Victorian fodder prices and the green drought impact

With a poor yielding spring, dairy farmers are assessing how much feed they need. Here’s where the fodder prices stand.

Dairy farmers statewide are bracing themselves for a summer of fodder scarcity with a woeful winter and sunbaked spring delivering poor yields.

Vetch is setting back farmers more than $400 a tonne, depending on the region, while cereal hay is hovering around the $350 a tonne mark – although farmers expect those prices to rise further into summer.

Gippsland farmer Aaron Thomas from Wron Wron said many primary producers were still assessing the amount of feed available on farm before determining how much they fodder they needed to buy.

“Vetch was $450 a tonne last year, so with the pretty ordinary spring everyone’s had, you’d expect those prices again,” Mr Thomas said.

“Cereal hay is going for $320 to $350 a tonne but it’s early days. The more that finish their harvest, the better you get an understanding of what you need on farm and then prices go up as a result.”

Northern Victoria farmer Kate Walpole from Waaia said there were expectations of higher fodder prices with conditions dry across most of the north.

“People are expecting higher prices but it’s only early. The spring has been very dry – it’s not just southwest Victoria, it’s dry here and most other places,” she said.

“We’re like any other farmer, you want to start with what you have on farm before looking for feed off the farm. That’s when the prices start rising, when there’s a lack of hay and silage around.”

United Dairyfarmers of Victoria president Bernie Free from Winslow said there was a scarcity of oaten hay in southwest Victoria and expectations of a vetch price hike.

“There was talk of vetch being around the $300 to $350 a tonne mark but that will probably rise as farmers get an idea of how much they need,” Mr Free said.

“The prices will be guided by how much rain there is in the coming fortnight. From the way it looks being in early November, there’s not much heading our way.

“There’s been frost-damaged hay going for $250 a tonne. It’ll be a season of working out how much you can get, whether the quality is worth it for the price and how much that compares with what you have on farm.”