Cotton crop takes hit from floods

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Theodore floods

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THEODORE'S cotton crop has taken a big hit from recent floods, with one community alone facing losses of $8 million.

Around the central Queensland town, 1700 hectares of cotton crops have been destroyed.

Some growers have lost their entire crop, just weeks out from harvest, Cotton Australia spokesman Rob Cairns said.

"Imagine if you got paid just once a year and you weren't going to get paid this year," Mr Cairns said.

He said it was too early to put a figure on losses in the cotton growing areas around St George and Dirranbandi in the state's southwest.

But losses in those two southwestern communities are likely to be about 10 per cent of the entire crop, in addition to damage to farming infrastructure.

"It's not just the crop, it's infrastructure with pumps and that sort of stuff, damage to fence lines and roads," Mr Cairns said.

"Trying to get machinery around some of those roads is going to be a challenge" during the upcoming harvest, he said.