Latest news with #TonyButtsworth
ABC News
3 days ago
- Business
- ABC News
NSW farmers struggling to feed livestock in wake of Mid North Coast floods
Hay is precious on the Mid North Coast, where paddocks have turned to mud. Two weeks after record flooding swamped Tony Buttsworth's farm at Moorland, he's handfeeding hundreds of dairy cows with fodder. They're consuming around nine bales a day — as there are no green pastures left to graze on. But the lifelong farmer is worried about what will happen when the hay runs out. "At the moment, everything is just mud and slop and will take a long time to recover … we won't have any feed here until November or December, as grass," he said. Mr Buttsworth is grateful to have received some supplies through the generosity of Australians. Nearly two weeks ago, he appeared in an emotional interview with ABC News. At the time, he was filled with fear — and too exhausted to hide it. "There's nowhere dry for the cows, there's just no feed," he said tearfully, on May 25. "I don't know how to get out of this one." That prompted a show of support from friends and strangers — including some who provided feed for his cattle and others who started a GoFundMe page for his family. When Mr Buttsworth learned of the efforts to fundraise for his farm, he asked for the money to be donated to Need for Feed, an Australian charity that helps farmers in times of flood and drought. Over the weekend, the organisation rolled into the Mid North Coast with 15 trucks of fodder — enough to help around 50 farmers. Need for Feed founder Graham Cockerell said he has since received 150 more requests for help from primary producers from the region. He believes his team of volunteers will need to make regular hay deliveries to the region for the next three to six months. "The biggest problem is going to be supply and the cost of that supply," Mr Cockerell said. Hay is becoming increasingly scarce, and the cost has sky-rocketed in recent months, due to droughts in South Australia, Victoria and parts of New South Wales. "Six weeks ago, when we were trying to buy a heap of hay for South Australia, we were paying $200 to $250 a tonne," Mr Cockerell said. With supplies running low on the east coast of Australia, the organisation is considering paying top dollar to import fodder from Western Australia. There have also been calls for more government support for flood-hit farmers. This week, the state and federal governments announced they would split the bill to provide $25,000 grants for primary producers and small businesses affected by the disaster. Premier Chris Minns said he hoped the grants could be scaled up to $75,000 in the weeks ahead. "I genuinely do accept that this is a start," he told NSW Parliament this week. NSW Nationals leader Dugald Saunders said farmers had received $75,000 grants after the 2021 floods and that level of support "should be the starting point". "A dairy farmer who has a million dollars' worth of damage — to offer them a $25,000 grant, quite frankly it's a slap in the face," he said. Mr Buttsworth agreed larger grants would be needed to help primary producers fix their damaged properties. "$25,000 won't do much for many farmers who have been completely wiped out — some will never get going again," he said. The NSW government has not yet requested the highest level of disaster support from the federal government, as it is conducting further assessments of the scale of the damage. NSW recovery minister Janelle Saffin said this was in line with new federal guidelines, which required disaster grant funding requests to be made in stages. "This is a start … that's what we can do, put it out there, and then we'll see what else we can do," she said. In a statement to the ABC, federal Emergency Management Minister Kristy McBainsaid the Commonwealth "will continue to work hand in hand with the NSW Government and of course we will consider any additional funding requests from them when it is asked for".
ABC News
26-05-2025
- Climate
- ABC News
Farmers coming to terms with how much they've lost after devastating NSW floods
Tony Buttsworth describes his farm on NSW's Mid North Coast as "the heart and soul" of his family. But right now, the proud third-generation farmer can barely stand to look at the land he has loved for 50 years. As he points to the dairy cows surrounded by slush and mud, waiting to be fed, his voice breaks. "I don't know how to get out of this one," he says, wiping away tears. When torrential rain soaked the region last week, it left the Moorland property underwater, causing significant damage to the land and destroying around $100,000 worth of fertiliser and seed. Tony and his brother Bobby Buttsworth now have more than 500 hungry mouths to feed — and only one green paddock remaining. The animals are quickly deteriorating, and many will need to be sent to the abattoir. "We were milking 500 cows but we're going to have to lessen the herd a fair bit," Bobby says. As his brother quietly tells him, he's already contacted the meatworks to organise for 100 cows to be taken away. Bobby turns away with tears in his eyes. The two men took over the family business from their father, who spent a lifetime building it to where it is today. Tony left school at the age of 14 to work on this land with his dad. His two adult sons now work alongside him. The farm is now spread across 2,800 acres and produces "a few million litres" of milk a year. The brothers estimate it would take at least 12 months to return the farm to its former condition. "It's not a straight away recovery, it's going to take a long time," Bobby says. The two farmers are hoping the state and federal governments will offer grants to help with their recovery. They also believe a temporary freeze on interest repayments on loans would help the hundreds of producers in the region affected by the floods. Despite the emotion etched on their faces, they insist other farmers around Coopernook are doing it much tougher. One local producer at Coopernook lost a herd of 800 cows, they say. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is planning to visit flood-affected communities on the Mid North Coast on Tuesday, after an earlier attempt to reach the worst-hit areas was thwarted by wild weather. On Monday he confirmed the federal government will provide concessional loans for primary producers and small businesses affected by the crisis. "The primary producer loan allows for concessional rate loans as well as freight subsidies to help transport livestock, and also to support fodder being given to those areas," he says. Premier Chris Minns says the state government will announce a recovery package soon. "I'm cognisant in natural disasters in the past, governments have, very laudably and very understandably, launched the package and it has missed the mark, it hasn't quite worked, it hasn't gone to the right areas," he notes. NSW Nationals Leader Dugald Saunders is urging the state government to declare the incident a Category C or Category D disaster, using council assessment data. This would activate grants for primary producers through a cost-sharing arrangement between the state and federal governments. "People don't want concessional loans," Mr Saunders says. He argues they need immediate financial support to fix fences and infrastructure. "They need things that make a difference immediately to get work happening on the farm so people can get back to operations is critical," he says. "And we really need to see that in the next few days." NSW SES has been dropping emergency feed supplies to farms in the region, but not all are accessible by chopper. Western Sydney-based charity Turbans 4 Australia is also planning to deliver fodder to the region later this week. Founder Amar Singh tells ABC News the organisation is aiming to send eight to 10 trucks of hay to Taree and other parts of the Mid North Coast. "It's an act of solidarity with these regional communities — they do so much for us," he says.
