This week on iHeart Tassie, the plight gripping many farmers not fortunate enough to have access to Tasmania’s irrigation schemes.
They are running into big dramas feeding livestock as a result of a protracted dry stretch.
Farmer Brad Grattidge is finding sourcing cost efficient feed extremely difficult.
“Quotes of $180 for round bales of hay, lucerne is around $250 a bale, silage is going to be around that $200 mark, but it’ll be exceptional circumstances where people will sell their hay.”
Brad reports that selling livestock has become an ordeal in itself.
“Selling livestock at a lesser price is one thing, not even being able to sell them because if they get too light in condition, I know of a neighbour who actually sold 20 cows for dog food because they were too poor to go anywhere else.”
To top everything off, Brad is among a farming community plagued by animal theft.
“The last five years I’ve lost about $20,000 per year in livestock getting stolen, they go around of a night time with night vision gear, they shoot the animal, winch them into a trailer and off they go.”
You can hear the full podcast here:
