Chopper drops feed to cattle

The team delivered 10 large round and 14 large squares to about 200 of the Chessells’ beef cattle from a nearby property off Burgess Rd.

Paton Air owner David Empey said it took about three hours to deliver the hay using a six-seater Eurocopter B3E.

The rounds were carried in two at a time, but the squares had to be choppered in one by one — due to their weight and size — to the cattle, who had made it to higher ground and the top of a levee behind Loch Garry.

Mr Chessells said a government grant and donated hay had helped make the fodder drop possible.

He thanked the Paton Air team and said he hoped to get in soon to set up some temporary fences, but said the drop meant the cattle would “not run short” in the meantime.