Sheep numbers plummet as drought-stricken farmers sell en masse

A farmer on the state’s West Coast has launched an online campaign to get an idea of how many sheep have been lost to the drought … and the results are alarming.

Farmers have cut their sheep numbers in half as they attempt to stay afloat amid one of the harshest droughts in living memory, an online survey has revealed.

A farmer on the state’s West Coast last week launched a social media campaign to raise awareness about the heartache of farmers forced to de-stock and find out exactly how many sheep remain.

Suzie Kenny, who runs sheep north of Streaky Bay on the Eyre Peninsula, started the #saveoursheep campaign after experiencing “the most awful, harrowing conversation” with a fellow farmer about having to shoot starving sheep.

“It’s never a good scenario when farmers have to face destroying their own stock – no farmer wants to shoot their sheep,” Ms Kenny said.

“That was really the tipping point of me thinking ‘okay, I’ve got to do something’.”

Farmer Suzie Kenny of Streaky Bay has started a campaign #saveoursheep. Photo: Supplied

The #saveoursheep campaign asks primary producers how many sheep they have left, how many they have had to sell and the wellbeing of the farmers and their families. It’s all done with a view of trying to find food for the remaining sheep as many areas of the state enter a third year of drought.

Ms Kenny said about 50 farmers, most from the West Coast, had responded to her survey in the first few days, and most of them had cut their sheep numbers by half because of the drought. On average, she said, farmers had about 1000 breeding ewes remaining.

“Then some have said that over the next week or two they’ll look to either reduce sheep numbers by half again or even almost completely,” she said.

“Some of the responses are pretty hard to read – it’s really emotional, more so from the female respondents, who bring their kids into the equation and say they are genuinely worried about their husbands.”

Ms Kenny said the tyranny of distance meant farmers on the Far West Coast had struggled to benefit from charity hay runs which usually had their genesis in the eastern states.

“We’re now into May and they’re not predicting much rain this month, which gets us into June,” she said.

“So if it’s a month to six weeks and the sheep continue to lose condition and we can’t get feed for them – what’s that going to do to our farmers? It’s not a great scenario.”

Farmer Suzie Kenny in one of her farm’s barren paddocks. Photo: Supplied

Ms Kenny, who farms sheep and grain with her husband Ian on about 4000 hectares inland from Perlubie Beach, said primary producers were becoming increasingly worried about keeping sheep alive with no rain on the horizon.

She said de-stocking was especially hard for farmers in marginal areas such as on the Eyre Peninsula’s West Coast, because they relied on sheep, rather than cropping, as a regular income source.

“That’s been really one of the most heartbreaking situations – for many they’ve had to sell off generational breeding stock that they’ve worked so hard to produce,” she said. “It’s going devastating for them, both financially but also emotionally.

“Out this way, it’s very rare to hear people complain because we know what we’re in for when we farm out this way, we just roll with the punches.

“But people are really starting to get very distraught and it’s affecting people’s mental health, seeing their sheep suffer.

“Contrary to maybe what people believe, we actually do really love our animals and we obviously do the best for them.”

Ms Kenny said she had been liaising with charity organisations in an attempt to attract a hay run to the Far West Coast.

The State Government announced last week it was working with Need for Feed, Rural Aid, Rapid Relief Team, Farmers Relief Agency and SA Dairyfarmers Association to help get donated hay to drought-stricken farmers.

Originally published as Sheep numbers plummet as drought-stricken farmers sell en masse