Murray Dairy chief executive officer Jenny Wilson said leading into this weather event, dairy farmers did not have much of an opportunity to get hay and silage cut and conserved, and there was not a lot of fodder reserves.
“It has hit right in the peak of our production season, so going forward getting quality fodder to produce milk will be a challenge,” Ms Wilson said.
“Farmers will need to transport in fodder from long distances.”
More than ever, dairy farmers are relying on home-grown feed and cropping industry sources for supplementary feed.
Huge areas of crops have been inundated by floodwater.
Farmers lost stored feed, sheds, equipment and machinery, and in some cases, had to dump milk they could not get off the farm.
Animal heath issues may also emerge.
Ms Wilson said it was too early to put a figure on the numbers of dairy farms impacted by the floods.
She was hoping a clearer picture would emerge this week from investigations by Agriculture Victoria.
Ms Wilson said the flooding highlighted the impact on transport infrastructure halting the movement of food east-west across northern Victoria.
Murray Dairy negotiated access across the Shepparton-Mooroopna causeway for milk tankers during the peak of the event.
The industry response to the flooding was outlined in a webinar broadcast on Friday, October 21, and which can be replayed on the Murray Dairy website.
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