Australian farmers are battling a tale of two halves, as drought and floods push agriculture to the brink.
Much of the south of the country remains in a crippling drought, the likes of which some have not seen in decades.
To the opposite extreme, the north has faced higher than usual rainfall in recent months, with severe flooding across much of western Queensland.
More than 200,000 livestock were either lost in the deluge or remain unaccounted for, a major blow for farmers running what is often referred to as some of Australia’s best station country. Many suggest it could take years before some farms recover.
The major flooding event made international headlines, with scenes of thousands of hectares under water seen across the world.
While it may not be grabbing the attention like a flash flood, the lingering dry weather down south is equally devastating for rural communities.
Dwindling feed and water supplies, on farms that are typically greener and wetter, could now see similar numbers of livestock lost in states such as Victoria and South Australia.
It’s either a feast or famine – never more have the country’s farmers been so at the mercy of the weather.
Farmers are moving to offload sheep due to the lack of grass. \ Barry Murphy
Farmers in Victoria look to the skies for rain, which for months just won’t seem to materialise.
Southern Grampians Livestock director Heath Templeton, a stock agent working with farmers across southwest Victoria, one of the worst-hit regions, said his clients are starting to get desperate.
“This is probably a once-in-a-generation, once-in-a-hundred-years drought, and we’re hearing nothing about it in the cities,” he said.
Farmers are feeding hay and straw strong to keep stock ticking over. \ Barry Murphy
Dust paddocks
Many of his clients are nearing two years of minimal rainfall and their paddocks have simply turned to dust.
Most are feeding hard every day with bought-in grain and hay doled out to keep stock ticking over.
Ewes are starting to lamb on many farms and farmers face a very difficult decision to either destock now, or carry on with current numbers and hope for rain.
It is feared that once a break does come, sheep prices will skyrocket, making it very difficult to get back into production.
“We’re just starting to see the pressure on pregnant stock now,” said Templeton.
“I’ve started selling pregnant ewes for some clients this week.”
Father and daughter Sherri and Neville Symons, Woolsthorpe, southwest Victoria, run 1,000 ewes and are one example of an operation under pressure.
Sherri said the farm is “all just dirt”.
“It’s really concerning,” she said. “It’s to a point now that it’s all good and well if we get rain but we have to get consistent rain.”
Sherri Symons, Woolsthorpe, south-west Victoria, runs 1,000 ewes with her father and has been forced to offload stock. \ Barry Murphy
Neville said the dry conditions are similar to what his late father and grandfather would have told him about 1914, and he hadn’t seen anything like it in his lifetime.
The family is feeding stock strong and offloading sheep where they can.
“We’re flat out feeding every day,” Sherri said. “We’ve been destocking as well. In times like this, what else can you do? We’re going to be sending truck-loads of sheep away until something improves.”
Dairy volumes down
Bruce Symons, Mortlake, southwest Victoria, said the land was “absolutely as dry as chips”.
Symons, who is not related to the farmers of the same name in Woolsthorpe, runs a small dairy processing plant and said April and May milk supplies were down significantly year-on-year due to the dry conditions.
Many local dairy farmers have started to dry off cows a month earlier than normal as feeding on is just not worth it.
“That takes a fair bit of [milk] volume out,” Symons said. “There’s a lot of pressure on everyone.”
Sheep and beef farmer Peter Gannon, Murroon, central Victoria, said the last 12 months have been the driest since 1983, a drought which saw him learn many lessons.
After that hardship, he dug several more wells and dams across his 2,000ha farm and if he hadn’t done so, he’d be out of water at this stage.
A ‘dam’ is the term used for the small man-made lakes or ponds dug on Australian farms from which livestock get water.
The dams collect runoff in wet times and hold it through the dry weather.
Half of Gannon’s dams are dry, leaving him with limited options when it comes to rotating stock.
Sheep and beef farmer Peter Gannon, Murroon, central Victoria, is experiencing his worst drought since 1983. \ Barry Murphy
Feed is also a major issue and he is spending thousands of dollars each week to maintain nutrition for his 1,600 ewes and 300 Angus cows and followers.
“We’re normally green this time of year, whereas if you drive across the paddock now, it’s dusty,” he said.
“We’ve had two dry years in a row. Water-wise, we’re just about okay, but grass-wise it’s terrible.”
Currently all of Gannon’s ewes and last year’s lambs are in ‘containment’, a strategy to lock up stock in a sacrificed paddock to conserve grass elsewhere and allow for supplementary feeding.
Alastair Coulston, Birregurra, central Victoria, was forced to offload 20% of his livestock.
Two failed springs have turned the screw on his beef and sheep operation.
Typically, he runs 700 Angus cows and 1,000 Australian White ewes, but cut numbers to 500 and 800 in October to help get him through.
Livestock are left on dusty paddocks after months of minimal rainfall. \ Barry Murphy
No grass
He said if he hadn’t made the decision, he’d be “up shit creek” by now.
“We’d be feeding a lot more and everything would look a lot worse,” he said. “We’ve been out of grass for two-and-a-half to three months.”
Coulston said he made approximately a quarter of the hay he normally would last year and now has to buy in bales every week.
The federal Australian and the state governments of Victoria and south Australia have moved to support the drought-hit farmers in the worst affected areas.
Victoria agriculture minister Ros Spence announced an additional $15.9m (€9.04m) in grants two weeks ago, but farmers say it simply isn’t enough. Match funding is the approach policymakers take with grants aimed at insulating farms against the current and future dry conditions.
Farmers can draw down a maximum of $5,000 (€2,483) if they spend $10,000 (€5,686) or more on feeders for cattle in containment, for example. The money can also be used for drilling wells and digging new dams. Mental health supports have also been beefed up in a bid to help farmers.
The floods and drought are having a major impact on livestock markets, particularly the cattle trade, as southern farmers move to offload stock and northern farmers look to replace their herds.
Cattle trade
Those in the parts of Queensland and New South Wales which avoided the floods and got just the right amount of rain are travelling south to snap up cattle at value.
Farmers in Victoria are selling stock earlier and lighter than they typically would and these types are ideally suited for the long journey and burst of grass awaiting them a 20-hour drive away.
Beef and sheep farmer Alastair Coulston and son Hugh, 15, Birregurra, central Victoria, were forced to offload 20% of their stock to navigate the dry conditions. \ Barry Murphy
The circumstances make for some reprieve for southern farmers who are enjoying steady prices despite an influx of cattle to marts, in generally poorer condition. There is such a rush to sell stock that some marts are now putting a cap on numbers. Prices for steers are touching either side of 400c/kg or €2.30/kg and heifers are sitting back at €1.70-2.00/kg. Queensland and northern New South Wales buyers bought more than a third of the 4,500 cattle sold at the Leongatha saleyard in south-east Victoria two week’s ago. Elders livestock territory sales manager Jamie Quinlan, Yea, central Victoria, said the trade would collapse without the northern interest.
“Thank God for the NSW and Queensland agents and feedlotters,” he said.
Australian farmers are battling a tale of two halves, as drought and floods push agriculture to the brink.
Much of the south of the country remains in a crippling drought, the likes of which some have not seen in decades.
To the opposite extreme, the north has faced higher than usual rainfall in recent months, with severe flooding across much of western Queensland.
More than 200,000 livestock were either lost in the deluge or remain unaccounted for, a major blow for farmers running what is often referred to as some of Australia’s best station country. Many suggest it could take years before some farms recover.
The major flooding event made international headlines, with scenes of thousands of hectares under water seen across the world.
While it may not be grabbing the attention like a flash flood, the lingering dry weather down south is equally devastating for rural communities.
Dwindling feed and water supplies, on farms that are typically greener and wetter, could now see similar numbers of livestock lost in states such as Victoria and South Australia.
It’s either a feast or famine – never more have the country’s farmers been so at the mercy of the weather.
Farmers are moving to offload sheep due to the lack of grass. \ Barry Murphy
Farmers in Victoria look to the skies for rain, which for months just won’t seem to materialise.
Southern Grampians Livestock director Heath Templeton, a stock agent working with farmers across southwest Victoria, one of the worst-hit regions, said his clients are starting to get desperate.
“This is probably a once-in-a-generation, once-in-a-hundred-years drought, and we’re hearing nothing about it in the cities,” he said.
Farmers are feeding hay and straw strong to keep stock ticking over. \ Barry Murphy
Dust paddocks
Many of his clients are nearing two years of minimal rainfall and their paddocks have simply turned to dust.
Most are feeding hard every day with bought-in grain and hay doled out to keep stock ticking over.
Ewes are starting to lamb on many farms and farmers face a very difficult decision to either destock now, or carry on with current numbers and hope for rain.
It is feared that once a break does come, sheep prices will skyrocket, making it very difficult to get back into production.
“We’re just starting to see the pressure on pregnant stock now,” said Templeton.
“I’ve started selling pregnant ewes for some clients this week.”
Father and daughter Sherri and Neville Symons, Woolsthorpe, southwest Victoria, run 1,000 ewes and are one example of an operation under pressure.
Sherri said the farm is “all just dirt”.
“It’s really concerning,” she said. “It’s to a point now that it’s all good and well if we get rain but we have to get consistent rain.”
Sherri Symons, Woolsthorpe, south-west Victoria, runs 1,000 ewes with her father and has been forced to offload stock. \ Barry Murphy
Neville said the dry conditions are similar to what his late father and grandfather would have told him about 1914, and he hadn’t seen anything like it in his lifetime.
The family is feeding stock strong and offloading sheep where they can.
“We’re flat out feeding every day,” Sherri said. “We’ve been destocking as well. In times like this, what else can you do? We’re going to be sending truck-loads of sheep away until something improves.”
Dairy volumes down
Bruce Symons, Mortlake, southwest Victoria, said the land was “absolutely as dry as chips”.
Symons, who is not related to the farmers of the same name in Woolsthorpe, runs a small dairy processing plant and said April and May milk supplies were down significantly year-on-year due to the dry conditions.
Many local dairy farmers have started to dry off cows a month earlier than normal as feeding on is just not worth it.
“That takes a fair bit of [milk] volume out,” Symons said. “There’s a lot of pressure on everyone.”
Sheep and beef farmer Peter Gannon, Murroon, central Victoria, said the last 12 months have been the driest since 1983, a drought which saw him learn many lessons.
After that hardship, he dug several more wells and dams across his 2,000ha farm and if he hadn’t done so, he’d be out of water at this stage.
A ‘dam’ is the term used for the small man-made lakes or ponds dug on Australian farms from which livestock get water.
The dams collect runoff in wet times and hold it through the dry weather.
Half of Gannon’s dams are dry, leaving him with limited options when it comes to rotating stock.
Sheep and beef farmer Peter Gannon, Murroon, central Victoria, is experiencing his worst drought since 1983. \ Barry Murphy
Feed is also a major issue and he is spending thousands of dollars each week to maintain nutrition for his 1,600 ewes and 300 Angus cows and followers.
“We’re normally green this time of year, whereas if you drive across the paddock now, it’s dusty,” he said.
“We’ve had two dry years in a row. Water-wise, we’re just about okay, but grass-wise it’s terrible.”
Currently all of Gannon’s ewes and last year’s lambs are in ‘containment’, a strategy to lock up stock in a sacrificed paddock to conserve grass elsewhere and allow for supplementary feeding.
Alastair Coulston, Birregurra, central Victoria, was forced to offload 20% of his livestock.
Two failed springs have turned the screw on his beef and sheep operation.
Typically, he runs 700 Angus cows and 1,000 Australian White ewes, but cut numbers to 500 and 800 in October to help get him through.
Livestock are left on dusty paddocks after months of minimal rainfall. \ Barry Murphy
No grass
He said if he hadn’t made the decision, he’d be “up shit creek” by now.
“We’d be feeding a lot more and everything would look a lot worse,” he said. “We’ve been out of grass for two-and-a-half to three months.”
Coulston said he made approximately a quarter of the hay he normally would last year and now has to buy in bales every week.
The federal Australian and the state governments of Victoria and south Australia have moved to support the drought-hit farmers in the worst affected areas.
Victoria agriculture minister Ros Spence announced an additional $15.9m (€9.04m) in grants two weeks ago, but farmers say it simply isn’t enough. Match funding is the approach policymakers take with grants aimed at insulating farms against the current and future dry conditions.
Farmers can draw down a maximum of $5,000 (€2,483) if they spend $10,000 (€5,686) or more on feeders for cattle in containment, for example. The money can also be used for drilling wells and digging new dams. Mental health supports have also been beefed up in a bid to help farmers.
The floods and drought are having a major impact on livestock markets, particularly the cattle trade, as southern farmers move to offload stock and northern farmers look to replace their herds.
Cattle trade
Those in the parts of Queensland and New South Wales which avoided the floods and got just the right amount of rain are travelling south to snap up cattle at value.
Farmers in Victoria are selling stock earlier and lighter than they typically would and these types are ideally suited for the long journey and burst of grass awaiting them a 20-hour drive away.
Beef and sheep farmer Alastair Coulston and son Hugh, 15, Birregurra, central Victoria, were forced to offload 20% of their stock to navigate the dry conditions. \ Barry Murphy
The circumstances make for some reprieve for southern farmers who are enjoying steady prices despite an influx of cattle to marts, in generally poorer condition. There is such a rush to sell stock that some marts are now putting a cap on numbers. Prices for steers are touching either side of 400c/kg or €2.30/kg and heifers are sitting back at €1.70-2.00/kg. Queensland and northern New South Wales buyers bought more than a third of the 4,500 cattle sold at the Leongatha saleyard in south-east Victoria two week’s ago. Elders livestock territory sales manager Jamie Quinlan, Yea, central Victoria, said the trade would collapse without the northern interest.
“Thank God for the NSW and Queensland agents and feedlotters,” he said.
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