FEDERAL Assistant Agriculture Minister Anne Ruston has called on the SA government to “work harder” to ensure their drought relief packages flow to South East farmers in need.
This includes the $10 million made available for SA in the new Drought Recovery Concessional Loan Scheme announced last week, in addition to the $10m committed last October for Drought Concessional Loans.
But SA Agriculture Minister Leon Bignell, whose government is administering the loans, insists PIRSA staff are working with farmers.
As of Tuesday they had discussed opportunities with 60 businesses, including 42 from the Upper SE, three from the Lower SE, seven from the Murray Mallee, two from the EP, and one each from the Mid North and Fleurieu. This has seen the first applications of the 2015-16 round approved recently.
Ms Ruston, who was the guest speaker at the Livestock SA meeting at Robe on Friday, said uptake had been “excessively low” in SA, with 47 of 51 applications for Farm Finance Concessional Loans rejected between 2013 and 2015.
SA had been allocated $35m to administer across a two-year period, but much of this money went unspent. Only four SA farm businesses had Drought Concessional Loans approved to the end of last year.
“Our argument is we have made this money available and we would like to see the government working a little bit harder to make sure farmers suffering hardship as a result of the low rainfall area can access it,” she said.
The federal government applies only two criteria to its packages; financial hardship must be caused by low rainfall and businesses must demonstrate they are sustainable in the longer term.
She said the federal government did not set an equity cut off and recognised if a broad debt to equity ratio was applied, the SE would be at a severe disadvantage.
“You don’t have a drought down here very often so your risk profile for the banks is quite low, so you are able to borrow at a much higher level,” she said.
“Whoever is assessing these loans needs to take into account the locational impacts of the various areas when they are making those decisions and not try to apply a one size, fits all model.
“Quite clearly when you have states like Qld and NSW approving more than 50 per cent of applications and in SA we have a situation where we have 7, 8 and 9pc being approved – there is something not aligning here.”
Ms Ruston said the SE was an area which rarely needed assistance so it was important these farmers had the ability not only to deal with the issues during the drought, but also funding to kick start their businesses when the drought breaks.
In a written response to Stock Journal, Mr Bignell said $10m in drought recovery loans would help farm businesses experiencing unprecedented drought conditions to recover when seasonal conditions improve.
These loans – which are in addition to Drought Concessional Loans – will help farmers get back to business as soon as possible and boost their production, he said.
“We want as many eligible farm businesses as possible to receive this heIp,” he said.
“If dry conditions continue, I will continue to work with Minister (Barnaby) Joyce to ensure support is provided.”
Mr Bignell said the state had its own Drought Assistance Package for the Upper SE, including regional drought coordinator Peta Crewe, who was providing advice and support in the community, and helping farmers connect to relevant services.
PIRSA staff have met with 27 businesses face-to-face at Bordertown, Struan, Keith, Mount Gambier and Adelaide, including seven on-farm meetings actively promoting the scheme and explaining eligibility criteria and processes.
“I encourage more farmers to apply and seek the help they need,” he said.
