JOCK Keller is among that rare breed of young men from rural Queensland who have opted to remain in agriculture rather than chase the big dollars in the mining game.
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He is 25-years-old and operates a 120 acre lucerne farm in the Lockyer Valley.
Yet, in less than two years, Jock has seen more devastation across his farmland than his father has seen in more than four decades of farming in the region. Jock's brother oversees another fodder crop nearby.
The Lockyer Creek separates the properties.
It is the same creek that has flooded with such power in the past two years that swathes of roadway have been raised from the ground, like an egg lifted by a spatula, and scattered across the Lucerne paddocks.
Sections of the road are scattered across the properties on the road linking the Warrego Highway with Fernvale in the Brisbane Valley. The floodwaters of 2011 caused the same devastation.
When Queensland Country Life travelled through the region late last week Jock was still coming to terms with the fact his thriving lucerne business, which had a steady flow of customers across the region, had been wiped out by the flood waters for a second time in as many years.
Jock had to rework the ground following the 2011 floods - an event he was assured was a "once in 50-year event".
However, the Lockyer Valley - the centre of much anguish during the 2011 floods - had moderate rain in the month leading to the 2013 flood, only about 20cm (eight inches).
However, more than 50cm (20 inches) across the Darling Downs had flowed quickly into the valley in the past fortnight, raising the creeks with little warning, swamping the farmland and devastating the region's landholders.
A third of the Lockyer Valley has been flooded and the local council continues to work around the clock to provide the basic needs to those impacted.
