Farmers across the Coonamble District are continuing to feel the pressure of prolonged dry conditions, with many producers feeding stock for more than a year.
Early intervention is seeing farmers making the difficult decision to destock in an effort to manage rising costs and limited seasonal outlooks.
Allison Davis, a Rural Financial Counsellor in Coonamble with the Rural Financial Counselling Service NSW, said the impact of the ongoing conditions was becoming more widespread.
She is urging farmers that early intervention is key to surviving the dry conditions.
“Some have been feeding stock for around 12 months and in some cases since February last year and we are seeing a lot of people destocking,” Mrs Davis said.
“A very big concern is they are going to be planting soon.”
Mrs Davis said lessons learned from previous droughts had prompted some producers to make difficult decisions earlier rather than holding onto stock too long.
She said rising costs were adding further strain to farming businesses.
“Fuel prices are compounding the issue."
While parts of the region have not been officially drought declared, Ms Davis said producers were being encouraged to complete a Primary Industries Natural Disaster Damage Assessment (PiNDDA) survey.
The PiNDDA form records the impact conditions are having on farming operations.
“We are recommending in some cases people fill it out because it is helpful information to highlight the conditions as we haven’t been drought declared,” she said.
“It is a disaster declaration and there is no specific area on it to say drought, but there is a comments section where you can mention what damage you have and you can say drought.
“This is a way of getting the information back to the government.”
Barwon MP Roy Butler explained the government no longer made official drought declarations, but instead reported on areas experiencing drought conditions.
“What they have needed to do for a long time is to properly identify the thresholds for meteorological, hydrological and socio-economic drought and to accordingly target assistance to agriculture,” Mr Butler said.
“There needs to be well defined trigger points for when assistance kicks in, so that assistance is timely and properly targeted, and trigger points for when to help facilitate a speedy recovery coming out of drought.”
Mr Butler agreed farmers needed certainty about what support would be available both during and after drought conditions.
“The immediate measures the government needed to take were to give assurances that assistance will be available to help farmers through the worst of the drought, and what assistance is available,” he said.
“But also that farmers who have dipped into savings, sold off stock and taken other measures to get through the worst will be helped with efforts toward recovery.”
Mrs Davis said the service was concentrating heavily on early intervention, encouraging farmers to seek advice before financial pressures escalate.
“What we are focusing on at the moment is early intervention,” she said.
She said experience from past droughts had highlighted the importance of planning ahead and remaining vigilant during extended dry periods.
“What we are hoping is people will come and have a chat to us about what options are available,” Mrs Davis said.
“We can help with assistance with the RAA and the Regional Investment Corporation.”
She said there were usually support pathways available regardless of individual circumstances, but acting early often produced the best outcomes.
“The service is free and we are here to help, whether that is through helping to get a drought declaration or looking at alternative ways of doing things,” she said.
The data collected through PiNDDA surveys is analysed and used to help inform recovery and assistance measures.