The road to recovery after a cyclone is no easy feat, but north Queensland free-range pasture egg producer Jane Streeter is well on her way along that road.
After losing half her flock and taking a massive hit to production, the Proserpine farmer now has 2,000 hens producing 1,200 eggs a day.
It has been a welcome relief and a far cry from six months ago, when ABC Rural spoke with Ms Streeter just after Cyclone Debbie had passed through the region.
"[There are] eggs everywhere … it was a tough time after the cyclone, just seeing the egg numbers dwindle," Ms Streeter said.
"It is fantastic to have really good supply again and be back to be as busy as we were before.
"It is nice to have the young hens out there."
Full packing room a good sign
When ABC Rural visited Ms Streeter recently, her packing room was filled with cartons of eggs waiting to be delivered throughout the Prosperine and Whitsunday region.
That was a very different sight from the initial months after Cyclone Debbie.
"It was looking pretty sad … it is nice to have the place looking abundant again," Ms Streeter said.
However, while Ms Streeter is finally delivering her eggs and they are back on the shelves, there are still some challenges.
Following the cyclone, some of her customers had to look elsewhere for eggs and the producer has had to rebuild new customer relationships, particularly with restaurants.
"We are hoping the restaurants will be back to what we used to do, and luckily we kept all of our carton supply shops," she said.
Recovery continues
While her production is booming again, Ms Streeter said it would still take some time to recoup the financial losses suffered from the cyclone in March.
"The financial side of things is not something that can be recovered even within a year or so. Eggs are not a high profit business," she said.
The egg producer does not let that fact get her down though.
"The cyclone is over now and we are back to business and just moving forward."
