Vital loan support for farmers
Dairy farmers in north-east Victoria and the Goulburn Valley should not be put off investigating Dairy Recovery Concessional Loans following media reports that said Rural Financial Counsellors were advising farmers against doing so.
Rural Financial Counselling Service Victoria North East coordinator Chris Howard said rural financial counsellors were helping dairy farmers apply for the loans every day and would continue to do so.
He said to date five applications had been completed with counsellor support and submitted to Rural Finance and 27 were in prog- ress and this number continued to grow.
‘‘We are really concerned what it might mean to farmers if they think rural financial counsellors wouldn’t support them to work through the application for this loan scheme,’’ Mr Howard said.
‘‘We want to counter this to say they should definitely get in touch and we can help them with their application.
‘‘We find that as we support farmers through the application form we end up with a better understanding of their business and financial position, which is fundamental to identifying options for their business and other support that may be available, such as Farm Household Allowance.’’
Once farmers and their rural financial counsellor have gained a solid understanding of the business’ financial position, they can discuss and work through key areas, such as business and succession planning, cashflow management, communication strategies with major creditors and/or Farm House Allowance application.
Mr Howard said the service’s team of counsellors see firsthand every day the impact last year’s milk price drop and this year’s milk price has on farmers and their families.
‘‘We know how tough the situations are that many farmers find themselves in and it’s our role to provide support, so we were shocked to see the article,’’ he said.
Any dairy farmer seeking support can phone the Rural Financial Counselling Service on 1300 834 775 to make an appointment. The service is free and confidential and can assist with developing action plans, assessing business viability, negotiation with financial institutions and lenders, and business and succession planning.
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