Victorian farmers can now access the Commonwealth’s $30 million Dairy Recovery Concessional Loans through Rural Finance, after the caretaker Coalition government provided the necessary documentation.
While the Commonwealth loans were announced in late May, the final draft loan agreement and guidelines were only provided to Victoria in recent days.
Based on current loan products, it is likely the $30 million funding pool will provide support to only 70 of Victoria’s 4300 dairy farms.
While welcome, it is a far cry from what Victorian farmers deserve.
Under the arrangements, only farmers supplying Murray Goulburn and Fonterra during the 2015/16 milk season will be able to access the Dairy Recovery Concessional Loans scheme.
This means one in five Victorian dairy farmers will be ineligible – even though the expected lower opening price for the next year will impact those supplying all processors.
The loan scheme may also disadvantage share farmers, who are usually younger farmers and may not meet the credit requirements for these types of loans.
