Cotton growers in central Queensland have put their case for flood assistance directly to the state and federal governments, according to a Dec. 15 report from ABC News in Australia.

About 30 growers gathered at a property devastated by floods just days before to meet federal Agriculture Minister Joe Ludwig and Queensland Primary Industries Minister Tim Mulherin and tell them about the extent of the floods devastation.

Some of the farmers stand to lose as much as $1.5 million in lost crops and infrastructure and they say without government assistance, they will struggle to get back on their feet next year. To make matters worse, many of the farmers are from Theodore, St George and Dirranbandi, which suffered from severe flooding in March 2010.

Yesterday, Mulherin appointed a working group to assess the flood damage and report back to the state government about what level of assistance should be made available.