4 February 2011
TFGA WANTS FARMERS’ IRRIGATION SCHEME PAYMENTS DEFERRED
The Tasmanian Farmers and Graziers Association (TFGA) today called on Premier and Treasurer Lara Giddings to decide urgently to defer payments that participating farmers have to make to irrigation schemes that are nearing completion.
The peak farmers’ organisation said that a combination of extraordinary circumstances, climatic and commercial, had placed farmers in dire financial straits at a time when they should be preparing to pay the balance of their payments on the Whitemore scheme next month and the Wesley Vale-Sassafras scheme mid-year.
“Our farmers have shown they are backing the Food Bowl concept through their support of the irrigation schemes initiated by the Tasmanian Irrigation Development Board.” TFGA chief executive Jan Davis said today.
“Farmers have committed financially to them. Unfortunately, at the very time they want to secure their long-term future they are facing an unprecedented run of significant shorter-term shocks.
“They are looking at crop losses due to flood and rain, the loss of processing markets, closure of the McCain’s vegetable processing plant, and now they are the collateral damage in the war between milk retailers to sell milk at subsistence pricing.
“It is knocking farmers for six,” Ms Davis said.
She said the difficult conditions could make it harder for farmers to buy into the next two schemes available to them – the Lower South Esk next month and Midlands Water Scheme in April.
Ms Davis said the TFGA wanted the state government to recognise and accept the short-term difficulties that farmers faced and, effectively, give them more time to pay.
“We are not asking for loans or grants or freebies,” she said. “We just want some extra time for these farmers to get over these financial hits they have had, get back on their feet and then meet their obligations.
“The Government has shown great support with its irrigation roll-out. One more small step will ensure that the current dire conditions do not jeopardise the long-term security and expansion that the program is all about.
“But we need an immediate decision that the payments can be deferred,” Ms Davis said.
Jan Davis http://www.tfga.com.au/
