Cattle stocks hit by an apocalypse
GULF Country cattleman Russell Lethbridge says upwards of 300,000 cattle have died in floodwaters in the state’s northwest.
From the air small mobs of cattle are dotted all over the northwestern plains. Helicopter pilots are doing what they can to keep them alive but thousands of more cattle are bound to die.
Mr Lethbridge, who is on the board of Meat and Livestock Australia, said some of the cattle death numbers he was hearing were “horrifying”.
“What makes this even worse is the fact that people have been fighting to keep their cattle alive for at least seven years of drought. People have done what they can during the drought and they are still doing what they can in the flood to keep cattle alive, but with so much water and mud the situation in many cases is hopeless,” he said.
“The thing is so many of these graziers were already running on empty anyway and then they get hit by this,” he said.
Cattle deaths extend south to Winton where cold, 60km/h winds follow- ing heavy rain took a heavy livestock.
“West of Winton there are 50 per cent cattle losses. The chill factor associated with the cold wind on top of the rain was too much for cattle that were already in a weakened state from drought,” Mr Lethbridge said.
He said one issue that would arise in the wake of the flooding would be mental health.
“To my mind this flood is on the scale of a major volcanic eruption. It happened with very little warning and then when the rain started it was too wet for choppers to fly and to start moving cattle to high ground. It is a huge natural disaster.”
Mr Lethbridge said for some graziers who had been fighting drought for years, the flood and the loss of 50 to 90 per cent of their cattle would be the final straw.
“Some graziers this,” he said.
“There are herds north of Julia Creek where 100 per cent of the cattle have gone. These are the stories I’m hearing.” won’t get toll on out of
Mr Lethbridge said one large company-owned station running 80,000 cattle had lost an estimated 85 per cent. This is a loss on one property alone of 65,000 head.
Another property south of Normanton carrying 25,000 head of cattle is entirely under water. Losses here as well could be as high as 100 per cent.
Mr Lethbridge said the water level north of Julia Creek would be maintained for another two to three weeks.
“The water coming down the Flinders River at Hughenden now won’t be at Normanton for another fortnight,” he said.
He said the Gulf Country stations now under water comprised some of the most productive cattle country in Australia. He said some of the biggest names in Australian agribusiness like MDH, AACO and Stanbroke owned stations in the area.
“In Queensland there are seven million head of cattle north of the Tropic of Capricorn. There would be about one million cattle in the northwest and about one quarter of them could be gone,” Mr Lethbridge said.