100,000 farm animals lost in Australian bushfires
First estimates on the impact of Australian wildfires show that almost 100,000 farm animals have been killed in the blaze, according to ABC News. The Federal Agriculture Minister fears stock losses from the recent Australian bushfires will exceed 100,000, as farmers around the country begin to assess the fires' impacts on their properties and livestock. With active fires still burning, delivering fodder and disposing of the deceased animals had been prioritised and the Government has also made 100 veterinarians available to assist in assessing the livestock left standing.
However, agriculture market analyst company Mecardo found about 8.6 million head of sheep and 2.3 million cattle live in areas impacted by the bushfires across Victoria and New South Wales, making up about 12% of the sheep flock and 9% of the national cattle herd.
Because of the size of the area impacted, it could be months before the exact figures on stock losses were known. "It's a far bigger area than what was impacted by the Queensland floods, and that took about 3 months before we knew about the number of cattle impacted," explained senior market analyst Matt Dalgleish.
However, the industry doesn’t have an accurate handle on what causes many of these losses &...
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