Support Needed for Drought Impact on Sheep Farms – IFA

IFA Sheep Committee Chair Adrian Gallagher has called on the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Martin Heydon, to come forward with supports for sheep farmers impacted by the drought conditions in parts of the country.

He said that while the worst effects of the drought are predominantly in the east of the country, the impacts are being felt throughout the sheep sector.

“Sheep farmers who sell store lambs depend on farmers in the east of the country to buy their lambs, and unfortunately these are the farms suffering most from drought conditions and limited grass supplies.”

Adrian Gallagher said farmers who ordinarily sell their lambs as stores at this time of year need direct financial support to buy feed, allowing them to retain these lambs on farm until conditions and demand improve from farmers in the drought-affected regions of the country.

“Limited grass supplies in these areas have also impacted breeding in lowland flocks and will, no doubt, feed into the lamb crop next year, with farmers unable to flush their ewes as normal in advance of breeding.”

He said these farms also need immediate, direct financial support to offset the increased feed costs they are and will incur over the coming weeks as breeding kicks off in earnest.

“I’m also calling on the Minister to remove the retention requirement in the Sheep Improvement Scheme, allowing farmers who have completed their scheme actions to dispose of any surplus ewes they may have. The SIS requires participants to retain their scheme number of ewes for the entire calendar year, which is putting unnecessary pressure on limited feed supplies on farms. Farmers in the NSWS also need clarity on this flexibility to offload surplus ewes,” he said.

The IFA Sheep Chair concluded, “We cannot afford to lose any more ground in the sheep sector, and the Minister must come forward with meaningful, impactful supports to help sheep farmers through this difficult period.”