have a flow-on effect on local jobs," she said. "It is crucial that we provide financial assistance that has an immediate impact, as well as long-term benefits to support producers."
This support is in addition to NDRRA arrangements including immediate relief payments to individuals and families of $180 per adult and up to $900 per family in Banana, Livingstone and Rockhampton local government areas.
The Federal Government has also activated the Disaster Recovery Payment for eligible people who have lost or had significant damage to their homes, or suffered injury as a result of the disaster.
They can access a one-off payment of $1000 per adult and $400 for each child.
