Record temperatures in Carnarvon last week cause issues for fruit growers, which could flow on to buyers

The impact of last week’s heatwave in the Mid West-Gascoyne could be felt longer than just a few days and extend to the supermarket, as Carnarvon growers assess the damage to their crops from record temperatures.

From Tuesday through Thursday last week the mercury soared above 40C, with Wednesday’s peak of 47.9C setting a new record temperature in January for Carnarvon, surpassing the previous high set in 2015.

Kevin Burkett, a mango grower in the area, is in the tail end of his season and said the recent heatwave had severely damaged his remaining crops.

“The next variety we’re going to is probably 90 per cent ruined,” he said.

“It’ll probably end up being about 20 per cent of what we normally would be sending away. And that’s going to affect, of course, the markets in Perth as well.”

Mr Burkett estimated the financial blow was roughly $100,000, but added that other fruit crops, especially grapes and bananas, would be worse off.

The sharp drop in temperature to a maximum of 28C on Friday was not enough relief after several days of extreme heat.

Shire of Carnarvon president and mango grower Eddie Smith said there was “significant damage to a lot of crops”.

“Three days with those temperatures that we experienced is not the norm,” he said.

Mr Smith said there would be a significant impact on banana growers, whose crops could take from nine to 12 months to recover.

Mel Ford, a scientist who has previously worked for the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development and studied the growing conditions in the region, said there were multiple factors that made a heatwave particularly devastating for Carnarvon.

“One of the main strategies within Carnarvon is to irrigate as much as you possibly can during the heatwaves,” she said.

“Unfortunately, the water that they have available is quite salty, and that’s stressing the plants out already. And then you have these extreme temperatures that are putting even more stress on the plant.”

Dr Ford said the high amount of sun the plants received in Carnarvon was part of what made the fruit so delicious, but also posed a risk to maintaining healthy crops.

“Carnarvon is a very arid environment. In the past, they would get roughly about 225mm of rain per year. Over the last 15 years, it’s only been an average of 191mmm per year. Which when you think about how much rainfall that actually is and how much those plants need it, it becomes a bit of a problem,” she said.

“The growers there are incredibly resilient. They’re amazing people there, and they have weathered every storm, literally and figuratively.”

The Carnarvon Growers Association is collecting information from impacted growers, with the full damage to local businesses and flow-on effect on prices yet to be seen.

Mr Smith called on the State Government to offer relief packages for impacted growers.

“A flood is a weather event and a cyclone is weather event. Recovery funding is made available for those events,” he said.

“This event is a weather event, and it’s quite significant, and I firmly believe that it’s in the same vein as some of these other events that occur.”