South-east Queensland dairy farmer Luke Stock knows that when you farm in a floodplain area, you’ve got to be ready for the odd deluge.
It’s a trade off for the good soils. But when a ‘once-in-a-century’ flood happens three times in 11 years, Luke could be forgiven for feeling a bit down.
Instead, he is showing typical farmer resilience and won’t let the weather extremes force him off the land.
“No, we won’t reconsider farming here. We enjoy what we do and you don’t get good soils for no reason,” Luke said.
“We farm on a floodplain and you’ve got to expect these things and be prepared for them. One flood in every 30 years might be a bit more manageable, but three out of 10 is a bit tough.
“We peaked at the same height as 2011 and 2013, which were our record flood heights for as long as records have been kept.”
A fourth-generation dairy farmer, Luke has been farming with his parents Alan and Dolores at Glenore Grove in the Lockyer Valley since 2002.
About 85 per cent of the farm was submerged in the latest flood, which devastated swathes of south-east Queensland and northern NSW in February and March.
Although cows were safe on higher ground, all internal fences were wiped out along with a lot of boundary fences, the topsoil was destroyed and feed on the grazing platform was affected.
The shed, dairy and house all sit on a ridge and were spared any damage.
“We were like an island; about 85 per cent of the farm was under water,” Luke said.
He hopes flood insurance will cover the repairs and he hopes for a quick rebound.
“We will recover 100 per cent,” Luke said.
“The biggest thing is what we’ve lost in topsoil. We can repair fences, road damage and anything we lost in the irrigation system, but the topsoil we’ve lost you don’t get back overnight.
“It’s now 90 per cent receded but the final 10 per cent will probably sit there for another month. The fact that we keep getting more storms will contribute to that.”
All milking cows were brought home but the heifers couldn’t be retrieved in time when the flood hit.
“We had a worrying night Friday (February 25) not knowing if they were safe but they were on the highest part of our farming country and made it to higher ground,” Luke said.
“They would have spent the next two or three days on the road, mixed in with 20 other head, but fortunately, they are all safe and well.”
Living in a flood-prone area has become more difficult, but Luke has adapted.
“We try to do everything we can from a risk management point of view. We try to store feed with plenty of silage on hand and hay in the shed for when this happens.
“If you look at weather events over the last 20 or 30 years, they’re more extreme and more often.
“From a risk management point of view, it makes a lot of sense to be prepared.
“We were fortunate we had a good last 10 months and had a great growing season so we had the opportunity and ability to put stored feed away.”
They had to dump milk for five or six days, losing more than 5000 litres.
“Initially tankers couldn’t get into our farm and then with Brisbane flooding, tankers couldn’t get into Brisbane so there was a flow on to us,” Luke said.
The farm lost power from Sunday February 27 morning until Friday March 4 but had generators to keep milking.
Despite the latest setback, Luke realises many others are in worse shape.
“It’s as good as it could be when you look at places in northern NSW.”