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Storms could “make or break”

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Kirstin Nicholson, The Koondrook and Barham Bridge Newspaper

Mick Farrant’s dairy farm is on Flannery’s Road, McMillans and two thirds of his 1,100-acre property is underwater.

Excess water from Pyramid and Bullock Creeks has inundated the farm. This was joined by water diverted from Box Bridge into Macorna Main Channel, and further exacerbated when water was again diverted into the channel and the bank cut, sending more water onto Mick’s property.

He has managed to keep the herd on the farm but if we get another big rain, he will be forced to move his cows. “It’s a big job moving cattle, it’s just a massive undertaking to shift a whole herd and get set up for them somewhere else. You don’t do that in five minutes,” he said.

The water and boggy ground are wreaking havoc on his herd of 580 cows. “We’ve got cows with sore feet. They’ve been wet for so long, their feet have gone tender. We’re doing everything we can to try and compensate, but you just can’t. It gets to a point where they just want to lay down, they don’t want to walk. And they’re prepared to lay in slush and muck just to get off their feet. It’s cruel to watch.

“Looking at the cattle is the hardest bit. Knowing that there’s only so much you can do to help the stock. If anything brings you unstuck, it’s looking at the stock. The hay, the silage, all our feed’s gone. It’s all underwater. It’s all written off, lost. You can sort of stand up to that. I think looking at the cattle’s the hardest bit.”

Goulburn Murray Water (GMW) has been out to top the bank of the main channel running through the property, but if the water goes over, Mick says that’s him finished, not to mention the threat it would pose to Cohuna. Mick is hopeful that the water level has peaked, but says the storms will make or break him – that, and how the authorities manage the water level flowing onto his farm.

“I believe that there is a bit of management within this that could have been done better. I don’t think we had to flood as much as we have. And I know they’ve had to divert water to us to possibly save towns, and that’s a fair call, I understand that. But I’ve just dropped $500,000 worth of silage and hay and all those sorts of things, as have others. That’s not all because of rainfall, some of it is because water was purposely directed in our direction to save others. So, we are a bit of a sacrificial lamb to a certain point.”

With the rain events, GMW had to keep revising the amount of water coming from Box Bridge, so it was a constant battle to save sections of farm. His excavator has been operating for weeks.

The community spirit has been shining through and Mick acknowledges and appreciates that. No matter what he’s going through, Mick repeatedly said there are people worse off, and despite losing $500,000 in fodder and $70,000 of fertiliser that had just been laid, he says they are monetary losses and you can recover.

As for how he is feeling. “I’m not too bad, I have my moments and I’ll probably have more after it’s all done,” says Mick.

With the flows continuing for some time from Gap Creek and Piccanniny Creek, the water is expected to be on the farm for another five weeks. Then, comes the clean-up.

The Koondrook and Barham Bridge Newspaper 3 November 2022

This article appeared in The Koondrook and Barham Bridge Newspaper, 3 November 2022.

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