Mud-covered paddocks and empty pockets: Flood-hit farmers need grants to feed livestock

Their fences are down and the land is coated in a layer of mud or, in some cases, remains largely underwater. Cattle are hungry and difficult decisions are having to be made.

Without the promise of government grants, Mid North Coast dairy and cattle farmers are having to work out whether they can afford to feed their livestock. Those that can’t afford it, or can but can’t lay their hands on the feed, are having to sell their livestock or truck them out of the area.

Last week the Mid North Coaster spoke to two beef cattle farmers in Kempsey Shire – Jack Henshaw and Fred Thurgood.

Thurgood said it was the worst flood he’d experienced at his property in the 70 years he’s been there, and that water levels were higher than the devastating 1949 and 1950 floods.

Like thousands of other farmers across the region, Henshaw and Thurgood are feeling the financial burden of having to feed hundreds of head of livestock. Farmers are hoping for government financial assistance in the form of grants rather than loans, with some still paying off disaster recovery assistance from previous natural disasters. 

An expensive operation

“Cash flow for the next 12 months to two years will be significantly impacted by the events with stock losses, weight losses - the damage of infrastructure is going to be huge,” Henshaw said.

“I think, for thousands of farmers in the Macleay Valley, if we can't get the additional help and support from the state and federal government, a lot of them will not be able to continue farming anymore – the financial impact would be too great.”

Thurgood said the cattle won’t be able to eat the mud-covered grass for up to six months and he’ll have to keep paying for feed to avoid his stock getting sick and dying.

“That country is going to be no good until Christmas time,” he said. “We’ll keep feeding them. It’s going to be a long process.”

Thurgood and his wife Catherine have up to 500 cattle in the saleyards being fed, with more being distributed to other paddocks across Kempsey Shire. 

“It’s a pretty expensive operation, and it’s not getting better.”

To keep and feed, or let go 

Ian Argue from Kempsey Stock and Land has been an agent in the area for nearly 50 years.

“We’ve had floods come and go but this flood is as good a flood down that [Macleay] river as we’ve seen,” Argue told the Mid North Coaster.

Argue has had reports from local farmers that the recent water levels were a foot higher than they’d ever seen before, and that the flood ran over land where the farmers never had seen water before.

Argue said farmers were having to make the tough decision of selling their livestock – losing out on breeding them in spring, and losing a genetic line – for money in the bank now, or holding onto them and taking the cost of feeding them going into winter.

“There's been an enormous amount of cattle trucked out of the district, that have left the Lower Macleay, and they won't be back,” Argue said.

Argus said he has heard stories of dairy farmers selling half their herd because they cannot afford to feed what they had, and that recovery will take time. 

“Once you lose spin in production, you have to survive for probably a couple of years, so it’s not something you get over tomorrow – a flood event like this – in the rural industry.”

Grants over loans 

Kempsey Shire Mayor, Kinne Ring, said a natural disaster had been declared in the LGA 26 times since 2009.

“Talking to farmers … they are still paying off some of their loans from the 2019 bushfires,” Ring told the Mid North Coaster.

Ring said primary producers having to access such loans again could result in “debt on top of debt”.

Ring is advocating for Categories C and D assistance to be provided, which includes recovery grants for small businesses and primary producers.

Categories C and D are made available by the federal government when the impact of a disaster is considered severe and are usually considered once the impacts of the disaster on affected communities have been assessed. 

Category C and D assistance must be requested by a state/territory and requires agreement from the Prime Minister. 

“We’re really chasing [categories] C and D funding. The difference between that and what has already been announced is moving from loans to grants,” Ring said.

“Obviously with loans you’ve got to pay those back but with grants you don’t have to, which will really take a lot of burden off the shoulders of our primary producers.”

Severe weather events becoming more intense

In May, the Climate Council warned natural disasters are occurring with increasing frequency and ferocity, fuelled by the consequences of pollution from coal, oil and gas.

As the climate heats up globally, the atmosphere holds more moisture, causing extreme downpours to become more common. The total amount of water vapour in the atmosphere reached a record value in 2024. 

Earlier this year, climate scientist David Karoly told the Mid North Coaster to address the increase in extreme rainfall, the country needs to transition to renewable energy and put a stop to Australia exporting coal and fossil gas, which contribute to higher emissions in other countries.

Last week, Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese said that while not every weather event can be put down to climate change, floods and droughts in Australia are becoming “more frequent and more intense.”

“There's been communities that have been uprooted,” he said. “For some of them, it's not the first time, and we're reminded as well of the need to look at the impact and cost of climate change.”

Thumbnail: (L) Fred Thurgood. Picture by Ellie Chamberlain. (R) Picture supplied by Jack Henshaw.