Unable to truck feed in or to get their hungry cattle out, fire-affected farmers in eastern Victoria believe a serious animal welfare issue is looming.
The Princes Highway east of Orbost in Gippsland has not yet reopened, as work to remove dangerous trees continues.
Chris Commins, who has 760 yearling cattle on a property at Wingan River said he lost half of his pasture and fences to fire on New Year's Eve.
"Fortunately, we've still got enough [fodder and fencing] to shuffle them around, but it's putting a lot of pressure on our neighbours," Mr Commins said.
"They've not got much to eat though … we've got very hungry cattle at the moment and desperately need to get them out."
Mr Commins has sold the steer portion of the Wingan River herd, however, said he could not get approval for a cattle truck to travel the Princes Highway to collect the stock from the property.
Farmers say it is a matter of weighing up the risks and point out that other vehicles and heavy machinery are already travelling the road.
"It's taking so long and it's so difficult to get cattle trucks in … we keep hitting brick wall after brick wall with bureaucratic humbug," Mr Commins said.
"Really, you've got more chance of French kissing a car going to Melbourne than a tree falling on your head on the Princes Highway. It's risk aversion to the point of being unreasonable.
"The incident controller says he doesn't want to front a Coroner's Court, and that's understandable, but it's an emergency and we have a serious animal welfare issue looming."
The open woodland Matthew Rijs farms at Wangarabell, in East Gippsland, would normally constitute the bulk of his summer feed, however, it was lost to the fire.
He now needs to truck good quality hay into the property to feed his livestock, however he has also had trouble securing permission.
Mr Rijs has purchased a semi-trailer load of oaten hay and said he could truck it to Cann River but would then need to load it onto a smaller truck to get it to his farm.
"There's been a big reliance on the Australian Defence Force helicoptering hay in, but every day that seems to be the go it's too smoky and they can't go forward with it," Mr Rijs said.
"(They bring) three bales a trip from Bairnsdale … I can't really see the efficiency of it all.
"Ultimately what I need is high-value oaten hay, which I purchased as the fires started knowing this was going to happen … but I just can't get it to my cattle.
"There's an animal welfare issue coming up. The cattle are good now, but as the days go by it's getting worse and worse," Mr Rijis said.
The ABC contacted the Orbost Incident Control Centre for comment but did not receive a response.
