Farmers in Bendigo’s rural outskirts have welcomed a move by the City of Greater Bendigo to have the municipality officially declared a drought-affected area by the state government.

Bendigo mayor Rod Fyffe wrote to Agriculture Minister Jaala Pulford on Tuesday, appealing to have Bendigo registered as a Drought Affected Municipality, citing concerns about “the continued viability and wellbeing of many of our farmers”.

Elmore grain farmer David Trewick said the move was a timely one, given the past year had been the driest 12 months he had experienced in 20 years.

“One out of about 30 dams has got some water in it,” he said.

“Our wheat yields were the lowest that I’ve seen, barley was terrible quality and low yields.”

Cr Fyffe said serious water deficiencies were forcing many farmers to pay to cart water for their households and stock or buy machinery to do so.

“Farmers are tired, stress levels are high and finances are continuously being eroded due to the burden of buying water and feed for their livestock,” he said.

“Our farmers have managed the dry conditions very well in recent years but this sustained effort is now taking its toll.”

City of Greater Bendigo councillor James Williams worked the land in Drummartin in the city’s north for three decades before his retirement, and backed Cr Fyffe’s call for Bendigo to be officially declared a drought zone.

“Loddon Shire and as you head west have been drought declared for some time now, but what’s happened of course is it’s just continued to sneak further to the east,” he said.

“Bendigo council areas have really felt the effects of this in the last 12 months.”

Cr Williams said conversations with farmers in Bendigo showed the current water shortage was “really hitting home”.

“People are running out of feed, they’re carting hay and they’re carting fodder, but they’re also carting water and water’s become a real concern going forward,” he said.

“We’re certainly looking forward to rains in winter, but if they don’t come there’ll be some serious issues, there already are, it’s costing people a lot of money.”

Marong sheep farmer Don McKinnon said two dry years in a row had forced him to consider carting hay from interstate, at substantial cost.

“We usually grow our own hay but having the second year of dryish years ...” he said.

“We usually have two sheds full … [but] two dry years have eaten that away and the sheds are now empty.”

Rural financial counsellor Alan Stevens said conditions for farmers in central Victoria were the same as they had been for the past few years – pretty tough.

“Last year was a classic, started off perfect and then just fell in a heap,” he said.

Despite the harsh conditions, Mr Stevens said his services were not overburdened, as farmers had been hardened to life on the land over numerous dry summers.

“Farmers have lived with climate change all their lives and we’ve had some tough years that have allowed them to manage their business better,” he said.

“They’re very adaptable, farmers, and they’ve learned to work within the parameters.”

But Mr Stevens said that did not mean things were easy on the land.

“They’re still not making any money, how long can you go on doing that?” he said.

“You and I get paid to do a job, they work all year and don’t know whether they’re going to make any money.”

In spite of the prolonged dry, Mr McKinnon was still upbeat about his future.

“We’ve always looked at this area as a fairly safe area, even in drought times it produces something,” he said.

“You certainly don’t make any money in a drought, but you do survive, whereas in some areas it’s almost impossible to survive under drought conditions.”

A spokesman for Ms Pulford said the government would work with farming communities in the Greater Bendigo area to better understand how it could support them, but would not commit to actively considering Cr Fyffe’s proposal.

“We know that the impacts of drought are being felt wide-spread across regional Victoria,” he said.

“While the north west is hit hardest, we know the impacts of drought are being felt elsewhere and that's why we are supporting all Victorian farmers with services like financial counselling, extensions services and farm debt mediation.

“At this stage, the drought support package still remains in our 11 local government areas.”

 – with Joseph Hinchliffe