Two south-west Victorian women are spearheading a campaign to ensure local farmers struggling through the worst drought on record are getting the support they need.
Elise McKinnon and Rebecca Mahony have started the Drought Support Victoria page on Facebook to share news and events that promote financial and mental wellbeing for everyone impacted by the drought.
They say the page is designed to build resilience in challenging times. The page can be found at: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1544731803207198
Elise’s husband, Xavier McKinnon, is a vet with Hampden Vet Clinic Group, and they run a small beef operation near Warrnambool, while Rebecca is from a farm near Camperdown.
Xavier has seen the extent of the crisis for his local dairy farmer clients and both families have close friends doing it tough across the region.
“We’ve got a small beef farm and have had to sell some stock because we couldn’t afford to feed them all, but it isn’t as bad for us because my husband has another job,” Elise said.
Their work extends beyond the Facebook page.
Xavier helped to organise farmers’ support nights with AFL legend Kevin Sheedy and Elise joined with Geoff Rollinson from the Warrnambool Coastcare Landcare Network to organise a meeting with farmers and host a drought relief roundtable meeting at Deakin University that led to the Farmer Led Drought Relief Alliance.
“We invited water authorities, local government, dairy representative bodies, mental health representatives, including the Rural Financial Counselling Service, and local farmers to agree on and endorse the key priorities in getting help for farmers now,” Elise said.
“Everybody seems to be asking for different things from the government, but it is crucial in order to gain any traction that we need to be on the same page — a united and strong voice for our farmers.”
From those discussions, it became obvious a central depository was needed for farmers to see what resources are available, and the Facebook page was born.
“There is a lot of really great mental health and financial support available with Rural Financial Counselling Service, Let’s Talk, Need for Feed and other mental health support, but not all farmers know what is available,” Elise said.
“When you’re under financial pressure and you can’t focus on things, it helps to have a one-stop consolidation of what’s out there to support farmers so they can see what they can access for assistance.”
They aim to keep the page positive, resource-driven and non-political and have also expanded to compile a double page spread sponsored by Midfield Meat in the Warrnambool Weekly newspaper to detail different types of support, drawn attention to the plight of farmers with a green armband round in the Hampden Football Netball League, got football legend Sam Newman to don the armband and hope to expand the initiative to the AFL.
The Facebook page has grown to nearly 400 members since it started in mid-May.
“This is a national food crisis,” Elise said.
“Sixty five per cent of Australia’s milk is produced in Victoria, and the current crisis is heartbreaking for farmers, and that’s why we wanted to do something.”
Elise, who has a background in media and marketing, is also advocating for farmers.
“We need simple things to get money into farmers’ pockets right now, like exceptional circumstances loans, unlocking the treasurer’s emergency fund, rate relief, larger and tiered one-for-one infrastructure grants, and hay, fodder and freight support,” she said.
“The biggest thing is food on the ground now. It has rained, but it’s still going to take a couple of months for the grass to grow,” Rebecca said.
“We are working on ideas to get feed to farmers now and educate the broader community on why this drought, our farmers and our food matters.”
To achieve this, they are also calling for support in Victoria for ‘Need for Feed’ (needforfeed.org.au) to bring not only feed to animals, but hampers for farmers and barbecues for social mental health, and they are lobbying local government in drought areas to push for rate relief and for a natural disaster declaration.
“Given the longevity of this drought, the worst on record, we really need to get this support for farmers and to keep it positive with a message of hope,” Elise said.
For more stories on the ongoing drought situation in southern Victoria, go to: https://www.dairynewsaustralia.com.au