‘Massive’ animal welfare issues for pastoralists in wake of Kimberley floods

A West Kimberley station manager has described the plight of Kimberley pastoralists in the wake of the unprecedented flood disaster as an Army helicopter air-dropped much-needed fodder to feed his stranded cattle.

Yeeda Station, 30km out of Derby, is the last property along the Fitzroy River before it flows out to the ocean.

The huge amount of water flooding out of the river has turned the station into an island, according to Yeeda Station manager Jack Andrews who said some areas of the river stretched 50km wide.

“There’s no bridge in Fitzroy Crossing and then on the other side where we’re situated, between Derby and Broome, there has been a massive expanse of water and road damage, so we are sort of an inland island,” he said.

Cattle have also been left stranded on small pockets of land that sit just above the waterline, which Mr Andrews said was a massive challenge to animal welfare.

“You don’t sleep well at night when you can’t get out to assist your livestock,” he said.

“Cattle on islands with no access to fodder is a massive animal welfare issue and very concerning with no feed to give them.”

To assist the cut-off pastoralist, the Australian Defence Force airlifted a 1200kg supply of hay feed to the Station on January 31, which will be used to feed stranded cattle.

“With the massive flooding that has occurred, we’ve eaten down our hay supplies and we’ve still got livestock that are on islands that don’t have available pasture and we require this hay to be able to fly out and continue to feed them,” Mr Andrews said.

“It’s massive for us to be able to supply fodder for our cattle and I’m so grateful that Defence was involved with this. A big thank you to the team.

“Pastoralists, to be blunt, just love their livestock and the thought of them not being in a position to have enough available pasture is quite concerning, so this initial stage is just managing that animal welfare aspect of the flood crisis.”

Corporal Emily Haynes, who led the team of dispatchers on the feed drop to Yeeda Station, said it was good to give back to the community and make sure farmers received the feed they needed.

“Air support to areas struck by the floods is an important service we provide,” she said.

“Key for us is using our experience on the ground, knowing where the load needs to go and keeping good communication with the aircrew above us.

“It’s definitely challenging in the heat but rewarding — 100 per cent.”

The feed delivery was made by Townsville’s 5th Aviation Regiment and was just part of 8.5 tonnes worth of fodder to be airlifted to the station.