For Pete’s Sake: Myponda dairy farmer Peter Whitford, 91, says SA’s drought is worst he’s seen
We use their products every single day but this veteran Fleurieu farmer says his industry can’t survive in South Australia for much longer.
SA News
Don't miss out on the headlines from SA News. Followed categories will be added to My News.
At the ripe old age of 91, Peter Whitford has seen a lot of change in the dairy farming game.
He’s been milking cows since his artist parents bought land in the Myponga region in 1938. And in 70-plus years farming on the Fleurieu Peninsula, this is the driest he’s seen it.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen any other droughts this bad,” Mr Whitford said.
He leases his land to family now but remains active on the farm. He travels each day from his home at Normanville Heights and completes a variety of jobs, including lugging around huge bales of hay to feed the cows. And he says they’re hungry like he’s rarely seen them before.
“We’re feeding about seven or eight bales every other day to the young cattle, and you’ve got a job to get into the paddock,” he said.
“They get in under the hay and between the tractor and the wheels. You’ve got to be that careful because they are so hungry looking for feed. And the paddocks are bare. Absolutely bare.
“The cows are still in reasonable condition but I feel for people that didn’t have hay.”
Mr Whitford said he and his family purchased land at Pages Flat in 1972 and planted ryegrass. For more than 50 years that ryegrass has been able to regenerate, but if there’s no rain soon, he’s worried that run will come to an end.
“Normally you’ve got to get a shower of rain and the ryegrass will shoot. But this year, I’m concerned the ryegrass won’t even shoot because it’s so dry.”
The veteran farmer and former Yankallila mayor is one of nine farmers named Peter across the state The Advertiser has tracked down for a campaign to raise awareness about one of the harshest droughts in SA history.
It’s the attention of the Peter who runs the state – Premier Peter Malinauskas – they want the most. The For Pete’s Sake campaign is calling on the government to substantially increase the $18m drought support package announced in November.
Mr Whitford is concerned about the shrinking number of dairy farmers in the state.
He can recall opening the Yankalilla Show one year and commenting that there were 22 dairy farms between Myponga and Yankalilla. Today, there is only one. As well as dealing with the drought, individual milk producers had also lost up to a million dollars when Beston Global Food Company went into administration last year and were dealing with power bills of up to $25,000 a month.
Mr Whitford said that he understood the importance of sport such as football and golf to South Australia, but said State Government money spent on events such as Gather Round and LIV Golf could go towards supporting struggling farmers.
And he asked for more urgency around drought relief applications after farmers reported waiting up to three months.
Primary Industries Minister Clare Scriven said applications for the government’s $18m drought support package remained open and encouraged farmers to continue to apply for grants. She said the government had approved more than 360 applications for an on-farm drought infrastructure rebate scheme.
Originally published as For Pete’s Sake: Myponda dairy farmer Peter Whitford, 91, says SA’s drought is worst he’s seen
Identity of woman in ‘suspicious’ death revealed
The woman who died inside a Christie Downs unit has been identified, as neighbours reveal what they heard in the vicinity.
What’s in the $7.6m pandout? Pandas’ budget payday explained
Many were left bamboozled when what Aussie taxpayers will spend on Adelaide’s giant pandas was revealed this week. But did they really get a pandout? We take a look.