Ann: Notice of General Meeting/Proxy Form, page-7

Well as you probably know - the best operators in the business do, not substantially but significantly. The only avenue open to cope is preparation and contingency planning.

No competent owner of a cattle station would be without contingency plans. In drought areas you can have your silage fermenting away somewhere, and you generate some favours in the good times that can be returned in bad if you can.

In flood prone areas you have a plan that allows most of the cattle to get out to higher ground. You know where the water levels have been in the past. Cattle can swim over fences to a visible flood mound, but it is better if they can access one on foot, so somebody might need to open some gates etc, and make sure the dog isn't standing on the mound barking aggressively. Not so expensive to get a digger and build a mound, especially as you can get the benefit of a dam as well if that is a help. Grass still grows on them after a while. You might have a platform as a roof on something so that a chopper can land at the station so you can get dropped off and paddle around if you wish to, and save some 1000 dollar per head cattle.

Just saying - lived on a farm for a while as a kid, and grew up in a dairying area - that makes me a farming genius obviously! I'm still scared of bulls and angry running cows with viking like horns - had to hand milk one like that every morning for a while (OK - the bumps on the head looked like horns to me).

I very strongly suspect these stations can be run and resourced far better. Happy to be told why I am wrong.