In this edition

Latest news

• Dealing with stress during difficult times
• Apply for an on-farm drought infrastructure grant today
• Moyston workshops – all you need to know about water
• On-farm Emissions Action Plan Pilot update

Events

• Upcoming technical events
• South west Victoria drought support events program
• Other upcoming events

Support

• Wellbeing and mental health support
• Rural Financial Counselling Service

Tools, tips and programs

• AgVic Talk Season 9: Adapting to the seasons
• Act on farm water planning
• Farm Fitness Checklist
• My Climate View
• Vic Hub: Drought and Innovation

Resources for tackling tough times

• Dry seasonal conditions technical information and decision-making support
• Farm Household Allowance
• Regional Investment Corporation
• National Centre for Farmer Health
• Managing the stress on the farm
• Health and personal wellbeing
• Farm Business Resilience Program

With farmers facing a particularly challenging season, dealing with drought, fires and storms – not to mention financial stress - impacts on mental health are not always immediately evident.

Maintaining mental health is crucial for making good decisions and effectively managing both the personal and farm business aspects of your life. It's important to notice when your mental health is declining and to get help when you need it.

Psychologist David Cherry has decades of experience working with farmers. He shared valuable insights in our AgVic Talk podcast. 

In the podcast, David Cherry talks about how important it is to recognise mental health issues and seeking help. He suggests paying attention to symptoms like anxiety and depression and getting help from your doctor or local community health centre. 

David also talks about common signs of mental health issues like feeling tired, worrying a lot, mood changes, drinking more alcohol, and making impulsive decisions.

He gives advice on how to keep your mental health in good shape, like exercising, spending time outdoors, getting regular health checks, sleeping well, spending time with others, talking to someone about your worries and having at least one fun activity outside of work.

Now is the time for south west farmers to apply for an on-farm drought infrastructure grant to help manage dry conditions now and into the future.

Grants of up to $5,000 are available through the On-Farm Drought Infrastructure Grant program.

The grants are mainly being used to upgrade farm water systems, install stock containment areas or to purchase grain and fodder storage infrastructure.

Since opening in late October 2024, over 44% of available grant funds have been committed.

The grant program is administered by Rural Finance on behalf of the Victorian Government.

Rural Finance are available to support farmers with any questions they may have regarding the application process or eligibility.

Find out more from Rural Finance online or by calling 1800 260 425.

Agriculture Victoria, in conjunction with local farmer Anthony Pola, is running a 2-day water workshop at Moyston in Western Victoria on 18 and 25 March.

The 2-day workshop will cover a broad range of topics from siting and construction of farm dams, planning and designing a water reticulation system, preparing a water plan and the more practical aspects of pipeline installation and construction.

The workshop is suitable for people new to farming as well as those with plenty of farming experience.

The workshop will commence at 10 am and run until about 3 pm on both days. 

Read more about the workshop.

Register now for the workshop.

See more drought support events below.

Agriculture Victoria has been delivering the On-Farm Emissions Action Plan pilot as part of its commitment under the Agriculture Sector Emissions Reduction Pledge to provide practical information, tools and services to support farmers understand and reduce emissions.

The team has been working with 250 farm business across Victoria to estimate their on-farm emissions profile and identify potential actions to manage and reduce emissions while maintaining productivity.

Learn more about the pilot in the upcoming webinar where the team will provide an update and share insights on the emissions pilot. 

Pilot participant, Jonathan Jenkin will discuss his experience with the Pilot program and how they have used their action plan and knowledge of their emissions to make changes on the farm.

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Upcoming technical events 2025

Agriculture Victoria regularly hosts and sponsors technical events. Events are delivered by both AgVic technical experts as well as external stakeholders.

To stay up to date with future events visit the Agriculture Victoria events page. 

Face to face events

• Understanding carbon and emissions opportunities in agriculture, 17 February, Corryong
• Understanding what my number is for on-farm emissions using carbon calculators, 18 February, Corryong
• GROW Festival of regenerative food and farming, 22 February, Kyneton 
• Climate change and farming with Graeme Anderson, 3 March, Drysdale
• Optimising crop establishment, weed control and post-fire recovery, 12 March, Winiam
• Looking after your livestock, looking after you, 13 March, Goroke
• Succession planning success - Wallup Ag Group, 19 March, Wallup

Online events

• South west Victoria stock water planning webinar, 19 February, online
• On-farm emissions action plan pilot update, 27 February, online

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:​

• National Centre for Farmer Health
• Flying Doctor Wellbeing
• RFCS Victoria West wellbeing support ​

See below for a full list of mental health and wellbeing contacts.

Take time to take care of yourself.

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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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.

Episodes 3 and 4 are now available:

• Episode 3: Strengthening your bee-ness for the future, with Richard Collins
• Episode 4: Protecting and improving Mallee soils with Richard McKee and Darryl Pearl

To listen to all available episodes of Season 9 visit Ag Vic Talk.

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:

• DAMDEEP, a practical tool for measuring the depth of water you have in storage
• Farm Water Calculator
• Summer Water Calculator.

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.

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.

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.

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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 
• measuring feed on offer
• stock containment areas
• tools for making feed rations
• assessing livestock health
• 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

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.

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.

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 913 farm business plans and engaged 2338 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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