Unfathomable – devastated by bushfire again
Imagine how you would feel if you were facing the same fate as you did in 2019-2020 devasted by bushfire.
It is unfathomable to think about but that is what happened to one dairy farmer in the NSW south coast in the Bega Valley region. From Coolagolite Road, Coolagolite (Bega Valley LGA) in the north right through to Cuttagee, Barragga Bay, Murrah, Bunga and as far south to Goalen Head is where the bushfire burned or become far too close to three dairy farms. The bushfire affected area was 6,700 ha in size.
After the fires in 2019-2020 the family were able to rebuild and return to their farm to be caught off guard this time around and have it burned to the ground 3 years later. It is not the fact that the grassed areas and established trees are burned as fire does not discriminate. Livestock, water infrastructure, fences and the list goes on of farm losses that cost millions of dollars to repair and rebuild. Let alone the enormous mental and emotional toll that a disaster such as this can have on a family and community.
The Bega Valley is a dairy farming region, are a close community and it is understood that the fires came close to destroying surrounding farms. One of which was also devastated by fire in February 2020 in the aftermath of the Black Summer fires, however was fortunate to be spared this time.
Farmers, especially dairy farmers work tirelessly to build their property as a sustainable model for years to come and to hopefully one day hand over to their children, to have it destroyed in an instant places enormous pressure on them and their family. If devastation of this magnitude keeps happening to our agricultural communities there will be a shortage of farmers in the future, hence a supply shortage of dairy products which is not something we want to occur.
It is easy to say ‘keep on going’ as farmers always do, but with the forecast of a horror summer for bushfires it is hard to stay so positive. One thing is for certain farmers will always look out for their neighbour!
Lynelle Rogers, eastAUSmilk Executive Officer