Heroic horses and community members have saved hundreds of cattle at multiple properties near Seymour where stranded livestock were forced onto isolated patches of higher ground surrounded by floodwater for six days.
Grazier and Oakdale Meat Company chief executive Brooke Dawson described the situation as a "nightmare", but praised several riders and their horses who waded through the floodwaters on the Dawson's property Avondale, at Hilldene, as well as other properties near Seymour.
"You could say there's been a lot of lost sleep, there's been a lot of nightmares and there's been a lot of close calls with people putting themselves at risk," Ms Dawson said.
"As much as it's great to have all the cattle alive, people say 'don't put yourself at risk for the animals', but in the heat of the moment it's amazing how deep some people dig to save whatever needs to be saved."
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Ms Dawson said the rescue effort started last Thursday at a friend's property on the outskirts of Seymour where 150 steers and heifers, weighing about 400 kilograms, became suddenly surrounded by floodwater.
"When I arrived the water was just below my ankles and within half an hour it was at our knees," she said.
"It just engulfed us and within 45 minutes it was at chest height.
Several riders and people on the ground, including community members and family friends, were able to muster the cattle to higher ground at the property, leased by Australian Food & Agriculture.
The property is overseen by Ms Dawson's friend Scott Homann who manages AFA's backgrounding operation before cattle are sent to the company's Conargo Feedlot at Deniliquin, NSW.
"We would have had 20 people on foot and we had the four horses at that stage and the cattle would not settle no matter what we did," she said.
"The current was so strong and cattle just kept pushing until 15 of them were sucked under a bridge."
Ms Dawson said the cattle survived passing under the bridge before they were located in a neighbouring vineyard.
"Cattle were running through fences and anything in their path to get out," she said.
At the Dawson's property, about 90 second and third-calving cows with nine-month-old calves at foot were also stranded, but fortunately according to Ms Dawson, they were on slight rise of a silage paddock.
"We left them there for six days and we couldn't get to them other than by boat because the water was so high," Ms Dawson said.
"As it receded, we got more ground cover back but they had plenty of feed so it was the only sensible thing to do without losing them in the current."
The cattle have since been moved to higher land on the property.
The property is about five kilometres from the Goulburn River, but is fed by smaller billabongs, rainfall from the Tallarook Ranges and runoff from the nearby Hume Highway.
"Over the course of the week, we've used seven horses and without them you couldn't do it," she said.
"In all honesty, if we had not had the people we had with their horses, there's no way we would have got them.
"We had some very historic [knowledgeable] people there and I'll be forever grateful for them."
Ms Dawson said the biggest challenge for graziers affected by floodwaters would be access to fodder.
"We've got thousands of cattle that we've got to keep fed so the pressure is on in managing it all," she said.
"We've been to some farms where we've seen some horrific sights of livestock and wildlife.
"It's now about the clean up but the rainfall that we're expecting is going to have a huge impact and could inundate us again."
Bryce Eishold
Bryce is a senior journalist with Australian Community Media's Stock & Land where he reports on all aspects of agriculture. Bryce is also the president of the Rural Press Club of Victoria. Email Bryce at bryce.eishold@stockandland.com.au.
Bryce is a senior journalist with Australian Community Media's Stock & Land where he reports on all aspects of agriculture. Bryce is also the president of the Rural Press Club of Victoria. Email Bryce at bryce.eishold@stockandland.com.au.
