SPA News

Eyre Peninsula stud breeder Leonie Mills fights a third dry season, relies on donated hay, weighs soaring sheep prices and calls for feed subsidies.

Sheep Producers Australia provided the Western Australia (WA) Dry Season Taskforce with the survey findings at its last meeting*. The survey was open from 26 April – 8 May 2024 and was completed by just under 650 producers, most of whom were from mixed livestock, grains, fodder, and hay enterprises in the south-west and south-coast.

Sheep Producers Australia, Cattle Australia, and Western Dairy have made the decision to extend the 2024 WA Seasonal and Market Conditions Producer Survey*, now closing next Wednesday 8 May 2024.

Sheep Producers Australia and Cattle Australia welcome today’s announcement by the Cook Government of a $8.6 million funding package to support our Western Australian producers. Today’s funding package has been informed by the Dry Season Taskforce (Taskforce), of which Sheep Producers Australia and Cattle Australia are both members.

Last week 300 farmers from across the South West convened an urgent drought meeting to address what is one of the driest seasons experienced in living memory across what is traditionally the wettest part of the State.

The Western Australian (WA) sheep industry is currently facing an incredibly difficult situation brought on by ongoing dry conditions, financial constraints, and a severely depressed sheep market. Sheep Producers Australia has over the past 12 months been working to communicate the risks of the combination of these factors for sheep producers and the industry.