Three years on from the devastating monsoon trough event of 2019, Richmond grazier Corbett Tritton still remembers the disaster like it was yesterday.
"It was absolutely devastating. We do droughts and we do floods, but the monsoon was something else," he said.
The Tritton family lost more than 2300 head of cattle when flood waters and freezing temperatures swept over their property and devastated their already drought-affected stock.
But with a North Queensland Restocking, Replanting and On-farm Infrastructure co-contribution grant, from QRIDA, they restocked cattle and restored cash flow as quickly as possible.
Now in 2022, the Trittons are breeding their numbers up, while diversifying with cotton for the first time in a decade.
"We're still in drought," he said.
"Last year we had to sell a lot of cattle and we're fortunate because the market is quite strong. The grant we got (through QRIDA) was a big help, but we are bruising again.
"Cotton is king at the moment, prices are high.
"I love growing cotton, it's an exciting crop to grow."
He recommends anyone who was affected by the 2019 monsoon trough event and has not yet accessed recovery funding to do so before applications close on June 30.
Mr Tritton said the support he received was a key pillar in their recovery.
"We want our communities to survive," he said.
"There are terrific people out here and terrific communities, and the monsoon really hit everyone hard - not just graziers, everybody.
"It was so important to get that assistance to get people back up and get a bit of money flowing through the communities."
"I think the resilience has been terrific and the support that everyone received has been nothing but extraordinary to get everyone back on their wheels."
Now, they are better prepared for the future.
"At the time, our cattle were run down and waiting for the rain," he said.
"So their condition was down already, and that really impacted their ability to hang on. Going forward, we learn a bit from that, we try and maintain a bit better condition."
The grants of up to $400,000 are available for primary producers to restock, replant and repair after flooding caused by the 2019 weather event.
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Lucy Kinbacher
Raised on a cattle property at Biggenden, Lucy Kinbacher has spent 10 years working across metropolitan, regional and rural publications in both Queensland and NSW. Lucy has been the editor of the Queensland Country Life and North Queensland Register since 2021.
Raised on a cattle property at Biggenden, Lucy Kinbacher has spent 10 years working across metropolitan, regional and rural publications in both Queensland and NSW. Lucy has been the editor of the Queensland Country Life and North Queensland Register since 2021.
