Skip to main content

Your internet browser is out of date and not supported by this website. For the best viewing experience on wool.com, please update your browser to one of the options below.

AWEX EMI 1142 -10
Micron 17 1690 -37
Micron 18 1509 -33
Micron 19 1408 -4
Micron 20 1333 +1
Micron 21 1302 -10
Micron 22 1282 -13
Micron 25 688n -10
Micron 26 519n -11
Micron 28 352 -3
Micron 30 330 +5
Micron 32 290n -5
MCar 760 +6

Planning should start well before the bushfire season and be part of on-going property management. Ensure your Bushfire Survival Plan is up to date and to hand so you can ensure the safety of your family and your livestock during bushfires. Without plans, you could make panicked wrong decisions that threaten their safety.

Sheep and cattle farmer Craig Schneider gazes back at the enormity of the pyrocumulonimbus from the Sir Ivan bushfire, while he relocates his stock on his property near Coolah, NSW, in February 2017. PHOTO: Alex Ellinghausen (Fairfax)

Planning should start well before the bushfire season and be part of on-going property management. Ensure your Bushfire Survival Plan is up to date and to hand so you can ensure the safety of your family and your livestock during bushfires. Without plans, you could make panicked wrong decisions that threaten their safety.

Recent bushfire seasons have been long and intense. Their repercussions are still being felt by the many farmers. We hope that this year’s bushfire season will not be as bad, but being prepared with a plan and ensuring other people are familiar with the plan will make it easier to deal with if bushfire does threaten your family and livestock.

Plan ahead. It is important to act well before a fire starts. Making a choice when a bushfire threatens your property is too late. Practicing your plans will make them easier to implement if fire threatens. Ensure your Property Identification Code (PIC) is current and that all stock are identifiable to your property’s PIC.

Whilst caring for livestock before and after a bushfire is essential, your and your family’s personal safety should be considered as a first priority on all occasions.

20 ESSENTIAL STEPS BEFORE BUSHFIRE SEASON1

Country Fire Authority (CFA) of Victoria has produced a checklist of 20 essential steps for farmers to undertake before the fire season. They are useful in whatever state you are located.

Planning

  • Have a routine in place for fire risk days (moving stock and limiting or postponing machinery use, switching off electric fences). Make sure everyone on your property is aware of it.
  • Know your trigger to leave early on fire risk days and the trigger to leave for family members, employees or contractors. Plan for contingencies such as children at school.

Safe paddocks

  • Create a heavily grazed area where stock can be moved to during a fire (see section below).

Property infrastructure

  • Reduce fuel loads around assets (house blocks, sheds) and create strategic fuel breaks.
  • Make sure there are no gaps between the cladding and the ground slab of your sheds to prevent embers getting inside.
  • Double check that spark arrestors on machinery are working and efficient. Make sure chainsaws are free from faults.

Firefighting equipment

  • Have water fire extinguishers or knapsack spray pumps (minimum 9 litres) available that can be carried by any person using farm equipment or machinery.
  • If you have private firefighting equipment, conduct a ‘refresher’ session with family and employees to make sure everyone can use it.
  • If you plan to stay and defend a building during a bushfire, take steps to establish a water supply of at least 10,000 litres (independent of mains water supply).

Assisting emergency services

  • Make sure your property number is clearly visible so emergency services can identify it when approaching the entrance.
  • Check access tracks around your property. Consider if access for fire trucks can be improved by clearing vegetation, signposting dead ends or creating turning circles
  • Make sure water supplies around your property are clearly marked in case emergency services need to access them.

Hay storage

  • Have a safety strategy in place for storing and monitoring hay – purchase a moisture meter if necessary.
  • Make sure hay is fully cured before baling.

Laws & permits

  • Make a list of restrictions (including Fire Danger Period and Total Fire Ban) relevant to your property. Display it or keep it handy so everyone on your property can refer to it often and easily.
  • Apply for the appropriate permit from your local council if you intend to burn off weeds, stubble or vegetation during the Fire Danger Period, or if you intend to use fire for any other purposes.
  • Check with your local council to see if local laws are in place for lighting fires, burning off or using incinerators.
  • Apply to the relevant authority if you need to remove vegetation or manage fuel on roadsides.

Planning recovery

  • Have the contact details of your local council as a first point of contact for recovery after a fire.
  • Know which government grants, compensation and other types of assistance that you may be eligible for the help you recover from the impact of fire.

PROTECTING YOUR LIVESTOCK2

Livestock such as sheep can be affected in bushfires by radiant heat from the fire, smoke inhalation, burns from walking over hot ground and other injuries that might be caused by panic, eg getting caught in fencing.

Your options for protecting your livestock will depend on the size of your property, the number of livestock and where your animals are kept. Preparing one or more ‘safe paddocks’ prior to the bushfire season is a good option. A ‘safe’ paddock is one that:

  • has adequate water supply without relying on electric pumps
  • is easy to access, is well fenced and has adequate space
  • is either irrigated or hard grazed to reduce the fuel load, and
  • is not surrounded by other combustible material like thick vegetation, tree lines or haystacks.

If you prefer to relocate any high-risk animals to a low fire risk property in another area:

  • plan where you will go
  • understand what will trigger you to leave (eg high fire risk rating, emergency warning)
  • prepare an emergency kit that can go with the animal(s)
  • make an agreement with the property owner about conditions of agistment
  • know alternative routes to get there in case the main pathway becomes blocked.

USEFUL RESOURCES

Resources that can be particularly useful for farmers to prepare for bushfire season include:

Sources: 1 Country Fire Authority (Vic), 2 Primary Industries and Regions South Australia (PIRSA).

 

This article appeared in the September 2020 edition of AWI’s Beyond the Bale magazine. Reproduction of the article is encouraged, however prior permission must be obtained from the Editor.

Articles That Might Interest You

Rebuilding from natural disasters - practical help for livestock producers
Starting this Tuesday, 24 March 2020, a series of webinars have been scheduled for livestock producers - offering practical tips to help rebuild on the back of the recent bushfires, drought, floods and storms. Read more
Drought continues to push Australian wool production lower
The Australian Wool Production Forecasting Committee (AWPFC) has updated its forecast of shorn wool production for the 2019/20 season. This second forecast is for production of 285 million kilograms (mkg) greasy, a 5% decline on the 2018/19 estimate. Read more
Drought continues to impact Australian wool production
The Australian Wool Production Forecasting Committee (AWPFC) has revised its forecast of shorn wool production for the 2018/19 season to 298 million kilograms (mkg) greasy, a 12.7% decline on the 2017/18 season and lower than its forecast of 305 mkg (-10.8%) at its November 2018 meeting. Read more