LYN Mullens lost her home, sheds, hay, machinery, stockyards and more in February's bushfires, but she's not been idle since.
Rather than concentrating on her own farm, Lyn has put most of her time into organising volunteer working parties to clear fence lines and restore boundary fences on other properties.
Working as the Yarra Ranges fencing co-ordinator for the Victorian Farmers Federation, Lyn has so far dealt with nearly 100 requests for help in her region alone.
Across the state, more than 3700 volunteers have put in 28,000 hours of labour on fencing through the VFF's co-ordination efforts.
A Poll Hereford stud breeder from Dixons Creek, in the Yarra Valley, Lyn recently invited Waratah to use her property to run one of its demonstration days.
"Fencing is the main priority for graziers, who need to contain their stock, keep animals away from dams contaminated by ash and protect the public," Lyn said.
"Once that's done, many have to wait for insurance payouts to come in to pay for materials and some contractors are already booked up until July.
"It's been an amazing experience for the volunteers, though - we've had people as far away as Western Australia volunteer to come over at their own expense."
Lyn considers herself lucky, managing to save her stud bulls and heifers and having a generous neighbour who has been feeding them.
Lyn said she and many other farmers in her area had never before been faced with replacing fencing on such a scale.
On top of that, a lot of it was put up 40 or 50 years ago and both materials and techniques have changed significantly since then.
"The best thing about the demonstration days is the social interaction for local farmers, who realise they're not alone in facing a daunting task," she said.
