SA's $10 million allocation under the federal government's Drought Concessional Loan Scheme for 2014-15 has not been spent by the June 30 deadline, but farmers are being thrown a funding lifeline.
The federal government will make an additional $250 million available this financial year, which is likely to give SA producers in-need another chance.
These low interest rate loans were made available to assist drought-affected farm businesses to recover from drought and return to viability in the long-term.
Concerns have been raised about PIRSA and the state government's administration of the program in SA, suggesting the success rate is much lower than Vic. A motion was unanimously passed at last week's Livestock SA southern region AGM to have Agriculture Minister Leon Bignell urgently investigate these concerns.
But PIRSA figures obtained by Stock Journal reveal just 13 SA farm businesses applied for the drought concessional loans in 2014-15, with the applications in various stages of the approval process.
Mr Bignell acknowledged some SA farmers were experiencing difficulty and said he and the federal Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce wanted to ensure support was available to them.
He welcomed the federal government's indication it would extend its drought concessional loans scheme in SA this financial year and has given his in-principle agreement to the loans scheme continuing in the state.
"I have also written to the federal Agriculture Minister about ensuring eligibility criteria and guidelines are uniform across the nation. It is crucial there is a level playing field across all states and territories so all farmers are assessed equally," he said.
Livestock SA president Geoff Power said nearly all of the state was experiencing below average rainfall, but the areas of greatest concern were the Mid and Upper South East, and patches of the north east pastoral areas which had continued to miss out.
"Hopefully the process will become a bit simpler and while it is a wait and see operation to see what is on offer, the federal and state governments have said they want to help those people in need if they can."
"The feedback seems to be it takes two to three days to put a business plan together and people aren't that keen to do the work, but if I was in that position I would not let the paperwork hold me back."
Mr Power said Australia experienced frequent droughts and could not understand why there were not trigger points in place which give primary producers the ability to access drought concessional loans quicker.
"There needs to be a strategy in place rather than skirting around the issue."
"We need to have industry, the state and federal governments working together to be more proactive rather than reactive to drought."