Stock Journal editor Quinton McCallum breaks down the details of a new multi-million dollar support package for SA farmers.
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00:00Hi, welcome to ACM's AgriCast, Kirsten Diprose with you, and we're taking a look at the drought
00:12assistance package in SA, and no better person to do this with than Quinton McCallum, who's
00:18the editor of the Stock Journal.
00:20So a multi-million dollar assistance package has been announced for farmers in South Australia
00:25this week.
00:27What's actually in this package?
00:28In terms of the new funding, we've got $5 million for on-farm infrastructure grants.
00:35We've got $2 million to help charities deliver donated fodder.
00:39We've got another million dollars for mental health support and financial counselling,
00:45and then a further $100,000 for community events.
00:48And I'd imagine those infrastructure grants of up to $5,000 will be very much well received.
00:54What will farmers be using them for, do you think?
00:56Very likely be tanks and troughs that these grants will be used for.
01:01There was a bit of disappointment that there wasn't some more money allocated to that
01:04to allow some bigger purchases, but I think the people that do receive them will be very
01:10grateful.
01:11Have farmers felt supported throughout the drought?
01:14Well, that's a bit of a tricky one.
01:16I'd say they feel supported now, but it's taken a long time to happen.
01:20So there's been quite a number of calls over the past few months for acknowledgement of
01:25drought by the state government.
01:27Drought declarations are no longer a thing, but it has taken the government a fair while
01:32to put together this package.
01:34In fairness to them, they've wanted to get the details right.
01:37So they wanted to make sure this support sort of reaches the right people, and so you've
01:42got to commend them for that.
01:43It's an interesting space that we're in at the moment, because the federal government
01:47really has this push to encourage farmers to be drought resilient and to not rely on
01:54grants and to think about drought in terms of it being a natural part of the cycle of
01:59weather and climate in Australia.
02:01How is that being received by farmers?
02:04Some farmers believe that if you're in the business of farming, you shouldn't need government
02:08handouts.
02:09I guess on the opposite end of the scale, some believe food production is such an integral
02:13industry that government should support it when they're in the worst of times.
02:18What about rain?
02:19I know that some districts have had some rain.
02:22What are conditions looking like now?
02:24We've probably had the most rain just in the past couple of weeks across most of South
02:29Australia.
02:30Unfortunately for cropping in particular, it's come too late and it's probably going
02:34to disrupt harvest.
02:35People are probably already looking to start to conserve soil moisture for next season.
02:41So we're already looking ahead to how they can use this rain that's come.
02:44The other big news this week in SA has been the news that dairy agribusiness Bestin Global
02:49Food Company is shutting down despite owing millions to local farmers.
02:55What's the reaction been to that?
02:57It's an awful situation to be quite honest.
02:59The writing's probably been on the wall for a little while, but Bestin has sort of taken
03:04up to about a third of South Australia's milk previously.
03:07Now they've closed their doors, basically leaving farmers to try and find a new milk
03:12buyer and approximately $10 million owed to those farms as well.
03:17So there's real concern that this will drive farmers out of the industry.
03:21Well, no doubt you and your team will be keeping abreast of all of this.
03:26Quinton Mckellon, thank you for joining us on Agricast.