THE daughter of farming icon Sara Henderson has put her Northern Territory cattle station up for sale.
She cited the live export ban as the last straw, The Australian reports.
Marlee Ranacher said she was heartbroken over her decision to sell the 160,000ha Bullo River Station, which has been in her family for three generations.
But with no income since October, Ms Ranacher said she had little choice.
"We haven't had cattle sales since October and we can't afford to buy the diesel to pump water for the cattle or to generate power for us," she said yesterday.
"We have responsibilities with the banks; we have employees; we have thousands of animals in our care, and Julia Gillard has put us in a position where these animals will die the most horrific deaths if we don't shoot them."
Ms Ranacher said her 8000 brahman cattle were specifically bred for Indonesia and sold to abattoirs with humane slaughtering practices.
"There is a terrible misconception that all abattoirs in Indonesia are inhumane. There are only a handful in contention and my cattle do not go there," she said.
Ms Ranacher said her despair was shared across the north, where people had no money for food but had to feed and water thousands of head of livestock.
She has fired staff who have worked at the station for 15 years as she can no longer pay them.
"The water has started drying up and what are we going to do with the millions of cattle across the north with no water?" Ms Ranacher asked.
"Very shortly people will have to start shooting them."
She said the federal government would ultimately be responsible for the demise of northern Australia's cattle stations.
"All the people down in the southern states don't realise that when the last farmer leaves and shuts the gate, that's it," she said.
Territory Rural pastoral property salesman Andrew Gray said Bullo River Station was the first pastoral property to go on sale since the live export ban.
He said there were no signs that other station owners were considering selling.
"There are a number of cattle stations currently on the market but they have been on the market for some time," Mr Gray said.
"Station owners are really hoping trade recommences at some stage soon but it's highly unlikely people would just throw their keys on the counter and walk out."
He said pastoral property sales had been sluggish since the global financial crisis and a number of stations were on the market, but a fire-sale was far from likely.
"It would be foolish to say that as I firmly believe common sense will prevail," Mr Gray said.
Read more on The Australian.
