A shortage of livestock trailers in Tasmania is shining a light on the need for improved transport of agricultural goods across Bass Strait, says TasFarmers president Ian Sauer.
Mr Sauer said TasFarmers was concerned about a shortage of trailers available to carry livestock to Melbourne.
He said a significant number of empty trailers had been left on the Melbourne docks, delaying their return to Tasmania to pick up more livestock.
"There have been some industrial issues in Melbourne, holding up empty trailers from coming back to Tasmania," Mr Sauer said.
"We have had a whole heap of roadworks, which have slowed things up, and the other thing that has been happening is that there is a huge oversupply of livestock leaving for the mainland," he said.
"It just highlights how dependent Tasmania is on reliable, accessible, cost-effective transport across Bass Strait."
The recent return of some trailers to Tasmania had eased concerns of mainland buyers, who picked up nearly 65 per cent of all the stock at the recent Powranna weaner sales.
Mr Sauer said there were enough trailers around to keep up with demand "but if you have 25 per cent of them stuck on the wharves in Melbourne that's where you get a huge bottleneck".
TasFarmers had been speaking with shippers, livestock carriers and stock agents and had also tried to make contact with the Maritime Union of Australia to discuss the issue.
"The problem now is this is becoming quite a prolonged dry season and there will be more livestock going across to the mainland," he said.
Farmers needed to ensure livestock was ready to go, when the trucks turned up, while transporters needed to be aware of road disruptions, he said.
"But there also needs to be a plan for giving priority to getting empty trailers, back to Tasmania," he said.
Mr Sauer said the issue highlighted a bigger picture.
TasFarmers view was that all aspects of shipping needed to be revisited, including the Tasmanian Freight Equalisation Scheme (TFES).
The TFES provides assistance to eligible businesses who transport goods, by sea, across Bass Strait.
Mr Sauer said TFES had not been examined "for a long time".
"We are not just saying we want the freight equalisation to be higher - yes we do, because it hasn't been looked at for a long time, but we also want to look at its efficiencies and effectiveness," he said.
Livestock and Rural Transporters Association of Victoria president Russell Borchard said the recent protest, which blocked the West Gate Bridge, also caused problems.
"It's due to the unusual drying off in Tasmania and little hiccups are causing delays, like the protest on the West Gate bridge, which stopped trailers from getting back to the boat, in time," Mr Borchard said.
He said trailers could not go on subsequent sailings, as the ships they could have gone on were fully booked.
""There is not a five minute fix to the situation," he said.
But one of Tasmania's biggest livestock carriers, Page Transport, Carrick, said delays were only minor and largely due to seasonal conditions.
Page operated 60 livestock trailers on the Bass Strait run -"there has never been so much service," owner Geoff Page said.
"But we've been going flat out."
In the last fortnight he said the company had shipped - or expected to move - between 70 and 80 trailers of livestock a week from Tasmania and King Island to the mainland.
"In October, we do about 20," he said.
"Our company had 2200 calves out of Powranna, and we'll have send 1600 of those after today," he said.
From time to time, there were troubles on the wharf, or shipping schedules changed due to extreme temperatures.
"That might happen three or four times a year - they have to cut short the hours at the Melbourne wharves, and that leaves a few empties behind.
"But we are pretty well caught up now."
Hodge Livestock Transport, Blakeville, owner Rob Hodge, said the unprecedented dry conditions in Tasmania and on King and Flinders Islands meant there was a lot of store and kill stock coming across Bass Strait.
"There is plenty of store stock, coming out on agistment and for sale, which is increasing demand through the roof," Mr Hodge said.
He felt it would take six to eight weeks to settle to regular levels.
"Farmers can do the bookings, but at the end of the day its a 6am call to make sure Bass Strait is fit for livestock, under the guidelines," he said.
'Its a forever moving target that you can't make a plan, too far in advance - you can make all the plans you like, but they can be ruined in an instance."
Salings could also be cancelled due to mechanical issues, as had happened recently, leaving 16 empty trailers stranded in Melbourne, he said.
Rain in Tasmania would ease the turnoff, Mr Hodge said.
Andrew Miller
I'm a general reporter with Stock & Land, with a special interest in irrigation issues. I completed my cadetship, with the Age, in 1980. Over my career, I've worked for ABC radio news (Mt Isa, Qld) and at provincial and suburban newspapers.
I'm a general reporter with Stock & Land, with a special interest in irrigation issues. I completed my cadetship, with the Age, in 1980. Over my career, I've worked for ABC radio news (Mt Isa, Qld) and at provincial and suburban newspapers.
