Victoria fires: Farmers need fodder, extent of livestock loss unknown

It could be days before the full extent of livestock loss from the devastating NSW and Victorian fires are known, but there’s desperate calls for fodder to help farmers keep their remaining stock alive.

Bushfires in East Gippsland. Picture: DELWP

THE number of livestock killed in this week’s devastating fires is not expected to be known for days.

That’s according to Agriculture Victoria, who as of lunchtime today were still conducting property assessments across East Gippsland.

Agriculture Victoria incident agency commander Brett Harrison confirmed with The Weekly Times more than 50 initial property assessments had been conducted since Tuesday, including 25 properties in East Gippsland and 30 in the Upper Murray.

But “dangerous conditions” had restricted access to many areas affected by fire, with many still in the dark as to the full extent of the damage.

Mr Harrison said a mix of dairy, beef, and sheep farms were affected.

“We’re yet to get a clear picture of the extent of livestock losses, but we’ll start seeing more of those impacts over the coming days as we are provided access to the fire ground and more of the impacted land.”

Agriculture Victoria staff have visited properties at Clifton Creek and Buchan, with two teams under Forest Fire Management escort at Guys Forest and Cudgewa Valley, with limited access.

“Today teams are in Buchan again and possibly Orbost and Ensay, dependent on access to the fire grounds,” Mr Harrison said.

A NSW Department of Primary Industries spokeswoman said the extent of livestock losses in that state was unknown.

“We know there will be significant losses, but with very limited access due to the ongoing fires and damage, as well as loss of powerlines and phones in the area, it will take days before we are able to get the full picture of the losses from the NSW fires.”

Victorian Farmers Federation livestock president Leonard Vallance said the full extent of livestock loss would be unclear until farmers could access their properties.

“But there’s stock that have no available feed. I’ve been talking to people in the North East and in Gippsland this morning, and the issue is lack of road access,” Mr Vallance said.

“People are still doing assessments. You’ve got get back in there to see … we’re hoping by the end of today we’ll have a better idea.”

Mr Vallance said the next thing farmers would be focusing on would be feeding stock and looking at agistment options.

“We need to fly fodder up the east. We’ve got to be able to transport the hay,” Mr Vallance said. “Farmers are also looking for agistment of stock, which will be a problem.”

FODDER NEEDED

THE call out for fodder to help farmers affected by the bushfires has begun, with the Victorian Farmers Federation declaring there was an “absolute need for fodder to start moving, and water”.

While the full impact of the fires remain unknown, VFF president David Jochinke said it would start a call out for people to donate fodder, as well as organising a rebate scheme to help with its transport.

He said he had already received calls from across the state from people about making donations. Both food and trucks would be required.

“Fodder will definitely be required, it will come from all parts of the state, and from what I have heard there is a strong demand for it,” he said.

“Like what we saw in the St Patrick’s Day fire, these things take usually about 4-6 weeks to really balance out, and we are going to be doing everything we can to get that immediate wave of relief through as soon as possible.”

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Mr Jochinke said there had also been discussions with the state and federal governments about using the army to deliver fodder to fire-affected regions.

“If there is resources and they have capacity to get some fodder into some areas that are absolutely in vital need, they should be looked at as much as a priority as anything else — for the pure sake of animal welfare, just to throw a few bales out and keep the livestock going until people can get there on the ground.”

He also said it was crucial that farmers be able to access their properties as soon as possible after the fire threat had passed, and had been assured that was a priority.

Australian Fodder Industry Association chief executive John McKew said he expected parts of southwest and central west Victoria would be able to help meet the demand in other parts of the state.

“East Gippsland in particular was in a pretty desperate situation there and they have been sourcing a supply of fodder and hay products for some period of time. The fires are only going to exacerbate that situation,” Mr McKew said late this morning.

“Luckily in places like southwest Victoria and central west Victoria, where I am travelling through at the moment, there are still very good levels of supply.

“A lot of this will be needed in places such as East Gippsland, and a continuation of demand coming out of NSW and Queensland which we’re seeing is quite pronounced at the moment.”

Mr McKew also expected fodder-sourcing charity groups would be “gearing up” to support the fire-affected areas.

“I haven’t spoken to them directly at this stage, but I think there is going to be a need for that. How that looks and how that is structured it is probably a little bit early to be predicting that.”

HOW TO HELP

Report livestock injuries: Agriculture Victoria, 1800 226 226

Fodder donations and offers of agistment: VFF, 1300 882 833 or [e-mail]