South Australia Runs Out of Hay as Drought Bites

(ABC News) – South Australia has run out of hay, and more farmers are looking to Victoria and Western Australia to feed their livestock.

Brad Griffiths, a director at the Australian Fodder Industry Association, says all available hay in SA has been sold.

“I don’t believe there’s any hay left to sell in the state; it has all been sold and whatever hay is left is yet to be transported,” Mr Griffiths said.

“It’s a pretty dire time for some farmers, not just in the eastern states; it is pretty ordinary in some parts of South Australia as well.”

Mr Griffiths farms at Mallala, about 60km north of Adelaide.

He said farmers were being paid up to $300 per tonne for cereal hay — well up on last year’s prices.

“Most South Australian stocks are exhausted now,” he said.

“There is a lot of hay coming out of Western Australia, they are having a reasonable year and had a fair bit of hay left over from last year.

“But as far as hay leaving South Australia, the shipments have all slowed down to almost a stop now … stocks are all but empty, and heading into the new season it doesn’t look like we’re going to be flush for a great deal of fodder this year either.”

Hay in short supply in Victoria

With South Australian fodder stocks depleted, many farmers are turning to Victoria for feed for their livestock.

West Wimmera farmer Marty Colbert has been carting hay from Nhill to Tamworth.

Mr Colbert likened the number of trucks on the road to a typical peak harvest period.

“In the thick of it around Condobolin I would have seen 50 trucks easily, both hay and grain.

“I would say the majority of it was coming from the Wimmera, the West Wimmera, and the Western District areas south of Ararat, down to Willaura.

“[A friend has] had three road trains running from Narrabri down to Willaura since June, non-stop.”

Although hay is in short supply in Victoria, Mr Colbert understood some farmers still had stock to sell.

“I’d say it’s definitely starting to run low, but I think a few people might be willing to shift a bit now that they can see in areas like the West Wimmera that we’re going to have a [good] hay year again,” he said.

Travelling north, Mr Colbert got a firsthand view of the dire state of the landscape.

“There’s a bit of a cut-off line around Sea Lake, over to Swan Hill,” he said.

“Then once you get over the border it actually looks like February, just dry.

Feed shortage could roll on until 2019

Mr Colbert said harvestable crops were few and far between in many areas.

“The area around Goolgowi, Meriwagga, Hillston, if they have a typical finish to the year with the crops I saw, I’d say there might be an odd paddock that’d go five bags but there’d be 10 other paddocks that you wouldn’t even put the sheep in,” he said.

“It’s a long time since I’ve seen it that crook and to see it that dry extended further east all the way through the blue ribbon country.”

Mr Colbert said he expected the feed shortage to roll into 2019.

“In 2019 if those mouths they’re feeding are still there to be feed, there’s still going to be a huge demand for Victoria to supply New South Wales and I can’t see any reason for commodity prices to slip,” he said.

He said Victorian farmers enjoying a good season were well placed to capitalise on the high prices.

“I think we should because there’s no reason why it can’t be a drought in 2019 for us, so make it while we can,” he said.