Larso and Susdy

[Carlos (frmaiz)]

Are you affected by the bushfires?

[larso]

Not directly where I live , but I’m down seeing my grandchildren on the coast at the moment and the town is surrounded by fires. No one can leave , all roads home are blocked . These fires have been burning for weeks now, literally 10’s of1000’s of acres have been burnt, property lost, lives lost , on top of one of the worst droughts the country has seen. Not only the enormous financial cost but the emotional toll is immeasurable. I wonder whether the country will ever recover. Not good!

[allenw]

I hadn't heard about the wildfires there. Nothing worse to deal with I think then waiting on a fire to get to you.

[Glenn]

Please stay safe. So sorry to read all this.

[Sudsy]

Good Evening Carlos,
Some quick facts regarding the current fires burning in Australia.

*10,000,000 acres burnt, representing a fraction over 0.6% of the total area of Aust.

*Just over 900 homes lost.

*Ever so sadly, up to 20 persons perished or missing at the moment, most attempting to either protect their properties, the balance are volunteer fire fighters.

*At this stage, no end in sight.

*Most of the fires are coastal, in National Parks and rain forests.

*Lastly, the climate change opportunists have quite rudely taken the opportunity to politicise this unfortunate event ad nauseum.

I advise to look at the images if possible. If one was to google Cobargo, NSW fires or Batemans Bay, NSW fires, the pictorial evidence is confronting.
The smoke from these fires is currently effecting New Zealand,
a distance of approximately 1250 miles.

[tartancowgirl]

Desperately sad for all those affected. An Australian friend has told me there was a fire threatening his local town 8 km away but the wind changed at the last minute. He sent me a little video of kangaroos fleeing fire - so sad..

[1780]

Ho did you two guys fare in the fires. Our local own had to be evacuated but fortunate for us the wind decided to change direction and pushed it away. Not good. Did you see one fire has burnt from just short of Glen Inness right to the coast. I reckon that's 200Km plus

[Sudsy]

Hi Peter,
Thank you for the enquiry. I am safe from the fires, (nothing here to burn unfortunately).
However, the drought is another story. 440 points (4.4 inches) of rain last calendar year, representing 22% of our annual average. Down to 12 cows and calves, which are away on agistment Kangaroo Valley, not far from the fires. Not a single beast at home. Accumatively, have received only 22 inches of rain over the last 3 calendar years, representing 110% of one years rainfall. Am looking forward to a change in the current weather patterns.

Allegedly, this drought is the worst in white man's tenure in this particular region. To describe the experience as one of character building is quite possibly an understatement.

I imagine your own drought experiences are very similar?

[1780]

No not as bad Sudsy. Got 30mm on Xmas eve and 25mm yesterday. Still we have very little grass and feeding the cows. Now that I have almost got a real Hereford herd I am not about to let it go but I am sure you and I both know of some who wish I would.

[1780]

I got a call from Sudsy this morning and cutting a long story short, he is more of a technological ludite then me. So, here are some drought pictures he asked me to download for him. Don't know the normal carrying capacity of his land but he hasn't run any cattle on this "pasture" fro 15 months.

WE also got on to discussing the drought performance of cattle and at the end of the conversation he observed that if he lived closer he would come and have a look fro himself. So, rather than repeat myself here I decided to post a few pictures on the Purity Thread of the drought performance of my cattle. If you are interested you will find them there.

[Sudsy]

Peter, thank you for posting.

I had Peter post the above photos in order to partially explain the extent of our current drought.

The paddock the photos were taken is 1280 acres in total. Photos are taken in both a northern and southern aspect.

Formerly carried 130 cows and calves in years gone by.

In addition traded 120 feeder steers annually.

My area is currently the worst effected area in the state. The above photos are reflective of hundreds of thousands of acres, if not millions.

However, I am very confident things will turn around. Hope is eternal.

Hope the photos help to explain and illustrate the severity of this drought.

[Carlos (frmaiz)]

Jan 18, 2020 19:26:41 GMT -6 Sudsy said:

I feel pain looking at those pictures.

[rockmillsherefords]

Hope things turn around for you Sudsy.