In this edition

Latest news

• Network Outage Review: improving storm response
• Facing tough conditions? Don't go through it alone
• Tools available to assess dam water levels

Events, programs and workshops

• One stop shop at Elmore Field Days next week
• Agriculture Victoria upcoming technical events

Tools, tips and programs

• Dry seasons spring webinar series – recordings now available
• Victoria's spring seasonal outlook – webinar recording
• Dale Grey talks about managing climate risk
• RIC (Regional Investment Corporation) Farm Investment Loan webinar
• Farm Fitness Checklist
• Victorian Drought Resilience Adoption and Innovation Hub
• My Climate View

Resources for tackling tough times

• Dry seasonal conditions technical information and decision-making support
• Rural Financial Counselling Service
• Farm Household Assistance
• Local council rates – hardship assistance
• Regional Investment Corporation
• National Centre for Farmer Health
• Health and personal wellbeing
• Farm Business Resilience Program

The Network Outage Review independent panel’s final report into how privately owned power companies responded to February’s storms has been released – providing a plan for a quicker response and reconnections for Victorians in future outages.

Minister for Energy and Resources Lily D’Ambrosio welcomed the Network Outage Review recommendations for Victoria’s distribution businesses – focusing on preparedness, resource deployment and restoration of power.

The expert panel, made up of Rosemary Sinclair, Gerard Brody and Kevin Kehl, made 19 recommendations and 12 observations that form a clear pathway of improvements for distribution businesses in response to an outage.

Feedback from impacted communities and businesses was central to developing the report, with input from industry, essential services, emergency and regulatory bodies.

READ THE ARTICLE IN FULL HERE

Agriculture Victoria is encouraging farmers to take up ongoing support and assistance to help manage current difficult seasonal conditions.

Agriculture Victoria’s Aimee McCutcheon said Agriculture Victoria continues to monitor conditions across the state.

‘We know there’s been below average rainfall across most of Victoria during autumn and winter and that it’s a critical time for cropping, livestock and dairy production.

‘It’s important that farmers know that support is available to them to help make early and informed decisions.'

For information on technical support, contact Agriculture Victoria on 136 186 or email recovery@agriculture.vic.gov.au

READ THE ARTICLE IN FULL HERE

Agriculture Victoria has a range of online tools available to assist farmers in assessing the volume of water in their dams and how long that water may last.

Agriculture Victoria Land Management Extension Officer Clem Sturmfels said assessing how much water there is in a dam can be difficult due to a dam’s odd shape and formulas used to measure their volume.

‘Farm dams generally hold less water than expected and in a dry year, it’s important farmers have a good understanding of how much water is left in their dams and plan accordingly.'

READ THE ARTICLE IN FULL HERE

Tools to help farmers calculate dam volumes:

• Farm Water Calculator
• Summer Water Calculator

One stop shop at Elmore Field Days next week

Location: Site 349

Date: 1, 2 and 3 October

Agriculture Victoria will be on site at the Elmore Field Days next week, sharing the tent with a number of other exhibitors.

Staff will be available to answer questions about a range of issues including animal health and welfare, pest animals and invasive weeds, and how to build business success with the Farm Business Resilience Program.

The Commonwealth Government's Drought Partnership Team will will also be in attendance along with staff from the Future Drought Fund branch. 

Other organisations and exhibitors represented at the site include:

• Regional Investment Corporation
• Victorian Serrated Tussock Working Group
• VicGrid
• National Centre for Farmer Health
• AgBiz Assist and the Rural Financial Counselling Service
• Rural Aid Australia.

 Visit Elmore Field Days for more information and tickets.

Agriculture Victoria upcoming events

For full details on the following events and to register your attendance, click on the links below.

Farm dam breakfast workshops with Clem Sturmfels

Join us for breakfast and a discussion about managing farm dams in a difficult season.

• Nangeela, 8 October
• Nareen, 9 October
• Karabeal, 10 October

Bull selection and soundness webinar

• Online, 9 October

Calm the Farm – creating a happy healthy workplace

Are you interested in reducing the risks to mental health in your farm workplace by improving work systems, or doing things a bit differently?

• Casterton, 15 October
• Winchelsea, 29 October

Looking for a wellbeing break?

A fun, practical workshop to provide wellbeing tools and information.

• Casterton, 25 October

Visit the Agriculture Victoria events page for updates on future in-person and online technical events and webinars.

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If you missed the Dry seasons spring webinar series, recordings are now available.

Listen now or at your convenience:

• Water and dam management with Clem Sturmfels
• Growing more feed with Fiona Baker
• Common spring animal health issues with Dr Leah Tyrell
• Cash flow and financial management with Paul Blackshaw

Check out these resources:

• Soil moisture monitoring sites
• Online planning tool for navigating farm developments
• MLA guide to managing breeding ewes in containment
• Stock Containment Areas design webinar

For more information, email Livestock Industry Development Officer Christopher Blore or call 0428 155 781.

In this webinar recording, Seasonal Risk Agronomist Dale Grey discussed the recent seasonal conditions including rainfall, temperature and deep soil moisture levels across the state.

We looked at what the latest global models are forecasting for spring and shared information on the dry seasons support available to farmers.

Climate Specialist Graeme Anderson, and Dale, took a deeper look into the current seasonal risks and helped bust some common myths around making sense of forecasts.

The webinar was originally presented on Wednesday 14 August. It runs for 67 minutes, including questions.

View the recording HERE

Use the password: Climate

Check out the latest Farm Business Resilience video on the benefits of managing climate risk as part of the Farm Business Resilience (FBR) Program.

Learn more about the FBR program.

If you missed the recent webinar from the Regional Investment Corporation, it's now available online. Rachel Lehmann talks about how a low-interest RIC loan supported and improved her farm business after experiencing drought and successive natural disasters.

Learn more about RIC loans here.

Farm Fitness Checklist

The Farm Fitness Checklist helps farmers assess where their business is at currently, and to identify areas and opportunities to strengthen their farm business.

It covers subjects including 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 the Farm Fitness Checklist from the Agriculture Victoria website.

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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:

• drought planning
• assessing pasture resources
• measuring feed on offer
• stock containment areas
• tools for making rations.

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

Have you been impacted by natural disasters or dry seasonal conditions?

The Rural Financial Counselling Service (RFCS) provides a free and confidential financial counselling service to eligible farmers and small related enterprises who are experiencing, or at risk of, financial hardship.

They can help you to access available support, analyse your business situation, negotiate with lenders and develop strategies to improve your financial position.

Find your closest service here or call 1300 771 741.

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.

If you are having difficulty paying your rates, contact your local council to see what hardship assistance they can offer.

The sooner you contact them the better.

When speaking to your local council officer, find out about:

• available hardship assistance
• if you are eligible for any rate concessions
• what type of assistance is best for you.

Always check that the council will not take legal action while considering your request.

More information is available from the National Debt Helpline or by calling 1800 007 007.

Find the contact details of your local council.

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.

Loan terms for both the Farm Investment Loan and the Drought Loan cover a maximum amount of $2 million at a variable rate of 5.18% (effective from August 2024 to January 2025). Loans are available for a 10-year term with interest only repayments in the first 5 years.

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.

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.

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:

• Your doctor or local community health centre
• A counsellor or psychologist
• Parentline 13 22 89
• Kids Helpline 1800 55 1800
• Nurse-On-Call 1300 60 60 24 – for expert health information and advice (24 hours, 7 days)
• Australian Psychological Society Referral Service 1800 333 497.

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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:

• Business planning and risk management
• Farm finances and profitable decision making
• Managing people on farm, farm safety and wellbeing
• Climate adaptation and natural resource management including soil, water, crops and pastures.

The FBR Program has supported farmers in developing 665 farm business plans and engaged 1966 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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