Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
ABC News
ABC News
National
Hannah Jose

Macquarie Marshes flooded in 'wettest period in living memory' as farmers face mounting losses

Farmers on the floodplains of the Macquarie Marshes say they are facing the longest inundation they have seen in their lives.

With hardly a break in the rainfall and continuing releases from a full Burrendong Dam upstream, their land has not had time to dry out in months.

Doug Andrews farms on the edges of the marsh, and said he had not seen a wet period this long before.

"We've been under water for about 12 months now. Out of 2,600 hectares, I'd say about 1,200 are under water," he said.

For the first time, he has had to move his cattle off his property after running out of feed and high ground.

"I've got 17 paddocks on the place and 15 of them have floodwater in them," Mr Andrews said.

"Two of them I haven't been into for about six months, it's just too wet to get to them."

Further south, Michael Egan runs a mixed farming operation upstream in Warren, which has been flooded several times in the past few months.

"This is the longest [wet] period in living memory," he said.

Up to 40 per cent of his land has gone under water, affecting a full production cycle. 

"We still haven't got some of our cotton off the farm because we've got access problems and some of the public roads are under water," he said.

"We've got in the order of 3,000 bales isolated out there, it's about a third of our production," Mr Egan said.

Most of his grazing land is under water too, leading to losses in beef production.

No let-up in rain predicted

Later this week, yet another significant rain event is expected to hit the region.

Bureau of Meteorology Forecaster Gabrielle Woodhouse said there would be rain and thunderstorms around Thursday and Friday, with several flood warnings in place. 

Ms Woodhouse said there was still about a 70 per cent chance of La Niña re-forming during the spring, meaning there was no end in sight for farmers with floodwater on their properties.

"So unfortunately it seems that the wetter than average soil conditions that we're seeing are probably going to persist for the next several months," Ms Woodhouse said.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.