Sent off two by two

By Bridget Cook
IT WASN’T just people who were forced to seek higher ground in the weekend’s floods, staff at Myuna Farm Doveton worked through the night to move their animals.
But years of experience from the staff ensured that the impact to the farm, which borders the Dandenong Creek, and its animals was kept to a minimum.
Myuna Farm manager Steve Hill said by 9pm Friday night he knew the farm would have to act on its flood management plan.
“We started to make phone calls about then and from 11pm, the staff worked through the night to move stock from low lying paddocks that had the potential to flood.
“We definitely had to mix animals in some paddocks that we wouldn’t normally mix, which created a variety of challenges.
“As part of our emergency flood management plan, we also had to make sure we kept some paddocks free to allow for stock that may have come in from the local community for temporary accommodation.”
Mr Hill said many of the farm’s paddocks went completely under water during the night and into Saturday and that the management plan meant no stock was lost.
“With 25 years’ experience, we were able to closely monitor the rainfall,” he said.
“That meant we were able to stay one step ahead of the floods.”
While no animals were lost, the farm did suffer some damage with about two kilometres of fencing destroyed.
The farm was able to open to the public on Monday.