Update on industry response to floods in New South Wales

Dairy farms across the New South Wales North Coast, Mid North Coast, Northern Tablelands, Hunter and Central Tablelands have been affected by the floods over the last few weeks. With the waters receding, the clean-up has begun highlighting a wide range of impact.

Around 150-200 farmers across the state are affected, with around 20-25 farms working through severe impacts.

South-East Queensland and NSW Far South coast continues to see small pockets of farms being affected but with a lower severity than the NSW Mid North Coast.
Lameness is the main animal health and welfare challenge with mastitis as another focus area for many affected farmers. Local vets are supported by Dairy Australia via technical resources, webinars and on-the-ground support from Dr Mark Humphris.

Farmer welfare and mental health is another priority with local resources and coordination being leveraged to support farmers.

Flood Recovery Advisory Service

Dairy Australia is rolling out the Flood Recovery Advisory Service for affected farmers. The service provides dairy farm business with one-to-one support from experienced advisors to assist in short to medium-term recovery advice and planning following the impact of the floods. The roll-out of the service is managed locally, led by Carly Potts (Dairy NSW) and Alicia Richters (Subtropical Dairy). The first advisory appointments are being held and farmers continue to register their interest.

Dairy Australia is also providing support across a range of needs for affected farmers, including helping farmers with their grant applications, a service provider working group to connect local service providers and coordinate the response efforts as well as additional on-ground support for treating and managing lame cows is currently being scoped.
The latest technical resources for managing in wet conditions can be found here.