A MOB of 600 cattle will make its way through the Central Highlands over the next three months, and was just south of Clermont on Monday.
The cattle, originally from Aramac, have walked to Charters Towers and are now on their way to Rolleston. Central Highlands Regional Council Mayor Peter Maguire urged drivers to be cautious, as cattle have the right of way.
The Central Highlands is no stranger to cattle walking the stock route and has another mob making its way through Bauhinia Downs.
However, the state government's proposed changes to the stock route management bill could have an impact. The change was announced at an AgForce conference this month and will see the administration move out of the hands of the state government and to the local government.
"This allows us to collect the fees from the producers using the stock routes and then use that to maintain the routes," Cr Maguire said.
The current charge is 20 cents per 20 head per kilometre, according to the council. The state then provides funds to the council for the upkeep of the route.
"It will all depend on how much we charge, but it will mean we may have to charge more," Cr Maguire said. "I haven't got the figures in front of me, but I know when the drought started, we had to spend a shed-load of money to get it up to scratch. A lot of things will change."
In 2013, the Central Highlands had 9000 cattle on its stock routes for seven months, and they went through 400,000 litres of water.
John Wyland is a ranger for the council and, among other duties, monitors stock routes and the drovers. "Given that we had so many cattle, we have had good funding from the state government for improving water facilities," he said.
The council has a network of roads through the stock route, and 52 water facilities, which it needs to maintain. Each watering point has between 90-150,000 litre water storage and the council works on each adult beast requiring 50 litres a day.
"We've still got ample grass on our stock route, but where the last mob has gone through hasn't recovered, but there is enough for the next to come through," Mr Wyland said. "The section from Clermont to Emerald has that much grass it has become a concern as a fire hazard, so with this mob coming through, it will be a help. It is like a drought reserve for the state. I think it is the last option for cattle producers - it is quite expensive to have them on the road."
The current mob, originally set at 1000, will also include 28 horses.
Mr Wyland said there were few issues with cattle droving in the region as most Central Highlands residents were cattle producers and understood drought.
"The only situation where there is a little bit of conflict is where people grow crops and no boundary fences - they get a little concerned."
However, it is all managed in advance and landholders were usually on hand to help the cattle go past.
"We have had a couple of issues where good healthy cattle have got excited when they see the mob, and jump in, so we draft them out at next lot of yards."
