An Orbost dairy farmer has taken to social media to vent his frustration that East Gippsland appears to have been forgotten in the ongoing drought.

Dennis Reynolds posted a video on Facebook to draw attention to the ‘green drought’ the area is experiencing.

Mr Reynolds believes many people are oblivious to the real struggle farmers are suffering in East Gippsland because the paddocks look green.

“There are definitely people in the area that wouldn’t realise how tough farmers are doing it,” he said.

“I just wanted to get it out there and make people aware that we’re struggling too, it’s not just New South Wales and Queensland.” In his video post, Mr Reynolds talks about “cattle that are not in the best condition.”

“We have cattle dying in this local area, we have dams running out of water,” he said.

He says farmers are finding it very hard to source fodder.

“It’s bloody challenging,” Mr Reynolds said.

“The price has gone through the roof as a result of New South Wales subsidising the freight.”

He said farmers in NSW had “bought up big in Victoria”, depleting fodder supplies for Victorian farmers.

“What is left, the quality is not there and coming into spring, if we don’t get rain, it’s only going to get worse.”

Mr Reynolds said he had recently paid $14,000 for a truck load of hay consisting of 63 bales.

He is feeding out six bales of hay a day, which he says is not nearly enough to maintain healthy animals.

Mr Reynolds runs two dairy farms, as part of a family business, stocked with 400 cows at Jarrahmond and Orbost. Mr Reynolds says more needs to be done to help farmers and all tiers of government are responsible.

“Hell yes, I think government should be doing more,” he said.

He said the East Gippsland Shire could also do more to help.

“The rates should be cut. We don’t even get our rubbish picked up.”

A spokesman for the shire said farmers already receive a reduction on their rates.

“We have provisions in place for farmers, we’ve got a range of payment provisions, including hardship,” the spokesman said.

“We’d invite people to have that conversation with us in the first instance.”

Over at nearby Bete Bolong, Royston Nettleton is running 175 dairy cows on 250 acres.

He too talks about the green drought.

“It’s green, but there’s absolutely nothing there. It’s very deceiving,” Mr Nettleton said.

“There’s no sub soil moisture in the ground out here.”

The Orbost area received about 15 millimetres of rain over the weekend, but not enough to soak the dry paddocks.

“We’re going to need to get a flood to fully recover,” he said.

Mr Nettleton agrees with Mr Reynolds that feed for livestock is becoming more difficult to source.

“Dairy pellets are about $500 a tonne, it’s pretty expensive,” he said.

“But you keep soldiering on and look after the cattle as best you can.”

He said talking to other farmers had helped.

“You’re not in it alone, it’s affecting everybody,” he said.

Gippsland Farmer Relief will next week distribute food packages to farmers struggling financially in Orbost and surrounding areas.

Chief executive officer, Melissa Ferguson, said the packages would include staple items, such as sugar, flour, pasta and rice.

Ms Ferguson said farmers often don’t speak up if they’re in difficulty and Gippsland Farmer Relief had relied on anonymous referrals from concerned family friends and community.
“People often don’t reach out, so we like to be able to find those in need,” Ms Ferguson said.

Anyone concerned about a farmer in financial difficulty can contact Gippsland Farmer Relief through its Facebook page.

Meantime, the Federal Government has announced it would increase drought aid for farmers.

Member for Gippsland, Darren Chester, last week wrote to the Prime Minister requesting further assistance.

He advocated for East Gippsland to be included in the Drought Communities Program after advice from local farmers that the current conditions are the worst they have experienced in 90 years.

The East Gippsland Shire has been named among 60 regions nationally to receive new funding from the Drought Communities Program as apart of a suite of further drought support measures.

East Gippsland will receive $1 million on top of direct assistance to farming families.

Shire chief executive officer, Gary Gaffney, said council had commenced work on identifying projects that would have an impact.

East Gippsland Shire mayor, Cr Joe Rettino, and Mr Gaffney, will meet with Victoria’s Agriculture Minister, Jaala Pulford, today (Wednesday) at Parliament House to see if the State Government is able to offer more relief to farmers.

“We are looking at opportunities for off farm income,” Cr Rettino said.

PICTURED: Orbost farmer, Dennis Reynolds, with Rusty the dog, has taken to Facebook to vent his frustration about farmers struggling with the ‘green drought’. S319-14