A large part of Paul Ormsby's Mugambi Boer goat stud enterprise is export and that aspect has been the hardest hit for the Forbes operation but it is slowly getting back to where it was with some positivity in what the future holds.
The November floods surged through the property on the outskirts of town, depositing a silt which smothered established pastures and while he was able to move stock to higher country on a friend's property, Mr Ormsby was left with very little feed for his 100-doe stud.
He said that without the help of the charity organisation, Need for Feed, his stud may not have survived as a lot of his stored feed was rendered unusable by the floods.
"We had some hay stacked in the shed which was destroyed by the floodwater, the higher stuff was okay but the bottom stacks were useless," Mr Ormsby said.
"The water stayed up high for about four days and then took another 10 before I could get around again. I waded in chest high water to give what feed I could to some bucks we had on top of the shed before I got a boat from a friend.
"Need for Feed were great. They bought 27 truckloads of hay to Forbes which probably saved a lot of people's livestock.
"While not all of it was good quality, it helped keep animals alive."
Mr Ormsby said the effects of the flood were felt long after the water receded.
"After the flood, nothing started to grow for about eight months," he said. "The silt just sealed the ground off and it became like concrete.
"Our export operation is only now starting to get back going. We haven't been able to put any weight onto our export animals, but right now we've got a little bit of oats in which is helping.
"Luckily, there is strong interest from China, where a shipment is going next week, but also interest from the Philippines and other parts of Asia.
"The USA has also ordered a shipment of embryos with another one due later this year."
