Queensland floods have silver lining

8 Feb 2012, 3:31 pm   -   Source: AAP
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The Queensland floods have caused undoubted hardship for some, but the rain will bring many long-term benefits.

Many farmers in southwest Queensland are flood-weary and in a precarious mental state, a major agricultural body warns.

Agforce president Brent Finlay says it will be essential to get mental health professionals into farming areas as quickly as possible, to prop up people who are being hammered by their third major flood.

"We know people are very fragile, for some it's the third time they've been underwater in 22 months," he told AAP.

"They are flood-weary and it's going to be very hard to pick themselves up after this.

"We have to make sure we can get services that are in the major towns and cities out into the bush and the smaller townships.

"This is a job for the professionals."

But every cloud, even those which blanketed inland Queensland, has a silver lining.

Mr Finlay says while the cotton industry has been hit hard in most areas, other sectors are looking at the prospect of a huge season after the floods.

"The cattle our guys in the helicopters saw pushing out of the floodwaters, those cattle are fat," he said.

"Sure we're a bit concerned with some of the legacies after the flood with sand flies, three-day sickness with stock and waterlogged woolly sheep.

"But after the infrastructure's been repaired especially for the grazing industry, they'll be set up for a great season."

Also concerning farmers south of Cunnamulla is the chance the Warrego and Paroo river systems will join up, creating a flood 100 kilometres wide.

Bill Willis owns Bullamon Plains, a cotton, cattle and sheep station near Thallon, south of St George.

He's hoping for a magnificent cotton crop this year.

"We've got a couple of thousand sheep on top of the railway line west of Thallon," he said.

"But at least we don't have to worry about any trains coming along on two counts - the line's washed away and the government's closed the line anyway."

The long-term effect of the floods would be a tremendous amount of sheep and cattle feed, Mr Willis said.

"All the wheat country will have a huge amount of subsoil moisture in it, even at planting time in April and May, so it nearly guarantees some sort of wheat crop coming into Thallon, which is the biggest single wheat receival depot in Queensland," he said.

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