The next few weeks are set to make or break some Australian cherry growers.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
In Young, one of the country's richest cherry producing areas, grower Scott Coupland is preparing to harvest what could be his best crop in more than a decade.
As NSW Cherry Growers Association president, Mr Coupland knows how much is riding on the upcoming harvest.
''If there is another major disaster through the Australian cherry industry this year, that could just about wipe it out,'' he said.
''I'd be gone and I wouldn't be on my own.''
Driving past row after row of flourishing cherry trees, it's hard to imagine the millions of dollars' worth of damage inflicted last November when Young was hit with 118mm of rain in a single day.
The downpour destroyed hopes of a good harvest after a decade of drought conditions that crippled cherry crops and ruined 75 per cent of fruit in 2009.
Mr Coupland said he was still repairing the damage to his 22,000 trees after the rain left some blocks completely under water and dropped the crop yield to about 10 per cent.
''It is cruel I guess, but fruit growers are resilient,'' he said.
''We do hang on and see that it will get better in the future.''
For the growers that survived the years of drought and deluge, Mr Coupland said the upcoming harvest had the potential to turn around their fortunes. ''There's plenty of fruit here and the quality's good,'' he said.
''The season is sitting out there in front of us now. But there's a long way to go.''
More than 50 workers are booked in to help with this year's harvest, which is set to start this week.
After losing more than $1 million worth of cherries last year, Mr Coupland said this year would be a chance to catch up on debts.
''We've now got to the stage where we've spent any cash we've been able to get out hands on,'' he said. ''But if we've got the weather on our side this year, I reckon I could pick 10 times what I did last year.''
A good harvest would also be a welcome boost for the wider community, which Mr Coupland said had suffered after the destruction of both cherry and wheat crops last year.
''They really hurt last year,'' he said. ''Last year there was no fruit harvested, there was very little wages spent ... Growers had to cut hours and that had a major impact on the town.''
Young Shire mayor Stuart Freudenstein said the town had been resilient, but business had been quiet for too long.
''I don't know how many years they can survive losses like that,'' he said. ''We don't want to contemplate the possibility.''
It was one year too many for businesses such as the Young Fruitgrowers Cool Store, which closed down after 90 years of trade.