Orchadists in the Australian state of Victoria have reported up to A$15m worth of damage following hail storms over the weekend 6-7 March.
A report by peak body Fruit Growers Victoria said around 20 per cent of all orchards in the state had recorded some damage.
Fruit Growers Victoria general manager, John Wilson, told the ABC that in some individual cases there were big losses.
'The largest estimate we've had so far was 4000 bins of fruit. You could estimate that to be in excess of A$2m,' Mr Wilson said.
Similarly, farmers in the northeastern state of Queensland are struggling to cope with recent flooding, with grapevines reportedly underwater in the St George region.
Meanwhile, a Victorian politician wants the government to meet local fruit growers to discuss ways to prevent the damage caused by fruit bats, and has suggested funding for protective netting.
The independent member for Gippsland East, Craig Ingram, told the ABC fruit crops around Bairnsdale are regularly damaged by a colony of around 20,000 bats, which are a protected species.
'I've requested that the Government meet, ministers meet, with the relevant producers locally and work on some solutions,' he said.
'Providing assistance to producers to basically put a barrier between them and the bats and other flying birds, I think is one solution going forward.'
