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In this edition
Latest news
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Watch for heating hay!
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Feed testing to compare fodder price and quality
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Summer holiday listening: AgVic Talk Season 9
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Carbon and emissions resource kit
Events
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Agriculture Victoria upcoming technical events
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Talk the Talk with RFCS Victoria West, Hamilton and Inverleigh
Support
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Wellbeing and mental health support
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Rural Financial Counselling Service
Tools, tips and programs
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Act on farm water planning
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Farm Fire Preparedness Toolkit
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Dry seasons spring webinar series – webinar recordings
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Farm Fitness Checklist
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My Climate View
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Vic Hub: Drought and Innovation
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Gippsland Agricultural Leadership Program – register by 31 January
Resources for tackling tough times
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Dry seasonal conditions technical information and decision-making support
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Farm Household Assistance
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Regional Investment Corporation
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National Centre for Farmer Health
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Managing the stress on the farm
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Health and personal wellbeing
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Farm Business Resilience Program
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Every hay season several hay stacks spontaneously combust across Victoria, in single moist bales or in a stack of any size.
Once the hay has been stacked it’s important to regularly monitor it for heating and act quickly.
Unfortunately, even with technological advances in machinery for harvesting conserved fodder, there is still nothing cost effective to help monitor the internal temperatures of haystacks.
So, it’s back to some very simple techniques to keep an eye on your hay stacks.
Learn more about the signs of heating hay.
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| Feed testing to compare fodder price and quality |
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Farmers looking to buy in feed due to poor pasture growth are encouraged to do a feed test to ensure fodder meets their livestock’s needs.
Comparing the quality and price of different fodder can be confusing.
Feed tests done properly are the only way to know what you’re getting and if it will meet your livestock requirements.
Learn more about feed testing.
Listen to the webinar and register by 31 December to qualify for a free feed test; use the passcode: Fodder.
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| Summer holiday listening: AgVic Talk Season 9 |
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Paul Blackshaw and Peter Brown are featured in Episode 2 of Adapting to the seasons.
The latest AgVic Talk season: Adapting to the seasons explores the resources, practices and tools available to help improve your farm business, prepare for dry seasonal conditions and our changing climate.
Farming is rewarding, but it can also be challenging, and no two stories or businesses are the same. We can all learn from each other and set a plan for success.
Check out the first 2 episodes below.
Episode 1: Chris Smith runs a mixed farming enterprise at Grass Flat, around about 30 kilometres west of Horsham. He's been on a quest to improve the soils on his property, so when the opportunity came up to run a subsoiling demonstration, he keenly offered up a piece of his land for the exercise.
Episode 2: The day-to-day operations on farm often seen never-ending. Be it sowing, harvesting, drafting stock, fixing fences, or even just spraying weeds. Peter Brown knows this first-hand from years of working in the corporate sector. It's that insight to planning that's now fundamental to him running his family's beef farm in East Gippsland.
To listen to all available episodes of Season 9 visit Ag Vic Talk.
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| Carbon and emissions resource kit |
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A new one-stop spot for existing resources, tools and training related to carbon and emissions in agriculture, will help people navigate their understanding of carbon farming.
The digital kit includes links to a range of Agriculture Victoria products and resources, plus industry and Australian government resources.
The purpose of the Carbon and Emissions Resource Kit is to provide a one-stop spot to access existing trusted, publicly available and science-based resources, tools and training related to carbon and emissions in agriculture.
The new kit provides information to help address 3 key questions asked by farmers:
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Why do I need to manage my emissions?
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Where do I start?
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Is carbon farming something I should be doing more of?
View the Carbon and Emissions Resource Kit.
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Agriculture Victoria upcoming technical events
In 2024 Agriculture Victoria delivered a program of regular face to face and online events - and we'll be doing the same in 2025.
Events are delivered by AgVic technical experts and/or in association with our partners.
To stay up to date with future events visit the Agriculture Victoria events page.
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Talk the Talk with RFCS Victoria West
Talk the Talk is a free interactive 2-hour session aimed at helping farm service providers, farmers and farming families recognise mental health problems and provide support.
You will learn about observation, what to say, how to say it and what to do next.
Register at the links below.
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| Wellbeing and mental health support |
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Taking care of yourself in tough times is as important as taking care of the farm. Along with family and friends, there are wellbeing and mental health services available in the community to help you manage stress, including:
See below for a full list of mental health and wellbeing contacts.
Take time to take care of yourself.
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| Rural Financial Counselling Service |
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Do you know the Rural Financial Counselling Service offers a free and independent service to farmers?
If you are experiencing financial difficulty, they can help to assess your financial situation, identify options, negotiate with lenders/creditors and access available support programs.
To speak to a rural financial counsellor today call 1300 771 741.
Find out more at rfcsnetwork.com.au
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| Act on farm water planning |
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With below average rainfall leading to unusually low water levels in many farm dams, a timely reminder to continue monitoring water use, regularly check on-farm water supply levels and keep your farm water budget up to date as we head into the summer months.
Agriculture Victoria has information and tools available to help assess your stock water supply and calculate how long your water will last, including:
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| Farm Fire Preparedness Toolkit |
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How up to date is your fire plan?
Use our Farm Fire Preparedness Toolkit to review or develop your plan for this season.
The characteristics of every farm and farming business are different – so develop a plan that suits your farm.
Start today by downloading a copy of the Farm Fire Preparedness Toolkit.
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| Dry seasons spring webinar series – webinar recordings |
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If you missed the dry seasons spring webinar series, recordings are now available.
Listen at your convenience:
Check out these resources:
For more information, email Livestock Industry Development Officer Christopher Blore or call 0428 155 781.
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The Farm Fitness Checklist helps you to assess where your farm business is at and identify areas and opportunities for strengthening your business.
Subjects include: people management, skills and training, business planning and financial performance, emergency management, infrastructure, water supply, natural resource management, risk management, succession planning, off-farm activities and more.
Download a copy of the Farm Fitness Checklist today and learn more about how the Farm Business Reslience Program can help you strengthen your farm fitness.
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The My Climate View tool helps farmers understand the historical, seasonal and future climate at their location to help them make informed decisions for their farm business.
It provides farmers with historical data (1961-2021), seasonal forecasts (1-3 months) as well as future climate projections based on the 15 years before and after 2030, 2050 and 2070, for a given location.
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| Vic Hub: Drought and Innovation |
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Vic Hub – the Victorian Drought Resilience Adoption and Innovation Hub – represents a comprehensive approach to enhancing economic, environmental and social resilience to drought in order to create innovative and profitable sectors, sustainable and functioning landscapes, and resourceful and adaptable communities.
The Victorian hub is led by the University of Melbourne’s Dookie Campus in association with Deakin University, La Trobe University, Federation University, and Agriculture Victoria.
Learn more about Vic Hub and its 5 regional nodes.
Read the December edition of the Vic Hub newsletter online.
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| Gippsland Agricultural Leadership Program – register by 31 January |
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In 2025, the Gippsland Agricultural Leadership Program will run for the first time, taking an agriculture-specific focus to equip local farmers, land managers and agricultural industry professionals with the skills to think innovatively in addressing the evolving challenges within the sector.
Participants will be empowered to drive transformative change in their businesses, communities, and the broader agricultural landscape, gaining the knowledge and confidence to lead the future of farming in our thriving region.
More information is available here.
Register here by 31 January 2025.
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| Resources for tackling tough times |
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| Dry seasonal conditions technical information and decision-making support |
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Agriculture Victoria is working with Victorian farmers to deliver technical information and decision-making support to plan ahead and make informed decisions for managing dry seasonal conditions.
Topics include:
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drought planning
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assessing pasture
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measuring feed on offer
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stock containment areas
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tools for making feed rations
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assessing livestock health
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monitoring and managing farm water supplies.
Farmers are encouraged to contact Agriculture Victoria on 136 186 or email recovery@agriculture.vic.gov.au.
For more information on dry seasonal conditions support visit agriculture.vic.gov.au/dryseasons
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| Farm Household Assistance |
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Farmers in financial hardship may be eligible for the Commonwealth Government’s Farm Household Allowance (FHA), a fortnightly payment available for up to four years in a specific 10-year period.
More information on the Farm Household Allowance is available at Services Australia or by contacting the Farmer Assistance Hotline on 132 316.
A rural financial counsellor can help farmers to understand eligibility and apply for the FHA.
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| Regional Investment Corporation |
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Farmers may be able to access low-interest loans through the Commonwealth Government’s Regional Investment Corporation (RIC). A RIC loan is a partnership between the farm business, a commercial lender and the Regional Investment Corporation. Available loans include the Farm Investment Loan and the Drought Loan.
More information about low-interest RIC loans, the application process, eligibility, and terms and conditions are available from the Regional Investment Corporation by calling 1800 875 675, emailing info@ric.gov.au or visiting their website.
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| National Centre for Farmer Health |
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The National Centre for Farmer Health (NCFH) is committed to supporting primary producers whose properties, livestock or crops were damaged or lost in the floods and storms. There are a number of resources available on the NCFH website to support farmer health, wellbeing and safety.
Managing stress on the farm
Click to read or download this Managing Stress on the Farm book from the National Centre for Farmer Health website. You can also request free hard copies from the website.
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| Health and personal wellbeing |
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It is normal to have strong reactions following a distressing or frightening event and people can experience a range of physical, mental, emotional and behavioural reactions.
There are a number of support services available (listed below) to assist you and your family recover from the strong emotional or physical reactions you may be experiencing.
Are you concerned about your own mental health? Reach out to Lifeline for a safe place to talk on 13 11 14.
Other available support includes:
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| Farm Business Resilience Program |
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The Farm Business Resilience (FBR) Program is supporting farmers to develop knowledge and skills to improve their farm business and manage the impacts of a changing climate.
The program supports farmers to improve skills and management practices around 4 key areas:
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Business planning and risk management
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Farm finances and profitable decision making
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Managing people on farm, farm safety and wellbeing
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Climate adaptation and natural resource management including soil, water, crops and pastures.
The FBR Program has supported farmers in developing 823 farm business plans and engaged 2043 farmers in intensive training activities.
More information about the FBR program is available at agriculture.vic.gov.au/FBRP .
Information about upcoming FBR events is regularly posted on the Agriculture Victoria website.
The Farm Business Resilience Program is jointly funded through the Australian Government’s Future Drought Fund and the Victorian Government’s Future Agriculture Skills Capacity Fund.
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| Subscribe to the Recovery and Resilience newsletter |
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If you are deaf, or have a hearing or speech impairment contact the National Relay Service on 133 677 or relayservice.gov.au
Don't forget to check out Agriculture Victoria's social media sites for up-to-date information and news.
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