East Gippsland farmers facing reduced rainfall and talk of drought

Newcomen stud principal Barry Newcomen, Ensay, said the low rainfall in recent months meant paddocks were bare.

"It's not desperate yet, but there's no feed and we're going to need some rain or else we'll need to take drastic steps," Mr Newcomen said.

After making it through drought in 2016 and 2017, he said the region had a couple of good years where farmers were able to stabilise their debts, but recent months brought back fears it would continue to dry out and repeat itself.

He said he was already planning to offload additional livestock, but with the current market at a low, it was unlikely he would get prices he'd be happy with, despite his Hereford stud's strong reputation and quality genetics.

While some farmers closer to Central Gippsland are calling it a "green drought", Mr Newcomen said it was past that point for the east, with Swifts Creek, Bairnsdale and Bruthen all "bare and dry".

"The only difference I've seen with the current situation is it's early spring yet, and I've seen it worse in summer," he said.

"It is a worrying time.

"Last time in 2017 we spent a fortune on feed."

Bairnsdale Stockfeeds & Firewood owner Aaron Harvey, Lucknow, said it was already proving difficult to meet demand for local farmers.

"The local district here needs hay and we're having to get it brought in form elsewhere," Mr Harvey said.

"Places down the line are putting their prices up to retail what we'd be selling them for too."

He said cartage costs were adding to the difficult situation.

He said a hay bale would normally cost $25 to cart, but prices had jumped to $45.

Mr Harvey's employee Chris Williams said it was concerning to see how quickly things had dried out.

Mr Williams believed the damage was already too far gone and any rain now wouldn't make a difference.

"If we get some good rain, we'll get some growth but then nothing to follow it up," he said.

"We've gone pretty much the whole year with next to nothing, there's been no growth since nearly the end of summer."

He said demand for feed was high and producers were showing their concerns about the rising costs.

"It's just gone through the roof," he said.

"A couple of weeks ago, we sold 16 round bales in a Saturday morning."

Data from the Bureau of Meteorology showed this year's August rainfall was less than half the rainfall received in August last year.

Rainfall at the bureau's East Sale weather station for August was a quarter of what it was last August, with 95.6mm recorded in 2022 and only 20mm recorded this year.

Picnic Point Farm manager Sally Baldwin, Bairnsdale, her main concern for her apple orchard was access to fresh water and stress on trees as the ground dried out.

"Hot days will stress the trees out and we need fresh water to stop the heat stressing them," Ms Baldwin said.

Their fresh water supply comes from the river directly next to their property, which connects to Jones Bay near Eagle Point and with a dry summer, the fresh water turns salty, meaning their fresh water supply is unusable for their trees.

"Our main concern is ensuring we have enough fresh water to irrigate," she said.

"Since we're down stream of the barrier, it goes salty here earlier."