Solid winter buoys local farmer
LEONGATHA South dairy farmer Gordon Vagg has been pleased with the winter season this year, with his farm looking healthy and green as warmer weather approaches.
Mr Vagg said the amount of rain received in the region over the previous few months had been satisfying but not overwhelming.
“It wasn’t super wet this year, but we certainly had enough to keep things green,” Mr Vagg said.
By comparison, Mr Vagg visited East Gippsland where he said the environment was much drier.
“It’s shocking up there at the moment,” Mr Vagg said.
“It makes you appreciate how lucky we are in South Gippsland.”
Mr Vagg also noted this winter had been one of the coldest that he could remember.
Moving forward, Mr Vagg said the biggest challenge facing local farmers was the rising cost of electricity bills and pellets per ton.
“Electricity bills have kept going up over the last few years and we obviously use our fair share of electricity to operate,” Mr Vagg said.
“Not only is that, but the general cost of living going up. Fodder prices are sky high because of the dry weather in northern Victoria and New South Wales and the cost of production is going up all the time.”
Mr Vagg said that dealers told him to expect a $60 increase in the amount of pellet per ton, with another $60 increase expected around Christmas.
“Usually prices for pellets goes down around Christmas time because that’s when all the new harvest comes in and they want to get rid of the old stuff,” Mr Vagg said.
“This year though with the drought up in northern Victoria and New South Wales there’s a shortage of grain. It’s a really big issue, one that does its toll financially.”
Mr Vagg noted while milk prices were decent compared to the previous few years, they still weren’t enough to offset the cost of living.
“Things get difficult when the price for milk doesn’t rise at the same rate that outgoing expenses are rising at,” Mr Vagg said.
* Leongatha South dairy farmer Gordon Vagg.
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Posted by brad on Oct 3 2018. Filed under Rural News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry
