You guys caught up with flooding in aust

[malleefarmer]

You guys caught up with flooding in Queensland over last 2weeks.
May not be newsworthy over there.

300000 yep 300k cattle lost thus far.

Just terrible drought 3 weeks struggling to feed cattle now can’t get to them.

Google if you want more info

[Guest]

You guys caught up with flooding in Queensland over last 2weeks.
May not be newsworthy over there.

300000 yep 300k cattle lost thus far.

Just terrible drought 3 weeks struggling to feed cattle now can’t get to them.

Google if you want more info

Bit early to call but things are pointing to major drought here in the west

[grassfarmer]

Yeah, I caught that on the BBC news a few days ago Mallee. I've never seen any coverage on North American media. Just brutal. I feel for the owners and the cattle. Hopefully it brings grass to the areas affected but unfortunately it's not going to happen overnight.

For an inside perspective check out this family's heartbreaking losses - search Jacqueline Curley on Facebook.

[burnt]

Benn following this, but like grassfarmer said, nothing from our "newscasters". Unbelievable how fast things change from one disaster into another.

[farmaholic]

Benn following this, but like grassfarmer said, nothing from our "newscasters". Unbelievable how fast things change from one disaster into another.

Some people would blame "climate change".

And I thought I did see a short piece of news coverage on this, it would likely have been CBC or CTV because I normally don't watch other news feeds, unless I stumbled across it somewhere else accidently channel surfing.

[GDR]

You guys caught up with flooding in Queensland over last 2weeks.
May not be newsworthy over there.

300000 yep 300k cattle lost thus far.

Just terrible drought 3 weeks struggling to feed cattle now can’t get to them.

Google if you want more info

Hadn't heard but checked it out, sounds awful. Why are the death losses so high so fast? Too flat and no high ground? Soil too sticky and getting stuck? Is there a firm base beneath your topsoil?
Gonna be hard on the grass and will take a while to come back from the looks of the pictures

You ok in your area?

[Horse]

Farma, I dont think there is any question,it is climate change, the argument is what is the cause of climate change. If its not change then its normal,,,

[GDR]

Farma, I dont think there is any question,it is climate change, the argument is what is the cause of climate change. If its not change then its normal,,,

Horse the problem is everybody jumps on the bandwagon of climate change wether they know what they are talking about or not. Which may have been what you just did also, sounds like there is long history of flooding in Queensland. (Not that i know what im talking about either) This is from wikipedia about Queensland flooding:


" February 1893 floods were the second and third highest water levels ever recorded at the City gauge, the highest being the*January 1841 flood*at 8.43 metres (27 feet, 8*inches).[5]*There was however some oral aboriginal history suggesting a flood level of nearly 12 m prior to the first European settlement."

So to say it isn't "normal" is convenient to the Climate change cause but likely not correct.

Devastating for sure.

[AlbertaFarmer5]

Wow, I had no idea it was even happening, thanks for posting. Makes our whining about the recent cold snap seem petty.

And just to add insult to injury, I see another article stating that flood waters are bringing crocodiles and snakes too.

IN the facebook pictures, there is no vegetation, is that still from the drought, or did the floodwaters wash it all away, or is it really that sparse?

How much rain is involved? The video of the train tracks being submerged, is that purely from rain fall, or overland flooding from a river?

[malleefarmer]

One guy on station 150,000 acres had about 149990 acres under water

Rainfall and rivers.

Its reasonably flat alot of it

//www.abc.net.au/news/2019-02-08/graziers-confronted-with-devastation-as-floods-kill-cattle/10793502 //www.abc.net.au/news/2019-02-08/graziers-confronted-with-devastation-as-floods-kill-cattle/10793502

[malleefarmer]

An unprecedented Monsoonal trough dropped 707 mm or over 28 inches of wild rain with gusty winds to 70 km, during seven days over our properties in the first week of February 2019. Click on each of these photos to find a short explanation of the circumstances.

After what can only be described as an environmental massacre of mammoth proportions throughout the whole of North West Queensland, the people of this country are heart broken.

We live on a family cattle station 60km north of Cloncurry, where we have just received 700mm plus of rain here over seven days, with the majority of that falling over four days. This extreme weather event has decimated much of our native wildlife along with our domestic livestock. They were constantly exposed to wind and cold driving rain for far too long. The majority of the country was either covered in flood water or churned into a bog, making their feed inaccessible.

The cattle became weak using what energy they had struggling through the mud and pushed by the driving rain. After withstanding these harsh conditions for days on end their energy was depleted and they finally became exhausted simply trying to stay warm.

Graziers around the district are working tirelessly to save what they can and also to humanely euthanize those animals that are sadly beyond saving. Helicopters are being used to distribute what fodder we have available to the survivors and currently this is our only form of transportation. The majority of the region is still inaccessible to vehicles and will be for quite some time.

The scale of devastation here and throughout the North West is impossible to put into words. There are estimates of hundreds of thousands of domestic livestock having been lost so far during this disaster and it is impossible to put into numbers the impact on the regions native wildlife. In some of our paddocks we are facing a 95% loss and on average we are estimating approximately 50% losses over all of our families flood affected properties.

Our cattle have been in a significant supplement feeding program having withstood the last seven years of relative drought. As a result of this our girls were in great condition and we were seeing the beginning of another exceptional crop of calves. Almost overnight we have transitioned from drought years to a flood disaster zone. Unfortunately no amount of preparation could have readied our herd for the relentless driving rain and near gale force winds they had to endure.

On day eight the creek by our houses had dropped and slowed just enough for Robert and Kate to swim across and check on some cows close by. The heart breaking scene they were confronted with on the other side very quickly turned our fears into the horrific nightmare that not only our family but our extended family, the whole of the north west are now battling with. It is unfathomable that our ladies in such a short period of time have lost roughly an incredible 50% of their body weight. The survivors are a mere shadow of the strong healthy animals they were leading into this event.

As we begin to access our paddocks we are being confronted with death and devastation at every turn. There are kangaroos dead in trees and fences, birds drowned in drifts of silt and debris and our beloved bovine family lay perished in piles where they have been huddling for protection and warmth. This scene is mirrored across the entire region, it is absolutely soul destroying to think our animals suffered like this.

The true scale of destruction this disaster has left in its wake we are only just beginning to discover. The sheer amount of water that engulfed the region has demolished fences, exposed pipelines, destroyed water infrastructure, created huge gullies that were once only small seasonal streams, turned roads into rivers and completely washed dam banks away.

Properties further down stream have been completely inundated by flood water and reports are coming in of entire herds being washed away as the country side was enveloped by the flood waters. Many homestead complexes have been completely submerged. Here we have been lucky, our houses, sheds and out buildings have remained relatively dry. Others will have lost everything, facing an enormous clean-up in the paddock and the home front.

Right now, I’m sure I am speaking on behalf of everyone affected, our focus is entirely on the welfare of our animals. In the coming weeks when the surviving animals no longer require our constant care, our focus will shift to the colossal task of clean-up, repair and re-building where possible. This will also be the time where many will be able to take stock and start the grueling task of tallying up the horrific financial cost of this devastating event and begin to make plans for the future. I fear many families will not be able to recover from this blow financially, in some cases their entire future income has literally been washed away.

As I take all night to write this story many graziers are battling a race against time to get fodder to their cattle. With so many facing the logistics of such a task all at once, helicopters, hay and aviation fuel are now in short supply and many are completely helpless to do anything until there name reaches the top of the list.

This is an absolutely gut wrenching time for all of us out here, these cattle are not just our source of income, firstly they are our family and for many of us our life’s passion. Day and night they are often our primary focus and during times like this our every waking moment is dedicated soley to their welfare. The toll that this will take on our extended agricultural family and throughout our entire community financially and even more so emotionally really is truly immeasurable.

Australia we need your support……. Our state and federal governments can do much to help by providing financial funding and disaster assistance packages to help our communities recover and rebuild. The banks can assist by suspending interest repayments on existing mortgages, amongst other things whilst our livestock herds rebuild.

You can help us by using your consumer power and insisting on buying local produce, then we can continue to provide your families with our top quality, home grown, nourishing Australian beef.

[malleefarmer]

onlly way to feed is by helicotper

[Horse]

Mallie did you write this or is this from a different area than you are in ? Either way i sure feel sory for you and your mates,kind of funny in a way fire and water 2 of our essentals and 2 of our most devestating forces,hopping it isnt as bad as it sounds.

[malleefarmer]

No mate this is queensland about 2500 kms away.

They could well get another round next week whic will be terrible if it happens.

Contrasts 350kms from the "epicentre" didnt recieve a drop still drouight stricken

Its not unusual to get falls of 3 to 5 inhes in this country in the one hit but what has happened hasnt been seen since 74.

Basically 17 to 20 inch rainfall region basically 75% of it falling in dec jan feb and possibly march mostly the rest of the year is the "dry" season

[Hamloc]

Mallee my niece and her family raise cattle in Mungallala west of Roma in Queensland. They certainly have been experiencing an extended drought. Haven't heard from her for a while. It appears this extreme event is quite far north of her. Am I correct or was this area affected as well? Very devastating and hard to imagine what they are going through!