Tolaga Bay farmers forced to sell cattle because of damaged land

  • 18/06/2018

A Tolaga Bay farmer has been forced to send away cattle because their land is too damaged to farm.

A group of frustrated farmers confronted the Forestry Minister about what was being done to help while he visited the area on Monday.

Bridget Parker and her husband have had to send more than 100 cattle to the sale yards.

"It's sad - the farm is covered in silt and water, and we have no food for the animals," she told Newshub.

Each log on their water-logged farm is being moved by hand as broken fences are replaced by temporary fixes.

They're waiting to find out who will pick up the bill.

"There hasn't been a dollar offered, and we haven't seen one person come down our driveway from the forestry industry," says Mrs Parker.

The couple were one of several local farmers confronting Forestry Minister James Shaw on Monday afternoon, meeting face to face on the muddy roadside in Tolaga Bay.

"It's pretty clear there have been mistakes the in the past, and we need to make sure they don't get made in the future," Mr Shaw says.

The worst affected are struggling to farm with wood and water still littering their land two weeks on.

"Our farm alone has had $50,000 to $100,000-worth of damage wiped out - fences, bridges, farm tracks," says one farmer.

"We've got nowhere to feed our stock at the moment," another said.

Newshub.