After battling constant rain and floods this season, fruit growers in Victoria's powerhouse growing region for apple and pears have watched their crops rendered worthless by a quick burst of hail on Melbourne Cup day.
The storm, which arrived in the afternoon, pelted hail on young fruit crops across a large area of northern Victoria.
"Probably 50 per cent of the region has been hit to varying degrees, everywhere from Cobram, Ardmona, parts of Tatura, Shepparton and Shepparton East," Fruit Growers Victoria spokesman Michael Crisera said.
Mr Crisera has been touring orchards to inspect the damage.
"Most of it was what we call peppercorn-sized hail, but there are some reports of larger hail around 5mm in size as well," he said.
Mr Crisera has called on governments to provide assistance to those growers who have lost crops, which for many would have been their source of income for the next 12 months.
"I'm hoping some of our growers will get assistance to get through now they're severely impacted by hail."
It's been a tough year for fruit growing
The hail storm adds to what has already been a difficult year for orchardists in the Goulburn Valley, a region which typically grows almost a third of Australia's apple crop and 80 per cent of Australia's pears.
"It's very frustrating. It couldn't have come at a worse time to be honest with you," Mr Crisera said.
Widespread flooding through orchards in the region has seen some trees die and flooded farms impossible to navigate.
Constant rain has made it difficult for growers to manage disease; and prices, particularly for apples and pears, have not been good.
Growers now face spending the rest of the fruit-growing season producing unsaleable fruit.
Hail damage at this time of year can cut or mark the developing stone fruit, pears and apples.
"It's a bad part of agriculture and I wish it didn't happen," Mooroopna orchardist Peter Hall said.
"It's probably the most challenging year that I can remember and it underscores the pressure that producers are under."
Retailers and government asked to help
Mr Crisera works for Fruit Growers Victoria, an industry organisation that represents the many of the affected growers.
He believes many growers in the region will need financial assistance to survive, and will begin preparing a report for government on the expected losses.
"A lot of our growers are really in survival mode, where they really want to survive the next 12 to 18 months," he said.
He said retailers, including the major supermarket chains, could help by relaxing standards on fruit imperfections or by selling special hail-damaged lines of fruit.
In the past, governments have provided grants or low-interest loans to fruit growers after major hail storms.
"We will work out what kind of assistance we can ask for because we've got to try our best," Mr Crisera said.
