Page 9 - APN July 2017

Producer assistance options during crisis
MSD Animal Health announces Swine Technical Advisor Australia and New Zealand
WITH current pig prices nearing, or below, the cost of production, many producers are suffering financial hardship.
The Australian Govern- ment has a number of as- sistance measures avail- able to help.
These are summarised below and largely fall in- to household or business support.
Farm Household Allow- ance
The Farm Household Allowance helps eligible farmers and their part- ners who are experienc- ing financial hardship to improve their long-term financial situation.
The Farm Household Allowance provides fi- nancial assistance to ad- dress individual hardship irrespective of the cause.
Drought is one cause of these hardships, but it is not the only one.
Recognising farm fami- lies can experience dif- ficulty in different ways and at different times, the payment is available at all times.
The allowance is deliv- ered by the Department of Human Services and is paid fortnightly at a rate equivalent to the Newstart Allowance.
A Health Care Card is provided to recipients.
Support is also provided through a dedicated case manager to help recipi- ents assess their situation and develop a plan for the future.
Eligible farmers and their partners are able to access up to three years of payments.
This is designed to give farm families time to get back on their feet and the opportunity to take steps to improve their circum- stances.
For more information, refer to the questions and answers section or Farm Household Allowance Guidelines on the Depart- ment of Agriculture and Water Resources website (agriculture.gov.au).
For eligibility criteria, including income and as- sets tests, along with ap- plication forms, visit the Department of Human Services website (human services.gov.au) or call 132 316.
Rural financial counsel- lors
Rural financial counsel- lors are part of the na- tion-wide Rural Financial Counselling Service.
These counsellors pro- vide free, impartial and confidential financial counselling to help farm- ers, fishers and agricul- ture-dependent small businesses who are expe- riencing financial hard- ship and have no alterna- tive sources of impartial support.
Rural financial counsel- lors can:
• Help clients identify financial and business op- tions;
• Help clients negotiate with their lenders;
• Help clients develop an action plan;
• Help clients meet their mutual obligations under the Transitional Farm Family Payment;
• Provide clients informa- tion about government and www.porknews.com.au
other assistance schemes;
• Refer clients to ac- countants, agricultural advisors and educational
services; and
• Refer clients to the De-
partment of Human Ser- vices and other profession- als for succession planning, family mediation and per- sonal, emotional and social counselling.
Visit the Rural Finan- cial Counselling Service website for more infor- mation (agriculture.gov. au/ag-farm-food/drought/ assistance/rural-financial- counselling-service) or call 1800 686 175.
The website contains a map of the counsellors and state contact details. Farm Business Conces- sional Loans Scheme
The Australian Govern- ment has made $250 mil- lion available under the Farm Business Conces- sional Loans Scheme until June 30, 2018 for Drought Assistance Concessional Loans and Business Im- provement Concessional Loans.
The Farm Business Con- cessional Loans Scheme will continue to be avail- able through state and Northern Territory delivery agencies until the Regional Investment Corporation is open for business in 2018.
At this stage, it is unlike- ly any pig producers will be eligible for either the Business Improvement or Drought Assistance con- cessional loans.
This is because Business Improvement Conces- sional Loans are available to assist eligible farmers who have exhausted their 1095-day entitlement to the Farm Household Al- lowance.
To be eligible for Drought Concessional Loans you need to be ex- periencing financial dif- ficulty due to the effects of drought.
If you believe your cir- cumstances warrant inves- tigation for either of these loan facilities, please read the loan guidelines for full details on eligibility and how the loan will be as- sessed.
Do not self-assess.
Seek the advice of a suitably qualified profes- sional such as your ac- countant or speak to your state government delivery agency:
• NSW Rural Assistance Authority; phone 1800 678 593; raa.nsw.gov.au/ assistance/concessional- loans/drought-assistance
• Queensland Rural and Industry Develop- ment Authority; phone 1800 623 946; qrida.qld. gov.au/current-programs/ drought-concessional- loans-scheme
• Rural Finance Victo- ria; phone 1300 796 101; ruralfinance.com.au/ industry-programs/farm- business-concessional- loans-scheme?utm_ source=homepage&utm_ medium=banner&utm_ campaign=farm-loan- scheme
• Primary Industries & Regions SA; phone 1800 182 235; pir.sa.gov.au/ pri mary_industry/indus try_support/drought_assis tance_concessional_loans
• Department of State Growth Tasmania;
phone 1800 030 688; stategrowth.tas.gov.au/ home/grants_and_fund ing/loans/drought_assis tance_concessional_loans
• Department of Food and Agriculture, WA; phone 1800 198 231; ag ric.wa.gov.au/grains/farm- finance-concessional- loans-scheme-wa-2014-15
Only NSW and Queens- land have completed their contractual negotiations with the Australian Gov- ernment for the 2017-18 financial year.
However, the remain- ing states are expected to complete this process in the next few weeks.
That said, the agencies should be in a position to provide information.
Deb Kerr
APL General Manager Policy
IT is with great pleas- ure that MSD Animal Health would like to announce the appoint- ment of Dr Chris Bren- nan to the role of Tech- nical Advisor – Swine Australia and New Zealand.
Chris will join the MSD team with a wealth of knowledge and ex- perience in the swine industry as a producer, a veterinarian and in a number of swine indus- try roles.
Chris has been a part owner in a 1200 far- row to finish production system, was a partner in Portec Australia Vet Consultancy, WA and has had a variety of roles as a swine vet consultant and production manager in small to large farms
around Australia.
Chris has a passion for
swine production as well as a depth of experience and practical knowledge and will be a valuable asset to the MSD team.
He will be based in Victoria and be the MSD Swine Business Unit technical support for both Australia and New Zealand, working with Amanda Vardane- ga, National Key Ac- count Manager – Swine ANZ.
Chris commenced this role with MSD Animal Health on Monday, July 3.
Amanda and Chris look forward to catching up with customers in the pig industry in Australia and New Zealand over the coming months.
Dr Chris Brennan. Photo: Brendon Cant
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Australian Pork Newspaper, July 2017 – Page 9