These small-scale farmers want to produce food for the region, but two floods in eight months have left them battling to survive.
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Michelle Viola and Luke Dunford say the state government needs to start supporting smaller producers before they walk off the land and leave a huge hole in the Hunter economy.
A clause in the government’s disaster assistance package released in June – that 51 per cent of their income must come from the farm – meant they did not receive a cent to help find their feet.
They say meeting the criteria is virtually impossible for small producers, who are forced to work off-farm to keep the farm and their family afloat.
“It’s really harsh, particularly for this area where there are a lot of small acreage farms,” Ms Viola said.
“We can’t afford to have a family so we have a job as well, that’s the way it is for everyone around here.
“I work and my husband has a job on a farm in Osterley and spends 50 per cent of his time on our farm.
“He’s now lost that job because of the [January] flood.”
Ms Viola said the crops on their 16 hectare (40 acre) Gillieston Heights property were destroyed in the recent flood.
That happened after they lost all their feed and most of their tools and machinery in the April super storm.
They were forced to sell their herd before beef prices reached record highs last year, and all that money was stretched as far as possible to pay for repairs.
Their latest calculations show it will be 2023 before they get back to where they were before the April storm.
It’s a similar story for the Dunfords, who bought their 34.5ha (85 acre) cattle farm at Morpeth three days before the April super storm and have had virtually no farm income in nine months.
They are yet to set foot on one part of the property because the ground is still too wet. About 16ha of their land is still under water after the deluge earlier this month and the cattle will need feed supplements as winter approaches.
“The government needs to help us. Everything we produce is going to go back into the economy,” Mr Dunford said.
“We’ve got no choice but to keep struggling along.”
“There’ll be a flow-on effect from the sale yards to the abattoir to the butchers and as consumers we will pay for it,” Ms Viola added.
Maitland MP Jenny Aitchison was baffled by the government’s lack of support for small producers and said she would again call for a review of the eligibility criteria and the release another round of category C funding.
She said small-scale agriculture was an integral part of the economy.