In his 30 years in the industry, Bernie Free has not experienced a drought like the one that is currently gripping Victoria.
The president of United Dairy Farmers of Victoria is based in Winslow, just north of Warrnambool. He says the subsequent shortage of hay has crippled dairy and beef farmers.
“It’s pretty dire. It’s never been like this in the 35 years that I’ve been farming,” he told The Epoch Times.
“And all of eastern Australia had a poor harvest last spring.
“The trouble is with cattle, you can’t not feed them fibre. You can’t feed them all grain. They just keel over and die.”
Due to parts of South Australia also experiencing drought, Free said Victorian farmers were bearing extra costs with importing hay from Queensland and Western Australia.
Free revealed he recently needed to offload 50 head of beef cattle to cover for rising inflation—another challenge on top of the current drought.
“And now we’ve started to reduce the main milking herd, which is where the real money comes from so to speak,” he said.
This combination of drought and pricing pressures has left farmers mentally struggling.
Government Measures Can’t Come Soon Enough
Last month, the Allan government announced its new and expanded Drought Package initiative, supported by an additional $37.7 million in funding.The move is provides grants of up to $5,000 to support on-farm drought management improvements, in addition to financial counselling and mental health support.
Minister for Agriculture Ros Spence said the government was working to make sure no rural communities would be left behind.
“This funding is about ensuring that no drought-impacted community is left behind, providing immediate relief to farming families across our state,” she said.
On May 30, Premier Jacinta Allan also announced another package as well as a dedicated Drought Response Taskforce.
“The new Taskforce will bring together Victorians from different communities, different backgrounds and different political parties. Most importantly, it’ll be focused on delivering real relief for farming communities,” she said.
But Free said this was too late.
“We’ve been on this journey since September-October last year, telling the government how bad it is. And they just haven’t been listening,” he said.
“We warned them eight months ago, this is the situation that’s coming.”
Buying Water to Keep the Farm Going
Since February, Free has purchased 12 loads of water, setting him back $400 each, which is about 26,000 litres.“If you’re buying it for the stock for the dairy farm, that’s one day’s water for 100 cows,” he said. “And I’m only buying it to make sure my plant gets cleaned properly—my dairy milking machines.
“Whereas some other people are buying it for actually watering their animals. That’s just heartbreaking when you’ve got to do that.
What Is Farming Worth to Victoria?
Free said farmers were the lifeblood of the state.“The dairy industry employs a lot of people. Every dollar that we get in the farm gate turns into $6, at least, on the other side of the farm gate,” he said.
“These are industries that generate jobs outside of the farm gate. They generate income for the government, and provide a community with meaningful employment so the community can thrive.”
The Victorian milk production was valued at approximately $3 billion in 2021-22—about 15 percent of the state’s total agricultural production value.
