$47 million drought package for Victorian farmers
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A $47 million drought assistance package will position Victorian farmers to capitalise on recent spring rains, boost recovery from more than a decade of drought and drive the future sustainability of the agricultural sector, the Premier John Brumby announced today.
In the Wimmera, Mr Brumby said the centrepiece of the $47 million package was a new farm improvement grants scheme to support farmers in drought-affected areas to make significant on-farm infrastructure improvements to boost productivity.
The Victorian Government’s continuing drought support totals over $400 million since 2006 and today’s package is in addition to arrangements with the Commonwealth for Exceptional Circumstances (EC) payments for drought-affected farmers.
“We have stood by Victorian farming families and their communities through 13 years of drought which, combined with the impacts of climate change and bushfires have created unprecedented challenges for our farmers,” Mr Brumby said.
“It is great news that for many farmers the recent spring rain means the prospect of a long and overdue good cropping season, with Victoria’s grain harvest shaping up to be one of the best in more than a decade and projections showing it could tip the scales at four million tonnes.
“However, many farmers are still doing it tough. Victoria’s dairy farmers, who account for 85 per cent of Australia’s dairy exports have been hit with record low milk prices because of unfair European Union and United States dairy export subsidies and the Global Financial Crisis. The rising Australian dollar will also generate export pricing challenges for our grain growers. more ...