Rain across the south-west since Saturday has provided a big morale boost for farmers hit by last month’s St Patrick’s Day fires.
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South-west dairy farm recovery coordinator Helen Chenoweth said the rains had brought a green tinge to many farms burnt in the fires and lifted people’s spirits.
Nearly 33 millimetres fell in Warrnambool from Saturday to 9am Tuesday, with 31mm recorded in Camperdown, 23.8mm in Port Fairy, 22.4mm in Hamilton and 33.8mm in Portland.
Agriculture Victoria Warrnambool dairy extension officer Michelle Joliffe said the rain was a great start to the annual autumn break in the season sought by farmers with some areas receiving up to 40mm.
Ms Joliffe said the regeneration prospects for pastures on many farms burnt in last month’s fires were looking good.
She said the fast-moving nature of the March 17 fires meant many pastures had suffered only a cool to moderate burn that would allow them to regenerate.
Some farmers were looking to sow more seed into pastures to thicken them up after the fires and many were keeping stock off burnt paddocks to allow them time to recover, she said.
Some farmers were keeping livestock in containment areas where they had fodder and water to keep them off the scorched paddocks.
Ms Joliffe said no fire-affected farmers she had talked to had reported any problems getting sufficient fodder for their livestock.
About 260 south-west farms were affected by the fires with thousands of kilometres of fencing destroyed.
Ms Chenoweth said that without fencing, many farmers had been unable to keep their livestock.
However many of the livestock from fire-affected farms had been moved to other farms that had offered to “cow park” the animals until the fire crisis had passed.
Ms Chenoweth said the great generosity by the south-west farming community had meant WestVic Dairy had been able to easily meet the demand for “cow parking.”
One-on-one pasture recovery advice is now also available to assist landholders affected by the March fires get their pastures back on track.
Extension officers from Agriculture Victoria and WestVic Dairy will deliver the service to ensure people can access information tailored specifically to their farm. The service will help with feed budgeting and provide some tailored recommendations about species, sowing rate and fertiliser.
Graziers can contact Michele Jolliffe on 0428 581 883 and dairy farmers can contact Helen Chenoweth from WestVic Dairy on 5557 1000.
