Farmers in boats have been captured on video mustering cattle through Victorian floodwaters.
The mind-blowing vision shows people on two boats herding cattle to higher ground, while at least two other people can be seen wading through hip-height floodwater near the Goulburn River.
In part of the video, the cows and calves can be seen with only their heads above the floodwater.
Riddellvue Angus stud principal Ian Bates, Alexandra, said his friend, Jason Masters, captured the video during the rescue effort to move cattle to higher ground.
The vision was filmed about a kilometre from the Maroondah Highway at Whanregarwen, near Alexandra.
"You can see a mob of about 120 Hereford cows and calves which are swimming through the water," Mr Bates said.
"The cattle ended up having to go downstream about 200 metres before they could get enough strength to swim against the current and onto higher ground."
More than 2000 livestock, including cattle and horses, are believed to be stranded by floodwaters between Molesworth and Eildon.
Mr Bates said that number was a conservative estimate determined at a community meeting at Whanregarwen Fire Brigade on Monday night.
"We came to that number because everyone that was at the meeting wrote down the amount of livestock they had stranded," he said.
"Of the people at the meeting, we worked out there was at least 1300 cattle stranded and we know of at least another 700 cattle stranded from Molesworth upstream owned by people who couldn't get to the meeting.
"There could be up to 10,000 cattle stranded in the Goulburn Valley system."
Mr Bates said farmers affected by the floodwater required fodder and livestock agistment.
"This water is going to be here for a few months so we're going to need to be pretty proactive to truck cattle out," he said.