Ballarat region potato farmers warn of dry season impacts

Will Australia see another ‘chip surcharge’? Floods forced a fried potato tax three years ago, and now the dry is taking hold.

For generations of Australians, the humble potato was literally cheap as chips.

Then in late 2022 and early 2023, the old spud certainty was up-ended in a carbohydrate calamity of floods that saturated the source of gnocchi, chips and mash.

Some pubs and restaurants started a ‘chip surcharge’ on the usually cheap accompaniment to a porterhouse or parmigiana until waterlogged paddocks returned even keel.

Certified seed grower Rod Lockhart said the parched pastures at his Newlyn property presented the opposite problem in 2025 — and there’s little relief in sight.

“Forget autumn – remember we’re at the halfway point now and it’s exceptionally dry,” the Ballarat region farmer said.

“If you see the level of the Newlyn Reservoir at the moment, you get the picture.

“What we need now is an above average winter and spring to get us back to a normal 2026. “If that doesn’t happen, there’ll be a significant flow-on effect to production and prices next year.”

Operating farms at both Newlyn and Trentham, Mr Lockhart has concentrated efforts into the latter property due to its slightly more favourable conditions during the long dry of 2024-25.

With potato harvest contracts locked in for this year, the drought was likely to impact spud costs at the checkout next year.

“We’ve given the bores a fair flogging this season,” he said.

“That means increased input costs with diesel and electricity to get you through.”

Rod Lockhart with the Newlyn Reservoir in the background. Picture Yuri Kouzmin

Last week, the Bureau of Meteorology predicted a drier-than-average winter for much of western Victoria and southeastern South Australia.

“It has been incredibly dry. Yields are definitely down for most (potato growers) — not dramatically, just a little bit,” VFF Horticulture vice president Katherine Myers said.

“On the plus side, the quality has been excellent but it’s been an intense season, everyone has been watering 24 hours a day. There hasn’t been those storm fronts that come through and give us a bit of a break.

“I remember a dairy farmer from northern Victoria saying his ideal world ‘was having rain constantly in the hills and never raining directly on farm’ and there’s an element of truth in that. Those wet seasons were really challenging for our farm, because we can always add water but you can’t take it away.”

Rod Lockhart at his farm in Trentham. Picture: Yuri Kouzmin