Goulburn Valley Water has opened its southern irrigation farms to support livestock owners affected by the Longwood fires, agisting 300 cattle from five fire-impacted farms at no cost.

The water corporation cleared its own cattle and sheep from six farming sites across Seymour, Euroa, Mansfield, Yea, Marysville and Broadford to make room for displaced stock.

Managing director Steve Capewell said the organisation's decision was driven by immediate need, as fires destroyed fences, scorched pasture and made it impossible for farmers to feed or safely contain their breeding stock.

“We're offering this agistment completely free of charge. Right now, our focus is simply helping our community recover, and doing what we can with the land and resources we have,” he said.

“We started hearing directly from networks, neighbours and customers during and immediately after the fires. Requests for help came thick and fast. We knew we had both the capacity and the responsibility to offer support.

“Our southern farms had feed available, and making them accessible for agistment was the most practical way we could help.”

Farmers accessing the program have been coping with widespread damage, including destroyed fencing, ash-covered feed and limited options for relocating breeding cattle.

Many faced the devastating choice of selling irreplaceable bloodlines had agistment not been found.

The program was co-ordinated by the Goulburn Valley Water farming team, which worked with affected farmers and local stock to identify need and allocate space.

“The team did an outstanding job engaging with the community and navigating the logistics,” Dr Capewell said.

“They were asked to clear as much land as possible, and the team moved quickly to make all southern properties available.”

The corporation’s farming operations span more than 30 years, originally supporting wastewater irrigation but strengthened in the past decade by a more commercially focused model.

“There aren’t many government organisations with working farm capacity like ours,” Dr Capewell said.

“That's why we were able to step in immediately and provide a practical solution close to where farmers live, allowing them to check on their cattle daily.

“We're providing three to four months of stable ground while they work through insurance, fencing and pasture recovery.”

Goulburn Valley Water is also donating 1000 bales of hay, with feed produced during the 2025 spring now set aside for fire recovery use.

One Goulburn Valley farmer, who wished to remain anonymous, expressed gratitude for the support.

“We can't thank (Goulburn Valley Water) enough for all of (its) help and support through these most trying of times,” they said.

“The impact of the fires has been absolutely devastating, destroying hundreds of thousands of hectares and leaving the stock with nothing to eat.

“Your generosity and prompt support in making agistment available and donating hay has been amazing.”

All farms available for agistment are now at full capacity.

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Friday, 10th December 2027

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