Hundreds of farmers gather amid fears of worsening drought, condemn WA government response

More than 300 farmers gathered at a crisis meeting in Yornup, southern WA. (ABC Great Southern: Andrew Chounding)

The population of a small country town in southern Western Australia has more than tripled after hundreds of farmers gathered to call for greater state and federal support amid a worsening drought.

More than 300 farmers descended on Yornup, 270 kilometres south of Perth, on Wednesday for what industry leaders have described as a crisis meeting.

Producers across the South West and Great Southern, used to cooler and wetter conditions than others in the state, have seen feedstock dwindle following a dry 2023 spring, WA’s hottest summer on record and a largely rainless autumn.

Farmland across the state from the Pilbara to the Great Southern has recorded “severe rainfall deficiencies” since December 2022, experiencing some of WA’s lowest rainfall totals since records began.

The dry conditions have sparked a significant feed shortage, raising concerns for animal welfare.

The WA government’s response, the establishment of a taskforce to respond to the issues, prompted the mass meeting.

Farmers lukewarm on taskforce

Yornup cattle producer Michael Campbell said the taskforce would do little to appease farmers already at a critical point.

“It probably should have been in place a few weeks or months ago,” he said.

“They’ve known this has been coming since November. They were most probably sitting back hoping it was going to rain.

“But it hasn’t and now we have a hay shortage.”

Neither WA Agriculture Minister Jackie Jarvis nor taskforce head Rob Cossart attended Wednesday’s meeting.

“It shows how interested they are in government, and how interested is our ag minister in agriculture,” Mr Campbell said.

“Federally we know there is no interest; maybe there’s no state interest either.”

Minister condemned, change sought

Last week, Ms Jarvis spoke about farmers facing the possibility of euthanasing their animals.

“If they can’t sell animals they do have to sometimes make tough decisions, and that does sometimes include euthanasing animals,” the minister said.

The assembled farmers condemned her comments.

“I’m actually pretty disgusted by [the comments] because the reality is we’ve been asking Jackie Jarvis to look at ways of alleviating the pressure,” Mr Campbell said.

“And the only comment we get back from her is, ‘No’.”

In a series of demands directed at the WA government, farmers called for a moratorium on the export of WA hay interstate or overseas, as well as a resumption of the Water Supply Grant Scheme.

While control over exports and aviation rests with the Commonwealth, the meeting also called for an increase in the number of Qatar Airways flights into WA, to allow for greater exports of frozen meat to the Middle East.

WA Farmers president John Hassell said more flights would allow abattoirs to process more animals, reducing feed demand, while a moratorium on exporting hay would ensure feed in the short term.

“There was a motion with regards to Qatar Airlines to allow as many planes that want to come in because they are the perfect size planes for getting air freight out for our abattoirs,” he said.

Mr Hassell said a motion was also passed condemning the minister’s comment concerning her comments about farmers facing the possibility of euthanasing animals if they could not afford feed or fodder.

In a statement to the ABC, Ms Jarvis said she was aware of the tough decisions farmers were facing as a result of the “drought conditions”.

“It’s so important that they look after their mental health,” she said.

“I would urge anyone struggling to reach out to their doctor and use the free financial and counselling services available.”

She declined to comment on the farmers’ specific demands, but said the taskforce would meet for the first time later this week and consider the issues.

Mr Cossart was contacted for comment.