Warmer weather on the way for Victoria, but farmers face another challenging season

For Victoria’s farming communities, the warm weather offers both promise and peril.

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Victorian Farmers Federation president Brett Hosking said the warmer weather forecast could reduce the risk of frost damage – a major concern for crops currently flowering – but it also brings new challenges after what was a dry August and September.

“The warmer than average conditions do pose some challenges because they also bring a bit of instability with them,” Hosking said. “So we tend to get higher wind speeds which dries the ground out. That also combined with the warmer temperatures also dries the ground up.

“Where it is a benefit, it does reduce our risk of frost damage, particularly a lot of our crops that are flowering or grain crops that are starting to fill or flowering at the moment.”

But the key ingredient – rain – is still desperately needed.

“So that’s the real challenge, is making sure we do see good rainfall as well,” he said.

“We do hope and pray that we might see a little bit of rain come through later on, or in coming weeks would be ideal. But it is shaping up to be just that little bit drier than what we expected.”

Hosking said that timing is critical for farmers, especially in the state’s north where crops are more advanced.

“Their timeline to be able to get rain and have it make a meaningful difference is a lot shorter than … further south,” said.

While consumers are unlikely to see supermarket shelves go empty, Hosking warns that the ongoing dry conditions will still be felt.

“It is unlikely we’ll see shortages on supermarket shelves, but what we will see is that the cost of production for our farmers will go up, so they’ll make choices to reduce the numbers of stock,” he said.

Hosking said beef and lamb prices are already nearing record highs.

“If we see those conditions continue, then we’ll see that lack of numbers and therefore higher prices,” he said.

The official shift toward longer, warmer days will kick in on Sunday, with Victorians reminded to set their clocks forward one hour at 2am on October 5, as the daylight saving period begins.

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