When catastrophic hail storms lashed south-east Queensland earlier this month, Sirromet's Mt Cotton vineyards were hit hard.Wine growers have been urged to future-proof their crops as weather events get more extremeThe property, nestled in the Redlands area south-east of Brisbane, was pummelled with golf ball-sized hailstones that stripped vines and destroyed 70 per cent of the crops."It's devastating to say the least," he said.
Its other vineyard, located in the Granite Belt, has endured frost, flood, insect attack, bushfire and one of the worst droughts on record — all in the last 18 months."It's a reminder of what's happening with the climate at the present time — it's becoming very unpredictable and I think this is where the world has to unite," Mr Hayes said.Drought has caused crop losses, which has led to a 95 per cent reduction in yield across the board.
Michelle and Tim Coelli own Twisted Gum Wines, a small vineyard east of Ballandean in the Granite Belt region that focuses on producing low-yield, premium-quality grapes. But the Coellis have fared better than most this year — they harvested 10 per cent of their crop and managed to preserve all their vines without irrigation.
Not to forget they lost the Chinese Japanese and domestic tourists too.