|
|
|
Fears for sheep after storm
8 Jan 2007
There are fears for livestock in Esperance Western Australia following a storm that dumped half a years worth of rain in just three days. Farmers had recently begun to shear their sheep and now fear that flocks could be ravaged by hypothermia, starvation and drowning. "The main danger is hypothermia and I have had reports of stock losses," Trevor De Landgrafft, WA Farmers Federation president said. "We cannot gauge the extent of that because of the (lack of) communications, but with 200mm of rain keeping sheep wet across much of the area for more than 48 hours and the wind-chill factor reducing temperatures to the feel of about 2C, it’s certainly going to create hypothermia." The flooding also caused topsoil erosion which has the potential to decrease agricultural yields.
The West Australian, 06/01/2007
|
|
