Cyclone Debbie has flattened mature cane crops in north Queensland, and anxious farmers are now waiting to see whether further damage will be caused by flooding.
More than 1000 cane growers live in the area, and are responsible for supplying around half of Australia's $2 billion sugar industry.
However as growers begin to survey the damage to their farms, there are fears the industry will take a severe financial hit from the storm.
"We do know that hundreds of hectares of sugarcane has been flattened by cyclone Debbie's winds with the Mackay and Proserpine districts the worst affected," Canegrowers CEO Dan Galligan said.
"Some of the cane will have been snapped or pulled up by the roots and some of it is underwater.
"The full extent of the damage to farms and the crop won't be clear for a number of days."
Mr Galligan said flooding was now a concern for farmers as heavy rain continues to hammer the region as ex-cyclone Debbie, since downgraded to a tropical low, moves south.
"It has still been raining heavily this morning in some of the affected areas and flooding is occurring," he said.
There's also serious concerns about the fate of the Wilmar-owned mill at Proserpine which was right in Debbie's path.
Last year the Mackay and Proserpine regions produced 8.5 million tonnes of sugarcane, out of a statewide harvest of 35 million tonnes.
Farmer Bill Atkinson, whose son is the fourth generation of cane growers in his family, said an initial assessment of their crop near Airlie Beach was "sad".
"The cane is bent over, the tops are cracked off," he said, estimating the storm could have wiped out 35 per cent of the 20,000 tonne crop at a cost of more than $100,000 to his family.
Mr Galligan said cane that had bent over but hadn't snapped off could recover well enough to be harvested, but with a loss of quality and sugar content.
He said the full effect on the industry won't be known until the crush in June.
