■In a series of reports, the Newcastle Herald will explore the state of the Hunter agriculture sector. Faced with storm damage, urbanisation, global competition and mining, our farmers have taken a hit. Belinda-Jane Davis will take a look at how, and if, the industry can survive and flourish again.
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ASK any farmer why they are on the land and they will tell you it is for love, not money, because they don’t earn that much.
The Hunter’s primary producers endured the worst natural disaster since the 1955 flood when the super storm smashed them on April 20 and 21, and now they must face their toughest road yet to stay afloat.
The agriculture industry copped an estimated $120million worth of damage in the storm, which is $3.8million more than it’s worth to the Hunter economy each year, Australian Bureau of Statistics data shows.
This includes damage to pastures, farm machinery and infrastructure, as well as livestock losses.
More than $65million of it is the cost of 7300 kilometres of fencing that was lost – a distance almost equivalent to a return trip between Sydney and Perth.
The NSW Department of Primary Industries damage assessment has found the beef cattle industry was hit hardest with $17.4million in damage.
The dairy industry copped a $5.3million loss, oyster farmers suffered a $6.2million loss, crop farmers are $5million out of pocket, the poultry and turf industries each lost $2.7million, and the commercial fishing industry lost $300,000.
One thousand beef cattle, 42 dairy cattle, 37 horses and 114,000 poultry perished during the storm, or in the aftermath.
Seven thousand hectares of farm land was still under water after five days, and 5000 hectares had water lingering on it for up to five weeks.
More than 10,600 hectares of sown pastures were damaged, and 4000 hectares of lucerne crops were either lost or damaged.
Local Land Service senior biosecurity officer Luke Booth said pastures could not survive being submerged for that long, and farmers could not work the ground and replant until it had dried out.
Aerial mapping during and after the disaster shows the Port Stephens, Dungog, Great Lakes and Singleton local government areas fared the worst with land that was inundated, and deemed extremely and moderately affected. Land in the Maitland local government area was inundated around the Hunter River, while other parts of the area were moderately affected.
NSW Farmers Association Hunter region manager David Banham said producers had ‘‘taken a massive hit’’ and would ‘‘take a couple of years to recover’’, while most government support available would end within 12 months.
He said the association would fight to ‘‘keep farmers on the farm and make sure that farming is a profitable enterprise and a business to be in’’.
It will take producers such as Torryburn brothers Joe and Lewis Brennan – who are the worst affected dairy farmers in the Hunter – years to get back on their feet.
They have spent more than half a century on the land. They learnt about dairying as toddlers watching their parents on the 161-hectare dairy farm – which they bought in 1927 – and became heavily involved as they grew older and eventually took over the business.
It is a lifestyle that keeps them busy 16 hours a day, seven days a week, and Lewis, 56, has barely had a day off.
Joe, 61, has only had three days off – that was back in 1992 when he cracked his ribs.
The brothers stick together through everything life throws at them, and will be forced to take out a loan to help them recover.
They know they could be the last generation of their family to live and work on the land since their Irish ancestors settled nearby in 1850.
The brothers did not earn a cent for milking 90 cows twice a day for six weeks because the Torryburn bridge was swept away on April 21, and there was no detour for the milk tanker to take. Each day they tipped 2000 litres of milk down the paddock, and spent between $300 and $400 on grain to feed the herd.
With no idea how long the isolation would last, and after using 50 tonnes of grain in a month, they gradually reduced the supply to the herd. There was no way to bring in a bulk supply if they ran out.
The milk tanker took the first load of milk out on June 6 after Dungog council and the Roads and Maritime Service finished a temporary gravel track off Clements Road, which is a few kilometres south of Gresford.
‘‘We’ve had the worst six weeks that we’ve ever had in our lives,’’ Joe said.
‘‘No pay for six weeks, and the bills are still coming in – that’s the hard part to deal with.’’
‘‘Cows aren’t like a tap that you can turn off, they keep making milk and you have to milk them – and you can’t stop feeding grain suddenly,’’ Lewis added.
Surface water running off the steep hills above them, combined with a swollen McIntyre Creek, caused the worst flooding on April 21 that the property has seen in more than a century. Over 380 millimetres of rain fell and the herd, which fled to the concrete yards at the dairy for protection, were up to their knees in water wherever they went.
‘‘We’ve never seen that kind of water here ... Paddocks were under water, you couldn’t see the dams – they were under water,’’ Joe said.
Farmers Association delegates will soon push for more support from all levels of government to help the industry prosper.
They are creating a plan that will ‘‘give farmers a hand up’’ by cutting red tape, streamlining support, and providing subsidies and grant funding.
It will be presented to the state and federal governments when it is finished, and the association will lobby for it to be implemented.
‘‘The last thing you want is the youngsters to see mum and dad go through this and say ‘No it’s all too much’ and leave the land. That does nobody any favours,’’ Mr Banham said.
The state government has provided low-interest loans up to $130,000, with the first two years repayment and interest free.
Mr Banham said only four applications have been made which showed ‘‘farmers were already in debt, and going into more debt was not a viable business option while they got back on their feet’’.
The Rural Assistance Authority said farmers had six months to apply and were normally slow to take up a loan because they were assessing their position, and the assistance they needed.
The state government has also offered transport subsidies of up to 50per cent to take stock, food and water up to 1500 kilometres, and applied to the federal government for Category C natural disaster grants which would provide eligible farmers with up to $15,000.
The federal government is also offering a farm household allowance to eligible farmers through Centrelink.
The Brennan brothers are grateful for the support that has already been announced, but agree that more help is needed. They want to see the government modify monetary obligations farmers face so they can put more money towards their recovery.
‘‘We have to have a dairy licence, an irrigation licence, tractor registration ... There are a lot of different things we have to pay, and on top of that we have GST and rising power bills,’’ Lewis said. ‘‘No one can expect anyone to work for nothing. If they don’t want people on the land, then nothing will be done.’’
Their future would be a lot brighter if the dairy industry paid its farmers a higher rate for every litre of milk. They were earning 67¢ per litre under Dairy Farmers before the industry was deregulated in 2000, and 15 years later under Murray Goulburn Co-operative, the biggest milk processor in Australia, they are making only 50¢ per litre.
The brothers said the cost of running a farm was constantly rising, and farmers need at least 70¢ a litre to make a decent living.
‘‘We’ll never starve, but as it is right now it’s going to be very hard,’’ Joe said. ‘‘We don’t need much to live on, but we need something.’’
LIVESTOCK DEATHS:
1000 beef cattle
42 dairy cattle
37 horses
114,000 poultry
HOW THE HUNTER FARED:
7000 hectares under water after five days
5000 hectares under water for up to five weeks
10,660 hectares of improved pastures damaged
4000 hectares of lucerne crops lost or damaged
1000 farm sheds damaged
IMPACT ON COUNCIL LGAS:
Cessnock: minimal to moderate
Dungog: extensive around Dungog, moderate north of Dungog, minimal in Allyn and Paterson river catchments
Gosford : minimal
Great Lakes: extensive around Bulahdelah, moderate around Tea Gardens, minimal around Forster.
Lake Macquarie: Minimal to moderate
Maitland: inundation, or moderate
Newcastle: moderate
Port Stephens: extensive around Clarence Town, moderate around Nelson Bay, inundation on low-lying land along the Paterson and Williams rivers.
Singleton: minimal south of Singleton, moderate around Glendonbrook, extensive around Branxton and Greta
Wyong: minimal
INDUSTRY DAMAGE BILL
Total: $120million
Fencing: $65.7million (7300kilometres lost)
Industry breakdown:
Beef cattle: $17.4million
Dairy : $5.3million
Oysters: $6.2million
Crops: $5million
Poultry: $2.7million
Turf: $2.7million
Commercial fishing: $300,000