Federal budget 2023: What dairy farmers want from Canberra

If he could, Aaron Thomas would invite Treasurer Jim Chalmers to spend a weekend on a dairy farm ahead of the budget to see what he’s up against.

If Aaron Thomas could get in contact with Treasurer Jim Chalmers ahead of the federal budget, he’d invite him to spend a weekend on a dairy farm.

But there’s a catch: mobile and internet reception is intermittent at best around the dairy farmer’s stomping ground of South Gippsland.

“Telecommunications in our part of the world is shocking. Mobile phone black spots, problems with NBN. If we could get in contact, that’d be one of the first things to fund.”

Mr Thomas was appointed as United Dairyfarmers of Victoria councillor in February.

Ahead of next month’s budget, the 39-year-old contacted several farmers in his UDV region. He said there’s optimism in the sector but governments at both a state and federal level needed to finetune their agricultural antenna.

Aaron Thomas and his daughter Lexi, 10, at their Won Wron dairy farm. Picture: Yuri Kouzmin

“If I had the opportunity, I’d invite (Jim Chalmers) to spend a weekend on a dairy farm. Get a feel for the challenges we face,” Mr Thomas said.

“What I’d tell him about are the problems with getting access to skilled labour. The cost of business inputs is another (problem). Just because we have high farmgate prices, doesn’t mean the cost of electricity, fuel, fertiliser isn’t growing just as fast, if not faster.”

Mr Thomas is farm manager at former UDV president Paul Mumford’s Won Wron property.

While he doesn’t intend to buy a farm himself in the near future, he said rising interest rates were a big concern for many young farmers.

“Unless you’re mutli-generational, it’s hard to break into farming. Not just dairy farming, all types of agriculture,” Mr Thomas said.

“The cost of land is a roadblock for a lot of the younger generation. Some parts of Gippsland, we’re talking $15,000 an acre. Other parts, we’re talking as a high as $26,000.

“When you have interest rates on land purchases like that, no wonder there’s fewer young people in farming.”