Windorah in flood. (Image courtesy of Helen Commens)

CATTLE are starting to move in and out of the Channel Country after record-breaking flooding in late March.

For some producers the flooding was devastating – losing livestock and infrastructure – while for others the late break in the season was a game-changer.

Boulia – once in a lifetime season

Rick Britton, a beef producer near Boulia, said this was his third good season in a row, a rarity in his country.

“Our season is a bit like if you went into the ice cream parlour and you got a scoop of every flavour and I reckon you could fatten a crowbar in our country at the moment,” he said.

“It’s probably a once in a lifetime thing to see good seasons in a row like this.

(Image supplied: Ann Britton) 850 head of cattle near Boulia in April 2025.

“You have to go right back to the 70’s, that’s when it was really good across central Queensland and the Channel Country for a few years, so that’s going back 50 years to get seasons like this in a row.

“I was probably too young to really appreciate the 70’s but I can really appreciate it now.”

Mr Britton said he was keen to give some paddocks on his property Goodwood station a spell.

“If you took cattle out of a paddock now you would get a total regrowth by spring, it’s going to be a ripper of a season going into spring and summer,” he said.

Boulia in April. (Image courtesy of Ann Britton) 

Mr Britton is also the Mayor of the Boulia shire and said there is a resounding positivity in his community.

“When everyone is positive like this, that is when they start investing in waters and yards and fences and that helps the whole economy right through central Qld,” he said.

“I’ve got to have a lemon for breakfast each day just to stop grinning.”

Bedourie – NAPCo shifting cattle in and out of the channels

The North Australian Pastoral Company owns a number of properties between Boulia and Birdsville – Glenormiston, Marion Downs, Coorabulka and Monkira.

NAPCo general manager for primary production Steve Drury said without the rain and flooding the Channel Country properties were going to be looking down the barrel of a very tough season after an uncharacteristically hot summer.

“We have a few trigger points, one in February and one in March and we started shifting cattle out of the channels in March,” he said.

Monkira in flood.

“But now the season is fantastic, you couldn’t have painted a more perfect season for us.

“I had one pastoralist tell me ‘the Channel Country is nature’s feedlot’, especially in a season like this.

“At Monkira, the Diamantina reached 5.7 metres but sat at 3.5m for around a month so we did have a bit of a concern with the water sitting on the country for that long, but the outside country is fantastic.”

Mr Drury said the late rain did hold up normal cattle movements across the company’s stations.

“We were about a month behind shifting cattle, but as soon as we could get into paddocks (in early June) we started moving cattle in and out of the Channel Country,” he said.

“We wean progeny from our properties in the Gulf and on the Barkly and send them to our grower places in the channels and then from there they go to backgrounding country or direct to the feedlot.”

Mr Drury said NAPCO would also be spelling some country to ensure the longevity of the pasture.

“The channels are an arid environment, you have to treat it with respect in terms of how you graze it and how you look after it and if you look after it, it will look after you,’ he said.

Birdsville to Innaminka – OBE goes the long way to reach processor

For OBE Organic, one of Australia’s largest organic beef producers, the rain and flooding has resulted in the best season in over a decade for most of its properties.

OBE Director Anthony Brook lives at Cordillo Station in the northeast corner of South Australia.

“Across the Brook Pastoral properties, we are looking at a good 12 to 18 months more or less hassle free, but it is a mixed bag,” he said.

“Cordillo had 140mm of rain in a week, but you don’t have to go too far south and that dropped off.

Janet and Anthony Brook.

“Innamincka station received 60mm over the same period and that would still be fantastic, but it is noticeably different. And you only have to go a bit further south again and they have received nothing.

“Our property Murnpeowie, which is at the bottom of the Strzelecki Track has had very little rain this year, so we have been reducing our numbers there.”

But given the floodwater is slow moving through the Channel Country, roads are still affected, making it difficult to move cattle.

“You can get cattle in and out to the north of Birdsville now and to the east,” said Mr Brook.

“But for us in South Australia – the Birdsville track is still cut off because of the floodwaters and by the time the Diamantina goes down the Cooper is probably going to cut the track so that will cause some logistical issues.

“We have managed to get some of our cattle from Murnpeowie up to the north and we currently have a mob being walked for a few days to get to a suitable yard that we can get a truck into because the roads are still very wet.

“Then we will cart them up to the properties around Birdsville to make the most of the season there.”

Mr Brook explained the road closures also impact the processing end of the business.

“We basically move 10 decks per week just about every week of the year,” he said.

(Image supplied: Jake Bonsey)

“We have a property at Goondiwindi and we put cattle there to help our supply over summer so we aren’t doing too much out here during January and February.

“This year we had sufficient cattle to help us through the period directly after the rain (in March and April) but after that the supply dwindled and it was a logistical nightmare because we obviously couldn’t restock it with cattle from out west.

“But we always move heaven and earth not to miss kills, so cattle were going the long way around up and through Blackall to get to Grantham, it was adding a few hundred extra kilometres, but we made sure the cattle had a spell, and it is something we have done many times.”

Windorah, Thargomindah, Quilpie – 213,000 livestock lost in flood

Windorah beef producer Dude Kidd told Beef Central he hasn’t been able to move cattle because his boundary fences were badly impacted in the floods and it was still too wet to access some areas.

He said there was about one paddock between him and Lake Eyre and he had found some cattle 50km from home, so his focus was on getting boundary fences restored and then getting his cattle home.

“It was very dry before this rain so we have lost some cattle in the floods, but it has set us up for a good season ahead now,” said Mr Kidd.

“Young cattle could put on over 2kg a day in this kind of season.”

(Image supplied: Helen Commens) Windorah flood March 2025.

Further south – Quilpie, Thargomindah and Eulo were some of the areas worst affected by the severe flooding.

Stuart Mackenzie, is the State Recovery Coordinator for the Qld Government until the end of June and is a grazier near Eromanga himself.

He explained there is huge variation in terms of damage and ongoing impacts across the region.

“Some people got absolutely smashed, probably the worst case is someone who had both homesteads flooded, they lost all of their machinery, cattle yards, hundreds of cattle, fences everywhere, their two properties on the river are a mess,” he said.

“But that person’s near neighbour is having a wonderful season because they weren’t in the path of the water and didn’t get the really heavy storm.

“So there is huge variation across the region from having one of the best seasons we have had for decades, to utter devastation in some areas.”

(Image supplied: Helen Commens) The Channel Country in flood May 2025.

Mc Mackenzie said overall 12 shires were impacted by the floods and it is estimated 213,000 head of sheep, cattle and goats were lost in the event (90,000 sheep, 90,000 cattle and the rest goats and horses).

However, he said it is hard to know how accurate that number is because people are still assessing things.

“Some places down the major rivers have lost fences for three, four, five properties and they wouldn’t have got their livestock home yet, so they could still be alive somewhere,” he said.

“There are many stories of people who they didn’t lose as many (sheep or cattle) as they initially thought, when they were able to muster.

“But then there are some cases of people who lost more than they initially thought, so it is probably a figure we won’t really know for some time.”

Mr Mackenzie said the current focus for the majority of producers in the southern part of the Channel Country was rebuilding boundary fences.

“People are desperately trying to get a boundary fence up so they can bring stock home and then look at internal paddocks to process stock,” he said.

“But the properties that didn’t have the damage to fences are having a magnificent season and because it so dry down south in Victoria and South Australia – there are opportunities for people to get stock on agistment.”

Now is the time to be a fencing contractor

If fencing contractors were looking to expand their businesses or people were looking to start one, now would be the time according to Mr Mackenzie.

(Image supplied: Helen Commens) Flood impacted fence near Windorah.

“There is a $105 million exclusion fencing package (from the State and Federal Governments) and there are primary producer grants of $75,000, which a lot of those will go into fencing.

“There is a lot of fencing to be done and there is money to pay contractors, so it is a great opportunity for contractors to gear up and get out here.”

Mr Mackenzie estimated it could take some of the worst affected properties two years to get back up and running.

“But the positive out of all of this is whatever stock people do have they are doing extremely well, and they are worth a fair bit,” he said.

Flood highlights need for road funding

This year’s flood reinforced the urgent need for the remaining 16 kilometres of the Eyre Development Road between Birdsville and Bedourie to be sealed.

Diamantina Shire Mayor, Franis Murray said Birdsville had no road access for six weeks, which meant all road supplies were cut off for that period of time.

“It is so important to seal that final section of the road, not only for the cattle industry, but for the tourism industry and for community health,” he said.

“Unsealed roads take a lot longer to open then the bitumen roads after a flood event.

(Image supplied: Helen Commens)

“This year’s flood has impacted cattle movements and really cut into our tourism season. Instead of starting in March, it is just starting now in June.”

Qld’s Department of Main Roads had costed the sealing of the Eyre Development Road at $30 million.

“I am hopeful we will receive funds through the Country Roads Connect (CRC) Program to seal the last bit of gravel to Birdsville,” he said.

“We have been told we have a good case as having bitumen one way into Birdsville would sure up our cattle and tourism industries and improve the livability, because currently the only way out if it rains is by air.”

The CRC is a $100 million Qld Government funding initiative aimed at funding local governments to pave regional unsealed roads which would otherwise become impassable during weather events, to boost the safety of regional roads.

“There are trucks lined up in town now with cattle starting to move. One pastoralist told me he is bringing 22,000 cattle onto his properties. So we are going to see some huge numbers,” said Mr Murray.

“That is a lot of road trains on these roads, which is why we need the road sealed.”

The Queensland Government has been contacted for comment.

Processors expect Channel Country turnoff will be later this year

A Teys contact anticipates turnoff out of the Channel Country this year will be a month later than normal, because of the late break to the season.

He said processors could still be seeing cattle out of the channels well into November this year, with plenty of paddocks only now getting dry enough to access.

A few Channel Country cattle are showing up in kills now (mostly cows) but the bigger volumes won’t be until September, October and into November, because of the way the season has turned out.

While much of the channels is now used to background young cattle for feedlot entry, the abundance of feed this year means a few more grassfed finished ox are likely, especially in the fourth quarter.