27-05-2025
Hay shortage and high prices causing concern for farmers amid ongoing drought
South Australian farmers say "there's no hay" in the state, and where it is available, it has reached unsustainable prices, as southern parts of the country battle ongoing drought conditions.
David Mews runs a horse sanctuary in the Adelaide Hills and was grateful he had enough hay for the horses he looks after, some of which have been surrendered due to owners struggling with the cost-of-living crisis and feeding the animals.
"There's no hay in South Australia," he said.
The not-for-profit charity, Windamere Horse Haven, usually just breaks even, but it is down tens of thousands of dollars this financial year.
"We had to buy [the hay] all up front this year, so that was all the hay money we normally pay across the year, was in one big chunk," he said.
"Which impacted our ability to buy other essentials that we need, like hard feed, to pay our vet bills, to pay our farrier bills."
It is not just a short-term concern though, and while there has been significant rain seen in SA recently, Mr Mews is worried there could be longer-term issues.
It is a similar story in what should be one of the lusher parts of SA, where Robert Brokenshire is a dairy farmer on SA's Fleurieu Peninsula.
As president of the state's dairy association, he hears from a lot of struggling farmers.
"We've got some dairy farmers spending up to $40,000 a week buying fodder; that's not sustainable," he said.
"But we're running out of fodder in South Australia."
Mr Brokenshire said fodder was now being sourced from interstate, but he was worried about what would happen if the drought does not break.
"If South Australia and Victoria don't get a good spring, there won't be any fodder," he said.
"South Australia in the past has been the state that's provided fodder to the other states.
"This time we're having to source that fodder from New South Wales and Queensland at a time when they need it themselves."
Mr Brokenshire wants the federal government to visit the state and see the situation firsthand.
Agriculture Minister Julie Collins will be in South Australia on Wednesday to announce a $36 million extension to the Future Drought Fund Communities Program, which has been extended for another four years.
There will also be an extra $800,000 to Rural Financial Counselling Service providers in South Australia and Victoria.
The state government also has a suite of resources for drought-affected farmers, including money for charities providing hay.
Graham Cockerell from Need for Feed in Victoria said the organisation was coming up to 20 years of providing hay for farmers in need.
"We've seen a lot of drought and a lot of disasters; this one would rate up there with the worst of the droughts that we've seen in the worst-hit parts of South Australia," he said.
The charity has provided nine runs of hay, with a tenth planned, to farmers in South Australia throughout the ongoing drought conditions, which has helped hundreds of farmers.
"While that amount of hay won't rescue anyone's farm business, what it does do, and to us the most important part, is that it's letting those farmers know that somebody cares," he said.
