More than 6,200 livestock have been killed during or euthanised after the bushfires on the New South Wales (NSW) coast of Australia this summer. This was the number quoted by Australia’s agriculture minister Bridget McKenzie on Tuesday 7 January.
“We know that number will climb, as veterinarians are able to access fire-affected farms, to assess beef and dairy cattle and sheep,” Ms McKenzie said.
She expected total livestock deaths to rise to 100,000 by the end of the summer, as bushfires continue to blaze across the Australian landscape.
“We know we are really only at the start of what’s going to be a gruesome fire season,” Ms McKenzie said.
The Australian government has delegated 100 veterinarians to assist in the task of assessing livestock.
Animal population
Livestock market analyst with Mecardo Matt Dalgleish said the area affected by bushfire has a population of 8.6 million head of sheep, or 12% of the sheep flock, and about 2.3 million head of cattle, or 9% of the dairy and beef herd. It could be six months before the final data is known.
Mr Dalgleish said many farmers had been reducing their livestock numbers during the past few years of unrelenting drought. They would now be facing paddocks with no pasture and fences, a long summer and little hope of being able to purchase fodder and grain to feed those animals.
“Many farmers will have to turn off livestock and it’ll be difficult to afford to restock later on,” he said.
Hay donations
In the aftermath of the bushfires, Australian farmers rallied and donated truckloads of hay and silage to their colleagues along the eastern coastline.
Superfine woolgrowers Hugh and Kate Pemberton, Nicholson River Merino Stud, Nicholson, Victoria, were recipients of donated hay this week. Their paddocks were burned on 30 December, leaving them without pasture and fences across two-thirds of the farm.
“About 800 acres of the farm was burned, but all 3,000 sheep survived,” Ms Pemberton said.
“We were saved by the drought, because we put the sheep in the paddock that didn’t have any feed at all,” Mr Pemberton said.
There was 30 years of breeding genetics at risk. Selective breeding has ensured the flock has been non-mulesed for the past three years.
Mr Pemberton was a volunteer on a Country Fire Authority truck, fighting fires around Bruthen and Mossiface during the night. Four dumps of water from a helicopter saved the young couple’s house.
Donated hay arriving on the Pemberton farm at Nicholson, Victoria. \ Kate Pemberton.
Bruce and Anne Gill, 90-year-old farmers from Kernot, donated 38 round bales of hay to Hugh and Kate; the truck to deliver the hay was driven by Paul and Noeleen Phillips.
“Hay gives you hope,” Ms Pemberton said. “We’ve been battling drought for the past three years and it has been a huge financial burden. We’ve been spending $7,000 at least every month to feed our flock. It’s amazing that people care. We’re not good at asking for help; but help came.”
Destruction
The Buchan Valley, from Murrindal to Wulgulmerang, was hit by two bushfires within a week, burning through fences, pastures, woolsheds, haysheds, shearing sheds and houses.
Aaron McCole said despite the size and intensity of the fires, relatively few sheep and cattle were killed. Farmers’ urgent need was fodder.
The Australian farming community responded in one day, with 86 trucks delivering hay from further afield to farms in the Omeo Valley, Buchan Valley and around Orbost.
“Need for Feed have another 1,500 rolls ready to come through. Most farmers need 80 to 90 rolls of hay to get through the next couple of months of summer, without any pasture,” Mr McCole said. “And that hay is coming. We’ve also been promised cereal straw and pellets for sheep.”
He was pleased the cattle herds and sheep flocks of he and his wife, his brother and his parents survived the bushfire unscathed.
“Last Tuesday, I took a ton of bullets because I thought I’d have to shoot ewes and lambs, but everything was okay. I thought I’d lose every animal. As long as I’ve got my sheep, I can make income and recover,” Mr McCole said.
Dumped milk
When road closures meant the trucks of dairy processors were unable to collect milk, dairy farmers had to dump milk for days. Dairy processors were quick to support the farmers, promising to pay for the spilt milk.
Ingrid Jennings and Adam Hasler milk dairy cows alongside her parents, Peter and Sue, at Bruthen, Victoria. They were forced to dump the product of seven milkings.
“But it’s okay, the processor is paying us for the dumped milk,” Peter said.
Meanwhile, horticulture is also feeling the effects of fire. Up to 10% of the national apple harvest is produced at Batlow, NSW. Many orchards in Batlow and Bilpin, NSW, and the Adelaide Hills of South Australia have been affected by bushfires.
Nets and irrigation equipment were destroyed by ember attacks. Trees are showing signs of heat stress from the bushfires and a lack of water in these summer months.
Jeremy Griffith from the industry group Apple and Pear Australia said it was too early to assess the impact on production, because many growers were still unable to access their orchards because of road closures and ongoing fires in their region.
Scale
About 8.4 million ha of country has burned across Queensland, NSW, Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia and Western Australia. About 900,000ha of country has been destroyed by bushfire in East Gippsland, Victoria. The burned country includes mountain terrain, many farms, small towns and rural residential areas, national and state parks.
The map of Victoria indicating bushfire-affected areas.
On the NSW coast, five million hectares of country has been affected by bushfires, burning through mountain terrain, farmland, coastal residential areas and the outskirts of Sydney, with 1,588 houses destroyed. The bushfires were hot enough to burn rainforest in the Kanangra National Park.
On Kangaroo Island, bushfires caused by lightning strikes this month burned about one-third of the 160km-long island or 155,000ha, including farms and critical protected habitat for koalas, dunnarts, the glossy black cockatoo, goannas, echidnas, pygmy possums, kangaroos, wallabies and a unique species of rare green carpenter bee.
In December, Australia’s environment minister Sussan Ley said up to 30% of the koala population on NSW’s mid-north coast was affected by bushfire. It is believed 50% of the koala population on Kangaroo Island, or 25,000 koalas, have died or need to be euthanised because of bushfire.
Donations
Information is available on the following websites about how to donate to assist people affected by bushfires or support the volunteer rural fire brigades:
Rotary - www.rawcs.org.au Country Fire Authority Vic - www.cfa.vic.gov.au Rural Fire Service NSW - www.rfs.nsw.gov.au Rural Fire Service Queensland - www.ruralfire.qld.gov.au Country Fire Service SA - www.cfs.sa.gov.au Red Cross - www.redcross.org.au Country Womens Association - www.cwaa.org.au Read more
Australian bushfires wipe out over 6,000 livestock
More than 6,200 livestock have been killed during or euthanised after the bushfires on the New South Wales (NSW) coast of Australia this summer. This was the number quoted by Australia’s agriculture minister Bridget McKenzie on Tuesday 7 January.
“We know that number will climb, as veterinarians are able to access fire-affected farms, to assess beef and dairy cattle and sheep,” Ms McKenzie said.
She expected total livestock deaths to rise to 100,000 by the end of the summer, as bushfires continue to blaze across the Australian landscape.
“We know we are really only at the start of what’s going to be a gruesome fire season,” Ms McKenzie said.
The Australian government has delegated 100 veterinarians to assist in the task of assessing livestock.
Animal population
Livestock market analyst with Mecardo Matt Dalgleish said the area affected by bushfire has a population of 8.6 million head of sheep, or 12% of the sheep flock, and about 2.3 million head of cattle, or 9% of the dairy and beef herd. It could be six months before the final data is known.
Mr Dalgleish said many farmers had been reducing their livestock numbers during the past few years of unrelenting drought. They would now be facing paddocks with no pasture and fences, a long summer and little hope of being able to purchase fodder and grain to feed those animals.
“Many farmers will have to turn off livestock and it’ll be difficult to afford to restock later on,” he said.
Hay donations
In the aftermath of the bushfires, Australian farmers rallied and donated truckloads of hay and silage to their colleagues along the eastern coastline.
Superfine woolgrowers Hugh and Kate Pemberton, Nicholson River Merino Stud, Nicholson, Victoria, were recipients of donated hay this week. Their paddocks were burned on 30 December, leaving them without pasture and fences across two-thirds of the farm.
“About 800 acres of the farm was burned, but all 3,000 sheep survived,” Ms Pemberton said.
“We were saved by the drought, because we put the sheep in the paddock that didn’t have any feed at all,” Mr Pemberton said.
There was 30 years of breeding genetics at risk. Selective breeding has ensured the flock has been non-mulesed for the past three years.
Mr Pemberton was a volunteer on a Country Fire Authority truck, fighting fires around Bruthen and Mossiface during the night. Four dumps of water from a helicopter saved the young couple’s house.
Donated hay arriving on the Pemberton farm at Nicholson, Victoria. \ Kate Pemberton.
Bruce and Anne Gill, 90-year-old farmers from Kernot, donated 38 round bales of hay to Hugh and Kate; the truck to deliver the hay was driven by Paul and Noeleen Phillips.
“Hay gives you hope,” Ms Pemberton said. “We’ve been battling drought for the past three years and it has been a huge financial burden. We’ve been spending $7,000 at least every month to feed our flock. It’s amazing that people care. We’re not good at asking for help; but help came.”
Destruction
The Buchan Valley, from Murrindal to Wulgulmerang, was hit by two bushfires within a week, burning through fences, pastures, woolsheds, haysheds, shearing sheds and houses.
Aaron McCole said despite the size and intensity of the fires, relatively few sheep and cattle were killed. Farmers’ urgent need was fodder.
The Australian farming community responded in one day, with 86 trucks delivering hay from further afield to farms in the Omeo Valley, Buchan Valley and around Orbost.
“Need for Feed have another 1,500 rolls ready to come through. Most farmers need 80 to 90 rolls of hay to get through the next couple of months of summer, without any pasture,” Mr McCole said. “And that hay is coming. We’ve also been promised cereal straw and pellets for sheep.”
He was pleased the cattle herds and sheep flocks of he and his wife, his brother and his parents survived the bushfire unscathed.
“Last Tuesday, I took a ton of bullets because I thought I’d have to shoot ewes and lambs, but everything was okay. I thought I’d lose every animal. As long as I’ve got my sheep, I can make income and recover,” Mr McCole said.
Dumped milk
When road closures meant the trucks of dairy processors were unable to collect milk, dairy farmers had to dump milk for days. Dairy processors were quick to support the farmers, promising to pay for the spilt milk.
Ingrid Jennings and Adam Hasler milk dairy cows alongside her parents, Peter and Sue, at Bruthen, Victoria. They were forced to dump the product of seven milkings.
“But it’s okay, the processor is paying us for the dumped milk,” Peter said.
Meanwhile, horticulture is also feeling the effects of fire. Up to 10% of the national apple harvest is produced at Batlow, NSW. Many orchards in Batlow and Bilpin, NSW, and the Adelaide Hills of South Australia have been affected by bushfires.
Nets and irrigation equipment were destroyed by ember attacks. Trees are showing signs of heat stress from the bushfires and a lack of water in these summer months.
Jeremy Griffith from the industry group Apple and Pear Australia said it was too early to assess the impact on production, because many growers were still unable to access their orchards because of road closures and ongoing fires in their region.
Scale
About 8.4 million ha of country has burned across Queensland, NSW, Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia and Western Australia. About 900,000ha of country has been destroyed by bushfire in East Gippsland, Victoria. The burned country includes mountain terrain, many farms, small towns and rural residential areas, national and state parks.
The map of Victoria indicating bushfire-affected areas.
On the NSW coast, five million hectares of country has been affected by bushfires, burning through mountain terrain, farmland, coastal residential areas and the outskirts of Sydney, with 1,588 houses destroyed. The bushfires were hot enough to burn rainforest in the Kanangra National Park.
On Kangaroo Island, bushfires caused by lightning strikes this month burned about one-third of the 160km-long island or 155,000ha, including farms and critical protected habitat for koalas, dunnarts, the glossy black cockatoo, goannas, echidnas, pygmy possums, kangaroos, wallabies and a unique species of rare green carpenter bee.
In December, Australia’s environment minister Sussan Ley said up to 30% of the koala population on NSW’s mid-north coast was affected by bushfire. It is believed 50% of the koala population on Kangaroo Island, or 25,000 koalas, have died or need to be euthanised because of bushfire.
Donations
Information is available on the following websites about how to donate to assist people affected by bushfires or support the volunteer rural fire brigades:
Rotary - www.rawcs.org.au Country Fire Authority Vic - www.cfa.vic.gov.au Rural Fire Service NSW - www.rfs.nsw.gov.au Rural Fire Service Queensland - www.ruralfire.qld.gov.au Country Fire Service SA - www.cfs.sa.gov.au Red Cross - www.redcross.org.au Country Womens Association - www.cwaa.org.au Read more
Australian bushfires wipe out over 6,000 livestock
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