Preparing your farm for bushfire

Bushfire poses a significant threat to all those living, working or travelling in Victoria. Managing the risk of bushfire is vitally important.

Planning and preparing for bushfire includes identifying and undertaking tasks to manage the risk before bushfire season, as well during a bushfire.

Before bushfire season

Don’t wait for summer to start preparing your property for bushfires.  Undertaking tasks to prepare your property throughout the year will allow for better planning.

For more information watch these short videos (or view the Farm fire preparedness video playlist):

• Farm fire safety tips – Agriculture Victoria and the Country Fire Authority have worked together to develop some simple steps to prepare your property for a fire
• Managing fire fuel on-farm – Managing your property’s fuel load is an easy way to prepare your farm for the fire season.
• Maintain machinery as part of your fire plan – Maintaining machinery that could become invaluable in the event of fire is one of the simple steps you can take to prepare your farm for the fire season
• Roadside numbering and fire – Simple steps to ensure your property has clear roadside numbering
• Farm gates, fences and fire – Ensuring ease of access for larger emergency service vehicles in the event of a fire is one of the simple ways you can prepare your farm for the fire season

Bushfire survival plans

All farmers and landholders need to have a written emergency plan that takes into account:

• family members, visitors, and employees
• identified triggers when to leave, what to take and where to go
• livestock and pets
• staying and defending or what to do if its too late to leave.

Planning what to take when evacuating should occur before bushfire season. Use the following resources to help you with your planning:

• Agriculture Victoria’s farm Fire preparedness toolkit
• CFA’s Guide to Survival

Planning for animals (livestock and pets)

All livestock and pets should be included when developing and activating fire plans. Planning helps to minimise the risk to livestock and pets and helps your financial and emotional wellbeing.  It is also important to practice your plan for livestock and pets before fire season.

Deciding when to enact your fire plan will be based on the weather or the immediate threat of fire in your area. Stay informed (for example, listen to the radio) and observe your own environment to decide when to put your plan into action.

For information, visit

• Pets and emergencies
• CFA - Pets and bushfires
• Horses and livestock in emergencies
• AgVic Talk podcast: make sure you are bushfire prepared with Jeff Cave

Low risk areas for livestock

To reduce potential injury and death to livestock you should consider relocating stock to designated low risk areas during days of high fire danger and Total Fire Bans. Low risk areas include:

• ploughed paddocks, areas cultivated and kept free of combustible vegetation
• bared-out paddocks, provided they are well defended by fire breaks
• irrigated paddocks or paddocks containing green summer crops (green feed does not burn easily)
• stockyards that can be wet in advance. However, the yards must be well defended as the fire front passes.

When a fire is in your area and well before it poses an imminent threat:

• Relocate stock to low-risk areas.
• If you don’t have a low-risk area, consider trucking stock to another property or opening internal gates to give them the chance to move away from the path of the fire.
• Unlock gates and switch off electric fencing.
• Do not open gates onto roadways as livestock can potentially create a traffic hazard.

More information:

• Stock containment areas (SCAs) for emergencies
• Watch the video Fire risk to livestock

Asset inventories and insurance cover

As part of your farm fire plan, document your farm assets ahead of the fire season.

Having an up-to-date farm asset inventory and insurance policy will make the claims process easier if you need to make a claim after a fire.

A list of all significant assets could include:

• infrastructure including buildings and sheds
• machinery, plant and tools
• fencing and gates
• livestock
• electronic equipment.

The Insurance Council of Australia has a free Find an insurer service if you wish to review your insurance cover.

Store important documents off-farm or in the cloud to secure them in case of a bushfire.

Use the planning template in the Fire preparedness toolkit.