The drought has started to hit home, closer to Melbourne, with one Mornington Peninsula beef producer opting to reduce his stocking rates, to preserve pastures on his Cape Schanck property.
Dr Harry Perelberg has run a small operation on the Peninsula since the 1990s but said it had been the driest he had seen since setting up there.
In March, the Mornington Peninsula Shire council called on the Victorian Government to declare the region drought affected.
Dr Perelberg, a general practitioner, said he taken the calves off his 40 strong female herd, on his 71 hectare property, to give the cows a chance.
"It's been the worst year, to my mind, since I've been involved, I haven't had to destock before."
"As everyone knows, the price of feed is astronomical," Dr Perelberg said.
"I heard a big cattle operator in the north was spending $90,000 a week on hay, just to keep them alive."
He said he would continue to feed his remaining stock.
"But we'll get rain now, and there will be some growth, so things will settle down for spring."
He sold calves and weaners, by a Table Top Angus bull over Angus-Friesian cross cows at Pakenham, receiving $990 for a pen of six steers, and $600 for three heifers.
The older stock weighed 300kg and sold for 330c/kg for steers and 200c/kg for the females.
Dr Perelberg said he had been running cattle on the property since he bought it.
"We feel the drought quite badly.
"It's sandy soil, sitting on limestone, and in the spring it heats up fast," De Perelberg said.
"But with spring rain, we get a lot of growth."
The property was sown down to Phalaris, Coxfoot, Fescue and Barelclover.
"When the summer comes, it dries up very fast; if there's no rain, that area feels it very badly.
"You have to be careful, as it's very light soil and erodes easily, so it's very important to understock."
Apart from stocking rates, Dr Perelberg said applied appropriate fertiliser rates, every two years, and weede the pastures.
"That's pretty much it - I think, if you look after your pasture in that simple way, the pasture will look after itself."
Dr Perelberg said he been running cattle on the Peninsula since buying the property after the recession of the late 1980's and early 1990's when prices for local land fell.
"Some of my fellow doctors had found a way to have an alternative life, outside the operating theatre
"Over several conversations, the idea germinated to buy some land and run cattle," he said.
"I just enjoy it; it's so different from the urban lifestyle."
He said spending time outside, in rural areas, was good for those who predominantly lived in the city.
"It's good for the soul," he said.
"One day, I was doing an assessment for the Royal Children's' Hospital, and I had to visit a State housing estate," Dr Perelberg said.
"I found children there who didn't understand where meat came from; it was as if it grew on trees."
Andrew Miller
I'm a general reporter with Stock & Land, with a special interest in irrigation issues. I completed my cadetship, with the Age, in 1980. Over my career, I've worked for ABC radio news (Mt Isa, Qld) and at provincial and suburban newspapers.
I'm a general reporter with Stock & Land, with a special interest in irrigation issues. I completed my cadetship, with the Age, in 1980. Over my career, I've worked for ABC radio news (Mt Isa, Qld) and at provincial and suburban newspapers.
