Australia burns , what effect is it having on national stock / crop levels

[andybk]

My deepest sympathies for our forum members down under there have been some heartbreaking stories , we all see the headlines around this side of globe , but just how widespread is this disaster ? , is it effecting the whole continent ? are all crops / stock , dead from drought ? what effect is it having on your prices ?. are certain areas doing well ?
We had all the headlines down here in somerset with flooding but it was only a small % affected,
genuine question , just trying to cut through news grabbing headlines for the pub chat sat night

 

[MrNoo]

This was doing the rounds, there are also some sat pics online showing a lot. Looks awful.

 

[Cab-over Pete]

Whilst it’s no help whatsoever, anybody in Australia affected by this situation has a huge amount of good feeling and thoughts from this part of the world . Just about everybody talks about it here.

I can see how quickly it must spread. Our Christmas tree hardly shed a single needle and looked relatively fresh when I put it on a bonfire with a few dry leaves and dead plants in the garden yesterday. Within seconds the flames were 15 ft high and the heat was incredible. Just from one small 5ft tree. All over in about half a minute

 

[andybk]

Whilst it’s no help whatsoever, anybody in Australia affected by this situation has a huge amount of good feeling and thoughts from this part of the world . Just about everybody talks about it here.

I can see how quickly it must spread. Our Christmas tree hardly shed a single needle and looked relatively fresh when I put it on a bonfire with a few dry leaves and dead plants in the garden yesterday. Within seconds the flames were 15 ft high and the heat was incredible. Just from one small 5ft tree. All over in about half a minute

did see a post on twitter where natives used to control burn undergrowth in winter to stop this sort of thing ,is there normally fires in aus during summer like California hillsides around this time of year ? when the dry winds blow in , just wondering where the truth lies .

 

[Ted M]

Seen/heard a couple of videos today basically saying that the green movement in Australia kicked up a fuss over routine controlled burning for fire breaks and reducing the amount of vegetation as it was environmentally unfriendly and upset some wildlife.
Now they have out of control fires fuelled by larger litter mass generating more heat and killing millions of animals.
Is this what happens when you let lunatics like Packham and Monbiot run the asylum?
They always have the convinent get out clause of global warming or intensive agriculture to blame.

 

[CornishTone]

did see a post on twitter where natives used to control burn undergrowth in winter to stop this sort of thing ,is there normally fires in aus during summer like California hillsides around this time of year ? when the dry winds blow in , just wondering where the truth lies .

@Farmer Roy @cows sh#t me to tears @Steel

There seems to be quite alot of debate around where, when and if cool season burns should take place. Seems to be several saying the national parks don't burn for fire management any more.

I know when we were living in South Australia they certainly conducted cool season burns in the national parks and nature reserves around Adelaide for risk management. A lot of the outer suburbs, particularly against the hills, were in very close proximity to the bush and would've been a living nightmare if the worst were to happen. Having said that, the worst fire that occurred whilst we were there went through 250,000 acres of standing cereals, so no cool season burns could stop that really. The fire that went through the Adelaide Hills just before Christmas went through open farm land and scrub and didn't affect any parks or reserves as such either. It burnt right up to our old front door, which is a sobering thought!

 

[CornishTone]

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=2474854839461043&id=6038270901
Just been posted to another thread and is quite thought provoking.

 

[Dry Rot]

did see a post on twitter where natives used to control burn undergrowth in winter to stop this sort of thing ,is there normally fires in aus during summer like California hillsides around this time of year ? when the dry winds blow in , just wondering where the truth lies .

That's what I thought too. New growth after a burn brought fresh grass which attracted game and made for better hunting. Nothing like the same scale, but there are occasional moorland fires that get out of hand up here in Scotland which would never have done if strip burning had been carried out as it used to be. Yet another case of management of the countryside by country people that is no longer permitted because the experts know better.

 

[Dry Rot]

I remember a conversation over dinner which included Dick Balharry, head man at The Nature Conservancy in Aberdeen, back in the 1970s. Dick was a down to earth former gamekeeper. He said (even then) that things had got so bad that if there was a moorland fire, the head bods would have to have a committee meeting to decide whther it has been started by lightning strike or some other 'natural event' or by a camper whose camp fire had got out of control. If the first, they leave it alone as it was "natural" but if the latter, they'd call the fire brigade.

 

[Bossfarmer]

have many cereal crops been burned or is the grain already off?

 

[Brisel]

have many cereal crops been burned or is the grain already off?

Was it even planted in the first place? My Aussie combine driver lives near Dubbo & he had only planted half his farm because of the Dry. That wasn't even worth harvesting - the combine was only really topping enough to get a few seeds for next year but was only emptying the tank a couple of times/day!

 

[spin cycle]

Whilst it’s no help whatsoever, anybody in Australia affected by this situation has a huge amount of good feeling and thoughts from this part of the world . Just about everybody talks about it here.

I can see how quickly it must spread. Our Christmas tree hardly shed a single needle and looked relatively fresh when I put it on a bonfire with a few dry leaves and dead plants in the garden yesterday. Within seconds the flames were 15 ft high and the heat was incredible. Just from one small 5ft tree. All over in about half a minute

5FT TREE ....feckin skinflint
......i'm just envious i had to spend fekkin lots

 

[Kidds]

A friend is a shearer over there. He works pretty much anywhere in the country but he reckons he'll be out of work next year because nobody has any stock left.

 

[lazy farmer]

A friend is a shearer over there. He works pretty much anywhere in the country but he reckons he'll be out of work next year because nobody has any stock left.

Incredible

 

[Bossfarmer]

Was it even planted in the first place? My Aussie combine driver lives near Dubbo & he had only planted half his farm because of the Dry. That wasn't even worth harvesting - the combine was only really topping enough to get a few seeds for next year but was only emptying the tank a couple of times/day!

You would have thought that would affect the wheat futures?

 

[Shughie McFee]

You would have thought that would affect the wheat futures?

catch 22....no grain.....but no grain needed anyway....cos there's no livestock left to feed.....therefore no effect on international grain market ?

 

[davidroberts30]

You would have thought that would affect the wheat futures?

think about yourself why not

 

[Farmer Roy]

Seen/heard a couple of videos today basically saying that the green movement in Australia kicked up a fuss over routine controlled burning for fire breaks and reducing the amount of vegetation as it was environmentally unfriendly and upset some wildlife.
Now they have out of control fires fuelled by larger litter mass generating more heat and killing millions of animals.
Is this what happens when you let lunatics like Packham and Monbiot run the asylum?
They always have the convinent get out clause of global warming or intensive agriculture to blame.

that is incorrect
The Greens ( who are a minority party & have never held more than one or two seats in any parliament ) actually support Hazard Reduction burns & Back Burning operations to fight fires.
The current LNP ( conservatives ) governments, both federally & in NSW have drastically cut the funding to the NSW Rural Fire Service ( volunteer fire fighters ), NSW Fire & Rescue Service ( the urban / retained fire fighters ) and to the National Parks & Wildlife Service ( who are responsible for National Parks ).
Blaming Greens or environmentalists for any of these fires is disingenuous & frankly incorrect.
Over a number of years now this country IS getting hotter & drier. Every year for the last 3 or so, over the entire country, has broken records for heat & lack of rainfall. The whole country & landscape is dehydrating with very low humidity levels.
Whether you believe in climate change or not is irrelevant - the FACT is it’s hotter & drier than anytime before in recorded European settlement.
These hot, low humidity conditions in many cases have PREVENTED cool season hazard reduction burnings as the conditions weren’t suitable. Combined with the reduced funding ( from conservative govts ) for these operations
The country IS on fire due to the severe, long term weather conditions

 

[Farmer Roy]

catch 22....no grain.....but no grain needed anyway....cos there's no livestock left to feed.....therefore no effect on international grain market ?

I don’t believe cattle numbers in feedlots or chickens have dropped much ( which are the main users of feed grains ). In fact, domestic feed grain prices / basis has sky rocketed
As for international prices, the BULK of our agricultural produce is EXPORTED ( especially milling wheats ), so any reduction will certainly have an impact on world prices.
You need to do some research on international grain markets

 

[Pennine Ploughing]

Just to put this in prospective for UK dwellers, if you draw a line from Bristol to King's Lynn, everything south of that line is about the same as what's burned off an Australia, that's the scale of it, I know Australia is far bigger that the UK,
But it must be very frightening to be in front of the fire, and devastating behind the fire if you have survived it,
A real tragedy all round for everyone involved