The Cobram Courier

Farmer support strong

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Dairy farmers in northeast 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’s northeast co-ordinator Chris Howard said 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 progress 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. We want to counter this to say they should definitely get in touch and we can help them with their applicatio­n,’’ Mr Howard said.

‘‘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 Household Allowance applicatio­n.

Mr Howard said the service’s team of counsellor­s saw firsthand every day the impact last year’s milk price drop and this year’s milk price had 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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