Second round of hail wreaks havoc across SA

The October 28 hailstorm affected broadacre and horticultural crops across the Eyre and Yorke peninsulas, Lower North, Northern Adelaide Plains and Murraylands, while the November 6 event caused damage across parts of the Mid North. The Mallee and Riverland was hit by both storms.

Primary Industries Minister David Basham said based off early indications, the overall cost of damage to crops and farm infrastructure from the two storms was estimated to be in excess of $350 million.

"We have been visiting and speaking with impacted growers to understand the extent of the damage and see what support we can offer," he said.

"We are moving as quickly as possible to undertake impact assessments.

"We are working closely with industry to do this and I encourage anyone impacted to call the PIRSA Recovery Hotline on 1800 931 314."

While the Mallee region was hit by both storms, Elders Loxton agronomist Brian Lynch said only a small number of croppers had been impacted twice.

"The October 28 storm hit around Pyap and Loxton, then the Saturday one hit Barmera, Berri and Renmark - a few properties around Moorook are the only ones which got a bit of damage from both events," he said.

Mr Lynch said there was wind, rain and hail simultaneously in both storms, which knocked grains out of heads in crops near ready for harvest on both occasions.

"From a broadacre perspective, I think on the whole the first storm caused more damage in the Mallee, although from what I understand a few winegrapes and citrus crops were decimated in this second one."

Ricco Terra vineyard owner Ashley Ratcliff, Barmera, was one such horticultural producer badly hit by Saturday's storm, suffering 80 per cent damage to four of his nine vineyards. Vines were stripped and grape bunches damaged, wiping out the 2022 vintage of Ricca Terra's premium wines.

"Us and a few other wineries have changed the image of the Riverland - it's not just about bulk wine, it can be a premium region too. To have had our premium vineyards hit, that's where it hurts the most," Mr Ratcliff said.

"A lot of learnings have come out of the storm though. Montepulciano is a very tough variety and performed very well in the hail, while other varieties like Fiano, which is quite brittle, didn't do too well."

Ricca Terra's 2022 vintage has been largely wiped out due to the storm, but Mr Ratcliff said the business was in a fortunate position to have 8000 wine cases bottled.

"It would have been much worse if we didn't have any wine stock," he said.

"We'll continue to look and assess damage next week, but right now we'll do what we have to, spray some winter sprays, apply fertiliser and spray for botrytis, and stay as positive as we can.

"One of the things we've been promoting, is that the best way to support our business at this time, is to buy our wine."

Prior to hitting the Mallee about 4pm on Saturday afternoon, the storm went through isolated parts of the Mid North, with the crops of Caltowie mixed farmer James Moore among those hit.

Mr Moore, who crops 1000 hectares of wheat, barley and canola with father Glan, estimated 25pc of his country was affected - with up to 100pc damage in some places.

RELATED READING: October hailstorm causes varied damage to SA broadacre crops

"Generally in hailstorms it rains first and then you get the hail, by which stage the plant is toughened, but because we got the hail first, it did the damage," Mr Moore said.

He said barley fared much worse than wheat, with the former about a week off being harvested.

"Our wheat is a little way off harvesting, but because the barley was so ripe, the hail just shredded it and stripped the heads bare," he said.

"In total we think there'd probably be about 500 tonnes of grain on the ground.

"There are a few snapped or bent heads in the wheat, but the barley grains were just shaken right out of the heads."

Mr Moore considers himself lucky that some of the worst hit paddocks were sown for sheep feed rather than for harvesting.

"A few of those feed paddocks, if they'd been barley, 70pc of our barley would be wiped out," he said.

"As annoying as it was, you have to think we're lucky with the way we came out of it, and we have insurance too."

KLR Jamestown agronomist Steve Richmond said the hail across the Jamestown region on Saturday was isolated, with most croppers in the area faring OK.

He said affected croppers suffered patchy damage, rather than whole property "wipeouts."

"It was a pretty narrow strip of hail that started just west of Jamestown and then headed north, missing most people, but if you were under it, it did a lot of damage," he said.

Mr Richmond said the wind on Saturday was not quite as severe as in late October when the first hailstorm hit other areas of the state, sparing Jamestown.

"(In late October) we had rain and wind and that messed a couple of canola crops up, twisted them and laid them down, but I haven't seen any looking like that so far (after Saturday)," he said.

MGA Insurance broker Tammie Menzel, Gawler, said the Gawler office had lodged more than 130 claims regarding hailstorm damage across the two events, with 40-50 of the claims for broadacre crops.

"Most of our clients are from across the Adelaide Plains, Barossa, and there are a few in the Mallee, but only a very small number of clients were hit twice," she said.

Ms Menzel said the claims spanned to cover damage to crops, infrastructure and vehicles, while damage from water has also been reported.

She said a shortage of assessors was causing some hold ups.

"Crop insurance assessment in SA relies a lot on bringing interstate people in, predominantly from WA and Vic. They've been held up quite significantly due to COVID, which is putting a delay on things," she said.

RELATED READING: Damage assessments and clean up underway as growers count cost of hailstorm

While the weather has already caused significant damage, croppers are bracing for more wet days through the end of the week, thanks to a low pressure system approaching from the west, according to Bureau of Meteorology meteorologist Jenny Horvat.

Pastoral areas are also expected to receive heavy falls.

"Up until midnight Friday night, our agricultural areas could see anywhere from 10-30 millimetres of rain, with the most significant falls likely to be around our pastoral districts, potentially the Flinders and far west where we're looking at falls of 20-60mm," she said.

"With thunderstorms we are expecting in the far north west over that period, we could see around 100mm fall in that area."

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