Thursday 10 July 2025

Drought support for south west farmers

Agriculture Victoria continues to support drought-affected farmers in south west Victoria with an ongoing program of events.

Stay up to date with what’s on at the calendar of events. 

Drought support

The Victorian Government is providing more support for drought-affected farmers, announcing an additional $75 million in funding. 

This support was informed by the Drought Taskforce and includes: 

• $35.8 million in Primary Producer Support Payments for farmers in the south west. 
• $2 million for the Country Women’s Association of Victoria to deliver household payments to people in the south west. 
• $5.9 million to extend important statewide technical decision-making support, mental health services, community events, and timely farm debt mediation. 
• A fee and duty relief package of up to $6.3 million to reduce costs linked to biosecurity and food safety regulations and duties. 
• Funding to extend existing infrastructure and secure long term water reliability.  
• $1 million for catchment management authorities to run Drought Employment Programs. 

Farmers across the state can access the Farm Drought Support Grants Program (previously the On-Farm Drought Infrastructure Grants Program) to fund a range of eligible activities including infrastructure improvements, support for dealing with fallen livestock, water carting and pasture re-establishment.  

Find more information on drought support: agriculture.vic.gov.au/drought or call 136 186. 

Australian Government – support in drought 

The Australian Government has support programs to help manage through the impacts caused by drought. Programs are open all the time with no drought declarations needed to apply.   

You may be eligible for more than you realise - know your options and apply early.  

Farm Household Allowance 

• Call the Farmer Assistance Hotline on 132 316 or visit Services Australia to see if you are eligible for up to four years of support. 

Rural Financial Counselling Service 

• Call 1300 771 741 to access free, confidential and independent financial counselling if you’re an eligible primary producers or small businesses experiencing, or at risk of, financial hardship. 

Concessional loans 

• Call 1800 875 675 to find out about a low-cost RIC loan if you’re an eligible farmer or farm-related small businesses in financial need. 

Farm Management Deposits 

• Talk to your accountant about drawing down on any farm management deposit account you may have. 

Tax support 

• Call 1800 806 218 to ask the ATO for more time to lodge and pay tax or talk to a registered tax professional about other concessions. 

Social support and wellbeing 

• Call Lifeline Australia on 13 11 14 for immediate support or visit Head to Health for a list of other services that can help. 

Visit drought.gov.au to see if these programs could work for you too.  

Workshops for an adaptive farming future

Farmers from livestock and grain businesses are encouraged to attend 2-day adaptive farming workshops in western and northern Victoria this winter.

Consultant Dr Kate Burke will present the ‘In good times and bad: adaptive skills for your farming future’ workshops funded through the Farm Business Resilience (FBR) program.

Agriculture Victoria Regional Manager Grains South West Felicity Pritchard said Dr Burke’s evidence-based approach will help participants to develop a plan for their farm’s success.

‘Dr Burke brings a wealth of experience in broadacre and mixed farming, crop agronomy, and farm business management,’ Ms Pritchard said.

‘Farmers can learn valuable strategies to manage their businesses, particularly in the current challenging conditions and into the future.

‘Past participants have given excellent reviews and appreciated the time away from the farm to focus on the bigger picture.’

At the workshops Kate will cover a range of topics such as:

• managing climate variability and farm financial performance
• identifying opportunities for growth and mitigate risk
• reviewing key profit drivers and benchmarks
• analysing income versus cost of production
• evaluating your appetite for risk and production potential
• scenario planning for the rest of 2025 and beyond.

Running from 8:30 am for 9 am start to 3 pm, the workshops will take place on:

• 22-23 July, 940 Dookie – Nalinga Road, Dookie College, University of Melbourne, Dookie
• 14-15 August, Agriculture Victoria offices, 124 Chiltern Valley Road, Rutherglen
• 18-19 August, Wonwondah Hall, Wonwondah Hall Road, Wonwondah
• 21-22 August, Dunkeld Bowling Club, 77 Parker Street, Dunkeld.

These workshops are free and include morning tea and lunch, but numbers are limited so registration is essential. For more information, visit www.agriculture.vic.gov.au/events

The FBR Program is jointly funded through the Australian Government’s Future Drought Fund and the Victorian Government’s Future Agriculture Skills Capacity Fund.

Find more information about available drought support at www.agriculture.vic.gov.au/drought or call 136 186.

Winter worm burdens in sheep 

Dr Jeff Cave, Senior Veterinary Officer, Northern Region 

Worms and scours can be a significant problem in weaners and lambing ewes, especially with limited feed and the cold stress of winter. 

Winter conditions provide ideal conditions for the survival of worm larvae on pastures. What is more, feed may be short.  

Sheep that are nutritionally stressed and in light condition grazing short pastures are likely to be affected by worms and scouring this winter. 

Worms should be considered in all ill-thrifty or scouring sheep, regardless of when the sheep were last drenched. 

To help establish whether worms are the cause of ill-thrift or scouring it is worth considering the following: 

• nutrition of the sheep including the feed availability, supplemental feeding, and stocking rate 
• class and condition of the sheep including their body condition score 
• drench program including the product/s used and date/s drenched, particularly the time since the last treatment.  

To know for sure faecal samples from at least 5 affected and 5 non-affected sheep should be submitted for worm egg counts.  

To help manage worms in sheep during winter: 

• provide adequate feed for weaners and lambing ewes on low worm pastures such as those prepared by smart grazing over summer, those previously grazed by cattle, or those used for cropping 
• weaners and lambing ewes need to be in a condition score around 2.5. If lighter, they will need preferential treatment and feeding 
• check worm egg counts by Wormtest (samples from 10 representative sheep) every 4 to 6 weeks through winter 
• confirm the drench worked by Wormtest at the time of drenching and 10 to14 days later. 
• check worm egg counts in lambing ewes about 4 weeks before lambing. 

For further information please contact your local veterinarian or Agriculture Victoria animal health or extension staff, or use WormBoss at https://wormboss.com.au/ 

Find more information on drought and technical decision-making support at agriculture.vic.gov.au/drought or call 136 186.  

What's On

Details about these events and more can be found on our website.

In good times and in bad: adaptive skills for your farming future

When: 18-19 August, 8:30 am — 3 pm
Where: Wonwondah Hall, Wonwondah Hall Road, Wonwondah

When: 21-22 August, 8:30 am — 3 pm
Where: Dunkeld Bowling Club, Memorial Park, Dunkeld

Livestock and grain farmers join us for a 2-day adaptive farming workshop with Think Agri consultant Dr Kate Burke.

Learn valuable strategies to manage your business in the current challenging conditions and how to develop a plan for your farm’s future success.

Topics:

•  managing climate variability and farm financial performance
•  identifying opportunities for growth and mitigating risk
•  reviewing key profit drivers and high-level benchmarks
•  analysing income versus cost of production
•  evaluating your appetite for risk and production potential
•  scenario planning for 2025 and beyond

Free, morning tea and lunch included, but register early as numbers are limited.

Find more information about available drought support at www.agriculture.vic.gov.au/drought or call 136 186.

On-farm greenhouse gas emissions for advisors

When: 14 July, 2 — 5 pm
Where: Longerenong College

This workshop is designed for advisors and service providers supporting farmers in aligning soil health with productivity and intensity goals.

Key technical takeaways:

• Understanding the role of emissions scopes in farm system analysis
• Evaluating calculator tools for soil and land management metrics
• Integrating short and long-term soil strategies into advisory services

Drip irrigation monitoring and maintenance course

When: 15 July, 8:30 am — 12:30 pm
Where: Woorinen Recreation Reserve

Join Jeremy Giddings from Agriculture Victoria and Peter Henry from Netafim for this free event.

Please bring your irrigation design to this session.

Topics:

• Understanding design and specification sheets
• Monitoring, measuring pressures and discharges
• Flushing, chlorination and acid injection

Places are limited so please register email irrigation@agriculture.vic.gov.au ahead of time to book your spot.

Emissions and productivity: what farmers need to know with Cam Nicholson

When: 15 July, 10 am — 2:30 pm
Where: Apsley Golf Club

This workshop will provide an overview of the external forces driving the need to track farm emissions. It will assist farms to position their business for a low carbon emission future and highlight the relationship between emissions and productivity.

Interpreting soil moisture monitoring equipment

When: 16 July, 9-11 am
Where: Agriculture Victoria offices, 324 Campbell Street, Swan Hill

Agriculture Victoria, in conjunction with irrigation monitoring and management services company Green Brain, is offering a half-day workshop for irrigators looking to have a greater understanding of their soil moisture monitoring data.

For more information and to register, please email irrigation@agriculture.vic.gov.au.

So you know your number, now what?

When: 21 July, 2-5 pm
Where: Horsham RSL, 36 McLachlan Street, Horsham

This workshop is designed to support farmers who have already calculated their farm’s emissions, providing opportunity to discuss next steps, including strategies for reducing emissions, supply chain opportunities and on-going emissions calculations.

Emissions and productivity: What farmers need to know with Dr Cass Schefe

When: 22 July, 10 am — 2:30 pm
Where: Kaniva LINK Neighbourhood House 

This workshop will provide an overview of the external forces driving the need to track farm emissions. It will assist farms to position their business for a low carbon emission future.

Talk the talk workshop

When: 22 July, 3:30-5:30 pm
Where: Harrow Golf Club

A free workshop to help community leaders and farm supplier and service providers support people facing mental health challenges.

Bookings essential by 17 July.

Setting Strategies for Farm Business Success

When: 23-24 July, 9 am - 3 pm
Where: St Arnaud Sporting Club

Join Gavin Beever from Cumbre Consulting for a Setting Strategies for Farm Business Success 2 day workshop in St Arnaud commencing Wednesday 23 July.

Learn:

• What an effective business plan is and how to define success
• Cashflow management
• Dealing with downturns
• How to undertake a business fitness check
•  Identifying success drivers and benchmarking.

Catch up with Ag Vic experts Dale Grey and Jim Moran to discuss seasonal risk and biosecurity concerns. Hear Brendan Williams from Autonomous Ag talk about latest in AgTech.

From Feed Test to Feed Budget webinar

When: 23 July, 12:30-1:30 pm
Where: Online

Join Agriculture Victoria Livestock Extension Officers Nick Linden and Chris Blore for a webinar on feed testing and developing a feed budget.

Chris will also talk about the current drought support available.

Carbon, Farming and Common Sense

When: 23 July, 1-5 pm
Where: Hopetoun and District Neighbourhood House, 75 Lascelles Street, Hopetoun

Join Mallee CMA to learn about Carbon Farming and your farm emissions, accounting and reductions.

• Carbon Farming - What is it and what are the opportunities
• What is driving carbon and emissions expectations on farmers
• How to identify and understand your emissions
• What are the carbon activities that suit your land and soil

Decisions that drive drought recovery

When: 30 July, 9-3.30 pm
Where: Darley Civic and Community Hub - Pavilion

A powerful and practical 1-day workshop on how to build resilience, navigate crisis and adapt to change.

Topics:

• Learning how to navigate competing priorities for limited resources (family, farm and business).
• Identifying key resource issues, stressors, risks and opportunities for your farm business.
• Learning improved decision-making skills and how to manage key priorities – especially when under pressure and stress.
• Learning skills to rebuild capacity after battling personal/health and business challenges.
• Connecting to networks that support recovery and resilience.

Enquiries: Leigh Crocker, ION Group, 0419 359 409

GRDC events

Birchip Cropping Group events

Contacting Agriculture Victoria

Call 136 186 from anywhere in Australia for the cost of a local call (except for mobiles and public telephones).

If you are deaf or have a hearing or speech impairment, contact us through the National Relay Service at 133 677 or visit the National Relay Service.

All contact points can be found at: agriculture.vic.gov.au/about-us/contact-us

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