WATER shortages are fast becoming critical for livestock producers across the State on the back of the spreading drought and extreme heat.
In many areas the water situation is forcing increased sales of stock, particularly cattle, which otherwise would have been retained and fed.
Coonabarabran agent Dave Henry, Davidson Cameron and Company, said plenty of cattle had already been sold late last year, but a dry January could lead to massive numbers hitting the saleyards.
Fellow agent Luke Scicluna, Davidson Cameron and Co, Gunnedah, agreed.
“It’s just not economically viable to cart water (for livestock),” he said.
“If there’s no major rain event by February there’ll be a really big run of cattle hitting the market.”
Mr Henry hoped the Bureau of Meteorology’s (BOM’s) forecast for January through to March proved wrong.
The BOM’s forecast said the chance of below average rainfall was 60 to 70 per cent across most of NSW.
Rain during the past week was scattered across central and North West NSW, bringing little relief to drought affected areas.
Parkes had the heaviest falls, with 119 millimetres recorded at the airport and Forbes recorded as much as 47mm, but even these falls were restricted to isolated pockets.
Parkes Mayor Ken Keith said there was a difference of “about three inches (75mm)” in recordings across the shire.
The rain petered out quickly outside of those areas, with falls scarce in the north where it was desperately needed.
Elders district wool manager at Bourke, Kevin Webber, said falls ranging from 5mm to 16mm did little to ease the situation.
The Nyngan region was also experiencing serious water shortages according to Landmark branch manager Phil Wallace.
“A lot of people have put large poly pipe systems from tanks and rivers and people are coming to a decision to sell because they’re about a week or fortnight from running out of water,” he said.
Tania Hall at “Gundooee”, Coolabah, who with her husband Dennis also runs “Mount Marion” at Binnaway, said they were selling any females without calves, which also meant chipping into their replacement heifers.
Their cattle were mostly in strong condition, but with the water on “Gundooee” fast drying up they had no option.
The continued dry weather at Coonamble had seen nearly all surface water supplies go dry, with local agent Jim Hiscock, AJF Brien and Sons, expecting 1000 head across all agents for tomorrow’s prime sale.
He said 2013 had already seen a lot of cattle sold, but the combination of feed costs, poor weather forecasts and now a water shortage was driving more sales.
Coonamble farmer Don McKenzie, “Cresline” (pictured), had already sold all his cattle and was taking the opportunity to clean out as many as 20 dry dams.
“There’s no (surface) water here at the moment. Without the Artesian Basin there’d be nothing alive, (including) all native animals, birds and domestic stock,” he said.
“I’ve got records going back to 1889, and 2013 was the second driest year on record.”
Moree stock and station agent Richard Williams, Williams Stock and Property, said people with capped or piped bore systems weren’t doing too badly, but dams were dry.
Further west at Walgett most sheep flocks had been reduced to core breeding stock and the majority of the cattle had been sold.
Chris Clemson, Clemson Hiscox and Company, Walgett, said many producers had moved their cattle off agistment and sold them at southern sales, keeping only their core breeding stock.
“People just don’t have any feed left and the money reserves are fast drying up as well,” he said.
“We’re a bit lucky with the artesian basin here – anyone on the cap and pipe bore system will be better off than those with bore drains, which usually fill up the dams during winter but it’s been so dry they didn’t run.”
In the New England, earthmoving contractor Dave Rocks has been building and cleaning dams for almost 30 years, and as the dry conditions continue he thinks it is getting close to the worst he’s ever seen.
“This is starting to look like one of the worst dry spells... it’s worse than the one in the (early) 2000s and is about as bad as the one in the ’90s,” Mr Rocks said.
Mr Rocks operates a bulldozer and an excavator, and said high numbers of producers were asking for old dams to be cleaned out and new dams to be built to try and catch any rain that falls in the area.
