THE Victorian Government has extended its $13.53 million drought support package, with another $15.95m to be offered to farmers across 13 additional local government areas in the state's south west.
The Government is continuing to support farmers impacted by drought and dry conditions by expanding the delivery of the On-Farm Infrastructure Grants Program, announced in September.
Victorian minister for agriculture, Ros Spence, said the program has already supported over 1500 of the state's farmers and will now also be available to those in the additional Local Government Areas (LGAs).
"I've heard directly from farmers about the impact drought conditions are having on our communities – we're continuing to back them with the support they need to tackle the challenging dry conditions across the state," Spence said.
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The LGAs added to the existing 11 areas announced in September include West Wimmera, Horsham Rural City, Northern Grampians, Hepburn, Moorabool, Ballarat, Towong, Mornington Peninsula, Bass Coast, Cardinia, Baw Baw, Casey, South Gippsland- with French Island also included.
The Government said the drought package will also support small businesses in impacted LGAs through the appointment of a Small Business Financial Counsellor. And Agriculture Victoria's farm business technical and decision-making support will also be made available state-wide, supporting farmers to manage the impacts of increasingly difficult seasonal conditions.
The Victorian Government has also extended its partnership with the National Centre for Farmer Health by investing $900,000 through the Victorian Budget 2025/26, to deliver ongoing services and resources to the farming community.
The latest package brings the Government's direct drought support to $29.4m, in addition to the $10.2m investment through the Future Drought Fund program, and $4.1m for the Rural Financial Counselling Service.
To view the full range of financial, technical and wellbeing support available visit aagriculture.vic.gov.au/dryseasons or phone 136 186.
