Our food bowl is in crisis September 15, 2007 12:00am
VICTORIA'S parched food bowl is in crisis, with warnings $336 million of agricultural production is at risk.
The early winter rains brought hope the rural drought might be coming to an end, but that optimism quickly disappeared.
The Herald Sun today reveals a Cobram food bank is distributing a hundred free meals daily to struggling farmers, orchards are being bulldozed and dairy herds slaughtered and turned into fertiliser.
Unless there is significant rainfall soon things will only get worse.
City folk have been lulled by the winter rain, but in the bush they never stopped watching the skies and hoping.
The Federal Government is sitting on a multi-billion-dollar war chest and State Government coffers are overflowing.
Farmers don't want water summits, fact-finding missions or vague manifesto promises that our distracted politicians will act when they have time to get round to it.
The Moira Shire Council has a 10-point survival plan to nurse its farmers through the summer and has pleaded with the state and federal governments for urgent help.
Our political leaders must respond positively to the pleas to help stricken farmers.
