The drought gripping farmers through parts of New South Wales, Queensland and eastern Victoria is starting to affect dairy farmers along the Murray River, who say they are culling herds as food and water become scarce heading into summer.
A combination of poor harvests, competition for feed with NSW and Queensland farmers and soaring water prices is placing great pressure on dairy farmers in northern Victoria.
Farmers near Koondrook told the ABC that tough decisions about how to manage their herds had to be made, with some farmers selling their dairy cows for burger meat.
“Our dairy cows are heading to the abattoir as there’s no other place for them, people are not looking for dairy cows at the moment just with the pressures that are across the state and interstate as well — and the cost of feeding them,” farmer Jodie Hay said.
“It’s a take no passenger kind of year, you are only taking through your highest producing cows.”
Ms Hay and other farmers have joined local organisations in the Gannawarra Shire Council to launch FFS — For Farmers’ Sake — a campaign to lobby for government investment and relief.
Cohuna farmer Gary White said farmers are under pressure from all angles.
“If we cull our cows we reduce our income, if we keep our cows we have to buy in water to grow the feed,” Mr White said.
But water is expensive this season.
“Then you turn to the hay market, but the hay market has been reduced this year, they haven’t been able to grow the amount of hay they normally would because of the dry season,” he said.
And now Victorian farmers are competing with farmers desperate for fodder from NSW.
“It’s going to be a tough season, whatever way you go it’s going to hurt,” Mr White said.
One solution farmers suggest is to stop this season’s environmental water flows to the Gunbower Forest and sell an extra tens of thousands of megalitres to the local farmers.
The idea is backed by Victorian Nationals Leader Peter Walsh, who said the money reaped from the extra sales could be invested in environmental infrastructure.
He said 45-50,000 megalitres of water is being pumped into the forest.
“That 50,000 megalitres, 1,000-megalitre-a-dairy farmer, there’s probably 50 dairy farms that could have desperately used that water,” Mr Walsh said.
“So that’s 50 families in the area that if they had that opportunity to buy that water at a reasonable price would be a lot more viable or potentially would still be in business.”
Agriculture Minister Jaala Pulford said the state has discussed water allocations with the Commonwealth.
Source: ABC News
