Our farmers desperate for drought assistance

It will meet with farmers, rural financial counsellors, local government and other bodies to discuss the impacts of drought on these communities.

The announcement came just days after 65 drought-stricken farmers, mostly from Pilliga and Yarrie Lake, as well as from properties near Walgett and Coonamble, met in Pilliga to seek solutions to the deteriorating situation.

Pilliga farmer Roger McDowell of “Tregoen” said landholders were in dire need of government help.

“We were there to resolve and try and find the best way forward,” he said.

“It was a self-help meeting designed to try and find out what people could do, but until we get the people out to have the official drought declaration made, there’s not much we can do.”

Representatives from the new Local Land Services and local government accepted invitations, but Mr McDowell said it wasn’t a “blame game”.

The meeting voted to seek an immediate drought declaration, immediate access to fully costed water cartage for stock and domestic use, household support and immediate access to Farm Management Deposits (FMDs).

A drought declaration will offer financial support for primary producers.

Brouke, Brewarrina and Walgett local government areas were drought-declared late last year.

The farmers at Friday’s meeting said the NSW Minister for Primary Industries, Katrina Hodgkinson, had failed in her duty of care to those suffering in drought east of Walgett.

They fear thousands of livestock will be lost due to poor nutrition and hydration.

“The situation we’re facing is that we’ve been in a … long series of dry spells, (with) dry or marginal rain conditions, for probably the last 10 to 11 years,” Mr McDowell said.

“We’ve had a couple of reasonable wet years in between, but it hasn’t enabled the people to recover from the last series of droughts financially because of the ever-increasing costs of all our input, fuel and fertiliser and all that.”

He said input costs had increased 10-fold since the 1970s, but that returns had not kept pace.

Mr McDowell said virtually no winter crops were harvested west of Wee Waa and that there were slim chances that any growers had planted a summer crop.

“And majority of people are either de-stocking or cutting the numbers back to the core breeders and they’re now full-on feeding,” he added.

“You’re seeing it in the saleyards today, where the majority of cattle being sold are cows and breeding cattle.”

This will make it tough for those farmers to recover and supply export markets.

Mr McDowell, whose family has farmed in the Pilliga district for more than 100 years, said above-average evaporation has exhausted dams on many properties, and has been particularly bad in the past three months.

“Some people do have some hay and something there but if they’ve got no water, the cattle, they can last a while without feed or live on meagre rations for quite a while, but without water they’re dead in 24 hours,” he said.

“And that’s the problem that’s facing us now, and it is desperate for a lot of people.”

Whole communities are affected when their primary producers 

are suffering.

“The situation’s got to a point now where it’s not the farmers, it’s the local businesses in the towns who are also facing financial hardship and laying people off,” Mr McDowell said.

“Even if it rains tomorrow, the financial hardship will continue for croppers for 12 months before their winter crop comes in and the cattle farmers who have a breeding herd but have sold on a two-year turn around … they’ve got to wait another 12 to 18 months before they start their two-year turn around again.

“The financial drought continues for at least 12 to 18 months depending on how hard it hits the economy.” 

The RAAC also visited Brewarrina, Walgett, Lightning Ridge and other parts of far western NSW last year.

The committee will report its findings, including its advice for support measures, to the government.