Poo crisis leading up to Julia Creek Dirt n Dust Festival

Tony Batt is this year’s cow pat farmer for the annual Julia Creek Dirt n Dust Festivals Cow Pat Throwing Competition and he is suffering a crisis.

Given the honour of being this year’s cow pat farmer, the job includes cultivating the ‘parcels’ to be delivered to this year’s event.

Stopping Mr Batt from collecting the perfect specimen, is the above average rainfall across the region.

“We’re having a good wet out here so it’ll be a good year for the Dirt n Dust Festival. But not so good for cow pat collecting,” he said.

“At the moment when the cattle are on green feed, what comes out the back end is not great. Which isn’t good for cow pat throwing, you definitely need it to be a bit drier.

“You basically need a solid one! It’s a lot easier to throw than a handful of soup.”

Mr Batt, who lives in Julia Creek, was given the prestigious job from the Dirt n Dust Committee after he had volunteered to help.

“I’m basically a bull shit artist, I collect the cow poo for the job,” Mr Batt said.

“It’s like any of those volunteer jobs, they look at anyone who can do it and they hand them the assignment. I suppose it helps if you have access to cows, which I do. We live with cattle out here.”

Mr Batt said he may have to resort to drastic measures of drying the pats out himself in his shed, if the wet weather and soup like consistency continues.

“Well hopefully we won’t have to go that far, but you never know if the wet weather keeps up!”

So how does one ‘farm’ cow pats? Mr Batt says there’s no hard and fast method, just patience and a strong stomach.

“It’s not exactly rocket science!” he laughed.

“You’ve got to go where the cows are camping and just wait for them to do their thing. You then go searching for the right one and then pick them up.

“After you’ve got them you just put them in a pile anywhere and keep them until they’re ready. But thankfully living on a farm means the piles of dung don’t exactly stand out.

“There’s enough bull crap out here for it to blend in with,” he laughs.

Mr Batt takes it all in his stride now, but admits he was taken aback by the request at first.

“I was deeply offended cause I took it to mean I was full of shit, which is probably true!” he jokes.

It takes all kinds of jobs to get this iconic Festival off the ground year after year, including this smelly one.