'Tough going': Tasmanian farmers fight effects of drought ahead of winter

While rain fell in parts of Tasmania and Australia's east coast over the last week, little to no moisture over February and March left some farmers forced to offload cattle.

Grass supply was tight with the clock ticking before winter temperatures hamper growth.

Many farmers were forced to feed hay and silage stocks traditionally kept for the winter period.

Due to the lack of feed, some had no choice but to offload cattle they could not keep condition on, and accept poor prices.

Irrigated farmers did better throughout the dry spell but those without such resources continued to battle through the unfavourable season.

Beef farmer Trevor Hall, Scottsdale, said the drought was the worst he'd seen in 45 years.

"Rainfall has been pretty low and it's been tough going," he said.

Mr Hall said usually he didn't feed cattle until the middle of June but the lack of growth has brought that forward.

"We're feeding at the moment, more than we'd like to," he said.

"We've got to make sure that we've enough hay and silage for August because it will be very cold then and the cows will be starting to calve.

"That's when our real problem will set in, if we run out of fodder."

He said while there had been rain last week, a few weeks of drizzle, rather than heavy downpours, were needed.

"If we can start getting a few rains weekly, it would be brilliant," he said.

However, Mr Hall said if it gets cold early, there would be further challenges.

"A problem we foresee is germination on a lot of the fodder crops has been pretty sparse but they have picked up a bit since the rain so hopefully they'll get going," he said.

He described how climate extremes were becoming more common in Tasmania, with winter 2022 having been the wettest he had seen in 40 years.

Mr Hall said farmers around him were used to having rain all year around and that while conditions may not be as dry as those on parts of the mainland, there was still a major effect.

"Unless you're living this drought on the farm, it's hard to put our issues in perspective," he said.

He said without state government irrigation scheme support, he would be out of stock water on some of his land.

A cow needed to be dragged out of a drying dam last week, something Mr Hall said he never dealt with before.

Mr Hall said dealing with the drought "robbed us away from other jobs".

"It's a big workload," he said.

Fellow beef farmer, Peter Sattler, Bridport, said it was the driest February-March period he had ever seen.

"The other factor is, during that period, it has been frightfully windy," he said.

"Everything was looking pretty good but we just had a week of unbelievable wind night and day.

"That really just sapped all the moisture out and then there was no rain.

"It's made a difficult situation for us."

Mr Sattler said while farmers on the mainland may not get rain for several months, that just wasn't the norm for him.

"For our operation, we need to have rain," he said.

"We have summer planted fodder crops that need those thunderstorms and if you don't get it, in production terms, it's probably as bad as somebody who doesn't have any rain for four or five months."

He said he was forced to irrigate fodder crops for the first time ever because "they looked so bad".

Mr Sattler said the drought had caused additional costs and taken up more of his time.

"We've had to feed out baled hay and baled loosened silage," he said, adding this was highly unusual for March and April.

He said the key now that some rain had come was to give paddocks time to recover.

"We're just hoping that it doesn't turn too cold at least until Anzac day, well into May," he said.

Both Mr Sattler and Mr Hall described the effect the drought had on farmers' well-being.

"I would say the majority of farmers are finding it very tough going because it's been relentless," Mr Hall said.

"Spring [2023] failed us, we're really dry now, cattle prices have dropped by over half, our input costs have gone through the roof so it is very hard to find a bright light.

"We just have to switch the light on and it won't be like this forever."

Mr Sattler said he didn't want farmers to get too down about the season and said there would be a future in cattle farming in northern Tasmania.

Rural Alive and Well community engagement co-ordinator Ashley Cusick and outreach worker Gabby Jordan were at Powranna's weaner sale last week to support farmers.

Ms Cusick said the dry conditions and poor stock prices had taken a toll.

She said there were farmers reaching out for support.

"There's always barriers in place for people so we try to break them down as much as we can by being proactive by getting boots on the ground," she said.

"We've had a pretty good reception from people that know they can reach out to get help."