Despite some progress being made during the past week on state border restrictions, with the promise of an Agricultural Worker Movement Code - which the Victorian Farmers Federation (VFF) and other key farming organisations have been calling for - it is clear some farmers continue to face ridiculous and red tape-laden restrictions.
There are very real concerns from farmers about the immediate future of their livelihoods and, in many cases, the viability of towns and communities in our border regions.
I have been talking to farmers night and day recently and I have never seen this level of anxiety and worry from them.
Many were looking forward to the prospect of their best season in many years after going through crippling drought and bushfires.
It is absolutely heartbreaking to listen to the distress in their voices, given they have already gone through so much and now face the fear of potentially another 'lost' season.
It is as clear as day we have an urgent need to move people, services, products and maintain animal welfare across borders - and that we can enact the appropriate COVID-19 safe practices to help stem the spread of the virus.
Nowhere is this more apparent than in the communities spanning the Victorian and South Australian borders.
The seemingly constant chopping and changing of restrictions imposed in these regions is not only unworkable, but is also creating mass confusion and uncertainty that must be addressed.
That's why the VFF continues to relay these issues to both the federal and state governments to seek a swift solution.
We have been extremely clear that there is an urgent need for: free movement of the agricultural workforce; access to medical and education services; a collaborate approach to state border restrictions; smoother flow of goods and services across state lines; and an ironclad agreement that agriculture is deemed a critical service by all jurisdictions throughout Australia.
Victorian farmers contribute $38 billion to the Victorian economy, and that itself is cause for a solution.
But it is more than that at the moment.
The impasse many farmers currently face is risking the job that many have known all of their lives.
And, again - just as I said last week - it all comes down to farmers being able to continue feeding the nation, because we don't just farm for our respective states, we farm for Australia.
That's something the VFF will continue to fight to protect.
