It's been two years since the one-in-100-year floods devastated the NSW Mid-North Coast oyster industry, but Nambucca River grower James Ford is still out of pocket and trying to rebuild his business.
The first 2021 flood decimated Mr Ford's operations but worse was to come.
"We had three major [flooding] events in the past two years and there's been plenty of rainfall in between," the second-generation oyster farmer said.
Mr Ford said two more floods and spills from the Nambucca Valley council's sewerage system shut his business for months.
"[Council] had a lot of problems with inundation of stormwaters into their system [and] we were shut for well over 210 days in 2021."
In the two years since, Mr Ford said he had struggled to access recovery grants and his stock continued to suffer the long-term effects of the events.
Long road to recovery
Mr Ford said the ongoing issues across the two years had seen 80 per cent of his oysters die.
A large wall of empty shell now sits at the back of Mr Ford's farm — a costly reminder of the toll the past two years had taken on his business.
"Its a little frustrating to think each one of those shells should have been a dollar, well in the vicinity of $150,000 plus, pretty much what should have been last year's sales and some of the future sales," he said.
Mr Ford said recovering from the weather events had been exacerbated by demand for oyster spat.
"Nine times out of 10 when you're affected [by flood], all the other oyster farmers are affected too so everybody's in the same boat trying to find the same size crop, or trying to find spat, or trying to buy market crop to keep their business flowing," he said.
Ruled out of government grants
Navigating the recovery grants process has been difficult and frustrating for Mr Ford.
He was able to successfully apply for and receive a $75,000 Special Disaster Grant following the March 2021 floods, and an additional $30,000 Critical Producer Grant.
He's still attempting to access two more grants, but has found the restrictions difficult.
To receive compensation for the flood and sewage spill that followed, Mr Ford said he was required to earn at least 50 per cent of his income from primary production. But his income has been hammered.
"With all the floods and sewage spills and everything else that's gone on, there was no catch last year. So I haven't been able to make any turnover to try and meet those targets," he said.
"I don't fit the government's little box."
Mr Ford said he was still trying to appeal the grant decisions or look for other finances, however, he said loans were difficult to access for oyster growers due to risks such as he had experienced.
He was also worried about future weather events.
"For me to take out a loan on such an erratic cash flow business, it is really scary," Mr Ford said.
'Glimmer of hope' dashed
In yet another blow, Mr Ford's hopes for a successful Easter trade have been dashed after another sewage spill from the local treatment plant this week.
It is the third consecutive Easter he will be unable to trade.
"We were just starting to get a glimmer of hope for a decent sort of year," Mr Ford said.
Despite the many setbacks and challenges the past two years have brought, Mr Ford's passion for what he does remains resolute.
"I enjoy it, it's a great office, it just doesn't treat you well economically a lot."
