The ongoing bushfire crisis has combined with one of the state's worst droughts to create a fragile time for the agriculture sector.
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Bega Saleyards manager David Boag said the closure of the Princes Highway to Melbourne due to bushfires has forced trucks to travel via Canberra, almost doubling the cost of transporting livestock to abattoirs.
People have run out of water.
- Bega Saleyards manager David Boag
"With trucks now needing to travel 1200km to Melbourne through Canberra, instead of 600, we have really been just about providing a service to keep everything going," he said.
While the highway was opened by the NSW government on Wednesday afternoon to just northbound traffic from the Victorian border to Narrabarba, approximately 1400 kilometres of roads in Gippsland and North-Eastern Victoria remain impacted by bushfires.
The Victorian transport department's head of transport services, Jeroen Weimar, said while progress is being made on reopening the highway, it is still unknown when trade traffic will be allowed to travel through the region. The situation is being monitored by the state's incident control centre, he said.
"We're working closely with multiple agencies including the NSW government to reopen roads as quickly as possible and as we enter recovery, the work won't stop there," Mr Weimar said.
"Our number one priority is to provide safe road access for people to return to their homes and communities as soon as possible."
Mr Weimar said while the highway is currently open between Orbost and Cabbage Tree Creek, there is still restricted access between Cann River and Genoa due to fire activity.
"The issue of greatest concern is the stability of tens of thousands of trees that have been burned and pose a threat to life," he said.
"Many of these trees must be individually assessed by arborists and removed if needed. Some of these trees will require removal by hand as it is the only safe option.
"These trees pose a safety risk to the community as well as our crews working on repairs. We are working to reopen roads as quickly as possible while also ensuring the safety of our crews. We will not compromise on safety."
Transport for NSW said it is working closely with emergency services in NSW and Victoria as bushfire conditions continue across the border.
NSW Farmers' president James Jackson said road closures have played a role in dairy farmers needing to dispose of fresh milk and reduce production. He also said some oyster growers have been unable to harvest.
Earlier this month Bega Cheese set up a crisis management team to help provide generators, feed, fencing and other work to "keep milk flowing". Acting chairman Max Roberts said he hopes some of the costs will be covered by business interruption insurance.
With the livestock sector reliant on the South Gippsland buyers, Mr Boag said while the road closure is a concern to many, it has just compounded effects of the ongoing drought, which has seen water become a scarce resource.
He said a lack of "decent" rain for almost three years has seen conditions deteriorate to their worst in his 18 years running the yards, and one local farmer aged in his 80s said he has never experienced a season as "bad" as the current one.
"Nobody has feed or water, and the ones burnt out around Cobargo have no fences. Those with green pastures have no dam water. People have run out of water," Mr Boag said.
According to the Bureau of Meteorology, December was the nation's driest end to the year on record. The drought is also being blamed for a rise in consumer prices during the December quarter, with fresh food among goods rising the most.
Mr Boag said after the recent fires, most cattle that survived either went to abattoirs, were put down, or sold in Wagga due to the lack of food for the animals.
"Nobody is buying, they're all going to abattoirs. With the amount of breeding cattle being sold out of the area, they [farmers] will have to start from scratch," Mr Boag said.
"The hay being donated is just not enough. If animals don't have water to drink then there's a problem. You can always find feed, but if your dams are empty you can't just buy water to fill it up.
"People don't realise the longer term impact of it all. It's not just season by season."
After the evacuation of many residents in the new year, the saleyards became home to hundreds of goats, sheep and horses, and its first sale day of the year was cancelled due to the bushfire emergency.
Chester and Smith livestock agent David Armstrong said, while the bushfires have been a distraction from the severity of the drought, many farmers would still be selling cattle due to the lack of water in the region even without the fires.
He said with a large amount of the scarce water that was left being used to fight fires and irrigate land, the "crucial need for water has not gone away".
Restrictions on irrigation from the Brogo Dam were put in place earlier this month by the state government after the dam dropped from full to just 10 per cent in eight months.
"The drought is still as bad as it has been, so we need some rain to put out the fires and put water in dams," he said.
"Within two weeks of the fire, there would have been 1500 to 2000 cattle leave the area because there was no fences or feed. Added to that, there were at least 1000 cattle killed in the fires, predominantly in the Cobargo area.
"It will be two years before you can be making money when you need new breeding cows."
Mr Armstrong said despite the devastation there are still some local buyers in the market for cattle, and maintaining a positive outlook for the future.
"We are very reliant on the Victorian market, but on a positive note we've been lucky we have markets to send the cattle to. We could have nowhere," he said.
One local livestock buyer and carrier said trade trucks should be escorted to Victoria by emergency services as soon as possible, and said not enough focus has been placed on preventing breeding cattle from leaving the region.
"While we won't be out of pocket this week, we won't be singing," he said.
"There's a lot of families who will never, ever recover in their lifetime."
Two buyers from the Numbugga area, which has been hit by two large bushfires in just two years, said they were expecting further fires in winter, and the recent rain has not led to any rise in dam water levels.
"This is as bad as in 1983. That drought was broken by eight inches of rain," one buyer said.
"Most droughts break with a flood."
