FRUIT and vegetable prices are set to rise as heavy rain and flooding across coastal Queensland wipes causes chaos.
The nightmare conditions over the past 48 hours have wiped out crops, halted harvest and cuts numerous roads.
The remnants of ex-Tropical Cyclone Oswald have dumped up to 750mm of rain in three days across the southern parts of Queensland, including major fruit and vegetable growing regions at Gayndah, Bundaberg and the Lockyer Valley, west of Brisbane.
Growcom chairman Alex Livingstone said it was too early to predict the full impact of the big wet on produce supplies.
Mr Livingstone said there was a lot of water in fields around Bundaberg and in the Lockyer and Fassifern valleys.
This would affect crops, such as carrots, lettuce, sweet corn, beans, peas, capsicums and tomatoes, that were ready for harvest, as well as immature crops due to be picked from April to June.
Mr Livingstone said there also were expected to be crop losses in citrus, macadamia and avocado orchards along fast-flowing waterways, such as the Burnett River.
It could be several days before growers can get onto their fields to assess crop damage and spray fungicides to protect against disease outbreaks.
Mr Livingstone said the timing and duration of supply shortages would depend on how quickly the water dispersed and transport networks could be reopened to allow crops to get to market.
''That was the big problem after the 2010-11 floods - dealing with rural bridges and culverts so people could get into farms and product could get out,'' he said.
North Burnett mayor Don Waugh said the weekend's floods had brought even more heartache for the region's 22 citrus growers still reeling from a severe hail storm last month.
Cr Waugh said the storm cost some growers up to 90 per cent of their crop, with losses estimated at $30 million.
As well as flooding and isolating the towns of Monto, Mundubbera and Gayndah at the weekend, the Burnett River flowed into citrus orchards damaging and destroying trees.
Dairy farmers, graziers and pig producers also had been affected, with one of the region's biggest dairy farmers near Mundubbera losing his entire herd of 400 cows.
Cr Waugh said all roads in the area had been cut and there was no way for people to get grain to feed livestock, or tankers to collect milk.
It could be a week before roads were reopened, he said.
Electricity supplies are gradually being restored and a telecommunications breakdown which left much of Queensland without phone, mobile or internet services for several hours yesterday has been repaired.
Since the weekend, flood warnings have been issued for up to 20 rivers in Queensland and another 15 in NSW as the weather system moves south.
Queensland's major north-south route, the Bruce Highway, has been cut in numerous places and damage to minor roads and bridges is likely to be revealed once floodwater subsides.
A number of cattle sales across northern NSW have been cancelled.
