LIVESTOCK SA president Geoff Power, Orroroo, has welcomed the $10 million made available to drought-affected SA farmers through the concessional loan scheme, but said expedient delivery of the loans was critical, with many farmers across the state hurting financially.
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While it appears the loan guidelines on security levels and long-term viability have not changed much, he praised PIRSA's move to deploy staff in drought-affected areas to pre-assess applications.
This already occurred in Vic, where approval rates were much higher in the previous round of funding.
Mr Power said equity levels needed to be set at a "realistic level".
He particularly wanted to see consideration given to young farmers who had bought properties in succession planning in the past few years. Many of these have taken on high debt levels.
"If you take the South East, it is always considered to be a reliable rainfall area, but we have the rare occurrence of two terrible years in a row," he said.
"There are some good young farmers caught in a bad situation. They have taken out loans and thought they had a great future in agriculture."
He said the Upper SE was in a dire situation, the Far North was "patchy", and seasonal conditions had deteriorated in many other areas of the state.
Mr Power wanted to see the loans extended beyond the five-year term.
"One of the problems is agriculture is a long-term commitment," he said. "You can't just pay off land or loans in a few years. There are tax implications. After five years the government needs to look at extending the loans for another five years."
He also reiterated his push for federal and state governments to work together with industry to set trigger points for drought policy.
Catherine Miller
Stock Journal's livestock editor and South East correspondent.
Stock Journal's livestock editor and South East correspondent.
