Dorset mayor Greg Howard highlighted poor crop yields in his summary of the 2016-17 financial year.
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In the written message, delivered to the Dorset Annual General Meeting, Cr Howard said that the season resulted in “many businesses in the major towns doing it tough over the winter period”.
While the North East has experienced plenty of rain over the last year, the temperatures were not hot enough for crop growing, according to Cr Howard.
He said the harvest was down by about 15 per cent for farmers in the state’s North East.
“During a cold spring and a cold summer we didn’t get that warm weather – yields were down 15 per cent,” Cr Howard said.
“Fifteen per cent in a lot of crops is the total profit.
“There would be a lot of potato crops, onion crops and poppy crops where people maybe made a little bit, but wouldn’t have justified the amount of time and effort to get back what they did.”
Early signs show no reprieve for farmers in the 2017-18 financial year.
Jerrod Nichols owns a farm about 10 kilometres north of Scottsdale, and grows potatoes, onions, poppies and rhubarb.
Mr Nichols said the current weather conditions were still proving to be tough for farmers – warm weather and low rainfall is providing a different challenge for crop growers this season.
“It’s turned very dry in the last week, and we’re under the pump to keep irrigation up,” he said.
“A lot of people are prioritising what to water.”
Policy and Rural Affairs Manager at the Tasmanian Farmers and Graziers Association Nick Steel said he had heard similar concerns throughout the municipality recently.
“Concerns about the current dry conditions are growing, with little forecasted relief on the horizon farmers will look to irrigation,” he said. “Ongoing dry [weather] may have implications for water management in the region.”
Mr Nichols said these kind of harsh weather conditions put a huge personal and financial burden on farmers.
“Halfway through the season and you think it’s already going to be a season where we break-even at best,” he said.
“It’s not good for morale.”