QUEENSLAND citrus growers have suffered huge losses, with some orchards entirely wiped out by flooding.
Judy Shepherd, the secretary of the Gayndah and District Fruit Growers Association, said damage in the town and surrounding fruit orchards had been catastrophic.
She said the latest flood is the third natural disaster in recent years and she's afraid many growers won't recover.
As well, some citrus orchards had been completely wiped out, parts of others had simply dropped into the Burnett River and the infrastructure damage was enormous.
"We've heard of some that have gone," she told ABC television.
She said the impact on the region, particularly Gayndah and Mundubbera, would be severe and long-lasting.
"Catastrophic - hundreds of millions of dollars damage just in the citrus industry," she said.
Deputy Premier Jeff Seeney is visiting Gayndah today and Ms Shepherd said she would tell him just how much support was going to be needed to ensure growers recovered.
"I want to impress on Jeff . . . that the small amounts of help that we get through, after two or three years of this sort of stuff, it's not helping anymore. It's not enough."
"We're really in dire straits."
She said growers wanted some acknowledgement of the value of their businesses to the region and to the state.
"Mining is not going to last forever. We're going to be here - hopefully we're going to be here, but it's getting slimmer and slimmer chances all the time."
She said the people of Gayndah was were feeling neglected.
"People are isolated and ignored. We are bushies and we learn to get on with it ourselves. Most people evacuated themselves, most people packed up their own houses," she said.
People needed help to clean up the town and clean up infrastructure, including the plant that provides water to the town, which has been destroyed.
The emotional fallout of the latest disaster was clear as she spoke.
"It's dreadful. I know I haven't slept for about four days," Ms Shepherd said.
Earlier, Premier Campbell Newman said every effort was being made to help isolated towns such as Gayndah and they had not been forgotten.
Chief Executive of Citrus Australia Judith Damiani said there may be a shortage of Australian lemons in supermarkets for the start of the season in February.
About 50 per cent of Australia's lemons and 60 per cent of mandarins are produced in the Burnett region.
Ms Damiani said 40 farmers in the region say their packing sheds, irrigation systems, farm equipment and homes have been seriously damaged.
The damage bill will be higher than two years ago.
Ms Diamani said there was a risk trees could rot if the water takes too long to recede.
When it recedes, a picking frenzy is expected to start, but there are concerns soggy farms and road damage will delay their transport to supermarkets by two weeks.
Supermarkets are stocking United States lemons and Ms Damiani asked the supermarkets not to order more and instead wait for home grown produce.
"We're just asking consumers to bear with us," she said.
"There may just be a slight delay .. . once they're available, it's important people go and support Australian farmers."
