WIMMERA farmers have urged Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce to give them more tools to survive drought years.
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Mr Joyce met with Wimmera and Mallee farmers at Warracknabeal on Thursday to discuss the poor season, water security and government agriculture policies.
Farmers and council leaders asked Mr Joyce questions about telecommunication issues, financial assistance, grain standards and tax.
Murra Warra farmer and Victorian Farmers Federation vice-president David Jochinke said the government needed to get its policy setting right so drought years were more bearable and farmers could survive.
“Every year like this – and we have had two in a row now – puts us about about four to six years behind in terms of payments,” he said.
“It is expensive to crop in the Wimmera. For us to cover the costs, it’s about $500 a hectare by the time we put the crop in, service it and manage variables.
“We need a clear direction from the government on things like weather forecasting and grain standards.
“We know you can’t make it rain, but the little bits you can do can make things better.”
Rupanyup farmer and Grain Producers Australia chairman Andrew Weidemann said businesses had also been affected by the dry conditions.
“Policies take a long time, and the discussions we have now will only help us the next time we are in this situation.” he said. “We often forget about the businesses involved in agriculture – the infrastructure, people and jobs, and the potential loss when employers can’t keep their workers on.
“We need to focus more on preparedness and investment.”
Mr Weidemann said no-till farming was one of the main reasons growers were surviving the season.
Mr Joyce said he would do everything he could to support farmers.
“We will do everything in our power to help farmers access better prices and markets,” he said.
“When you do make money, we want you to keep as much of it as possible.
“We need to create an environment to mitigate the years we don’t get a crop. We can’t cure it, but we can certainly help. It will rain eventually – it always does.”
Mr Joyce vowed to look into issues such as a weather radar and improving grain standards.
“Nothing is as good as rain, but we have drought concessional loans and money available for farm household allowance,” he said.
Farmers also told Mr Joyce about how the season had affected their regions.
Kaniva farmer Noel Austin said there were pockets of land here and there that were doing okay.
“The majority of farmers will get bugger all,” he said.
Mr Joyce said he understood that while some farmers had options to cut crops this season, others had no options at all.