During recent floods in the northern state of Queensland many towns were devastated. The state of Queensland also known as the sunshine state is an agricultural state with cattle farming as well as milk a major part of its economy. Cattle grazing for beef and sheep grazing for wool production is an important industry. Queensland is the second-largest and third-most populous state in the Commonwealth of Australia with a human population of five million. Natural disasters are often a threat in Queensland.
After a prolonged drought ended in 2019 and the rains poured like never before. As floodwaters moved through north-west Queensland to the Gulf of Carpentaria, herds of cattle drowned, others froze, while many of the animals that did survive were in such poor condition they had to be put down. This extreme weather event, equivalent to an inland cyclone, has decimated much of Queensland’s native wildlife, along with domestic livestock i.e. cows and sheep.
Cows are kept in iron fence farm segments. During a flood the cows have no where to go once they reach a barbed wire fenced boundary. Unlike wild kangaroos who can jump over fences, cows get stranded and there they died not in thousands but in hundreds of thousands. Half a million cows died during recent floods.
Cows that survived the floods were weak, struggling through the mud. After struggling in such conditions for days on end their energy was depleted and they finally became exhausted and died.
The Government is allowing regional investment corporation to develop concessional loans for farmers. It will enable farmers to refinance existing debt and offer access to loans for restocking by using the stock as collateral.
The Government is also providing cash subsidies to farmers to bury half a million dead cows.
