Agriculture receives just under $500m from government's budget purse

A total of $496.6m was allocated to Agriculture Victoria for 2024-25, down almost 30 per cent on the $687.3m allocated for 2022-23.

The sizeable sum was to be spent across a range of services of benefit to Victoria's farm sector.

The budget papers also detailed the performance of Agriculture Victoria against its own targets.

One of the first budget items within the $496.6m was support for farms facing significant adjustment pressures, be that due to weather or market extremes.

A total of 2300 farms were supported across 2023-24 in this way by the Rural Financial Counselling Service, above the target of 1700.

This was down to the increased need for support following the 2022 floods and storms.

"Additionally, reduced commodity prices and increased input costs have led to financial stress for farmers, further increasing requests for assistance," the government budget papers read.

However, the target for 2024-25 has been set at 1700 farms to receive support again, despite the uptick in demand last year.

The government developed three strategies to grow or maintain export opportunities for farmers in Victoria last year.

A target of three has also been set for 2023-25.

In 2023-24, there were 14 young farmer scholarships awarded across the state but a target of 12 was set for 2024-25.

Each student received a scholarship up to the value of $10,000.

When it came to the grants given by Agriculture Victoria in 2023-24, 75pc of recipients met their agreed milestones.

This was in line with the target set in last year's budget.

A lower 70pc of recipients are expected to reach the milestones for 2024-25.

The drop in the target was down to there being extended time frames for local government approvals and a lower availability of qualified service providers.

When it came to spending on the grants it provided, Agriculture Victoria had a target of $152.7m in 2023-24 but actually spent $159m.

A target of $161m was set aside for grants in 2024-25.

On research, the department aimed to improve dairy cow milk production and dairy productivity by 1pc last year.

According to the budget papers, it hit this target and another 1pc genetic improvement was targeted for 2024-25.

Agriculture Victoria aimed to have 65 postgraduate level/ PhD students in training last year.

It achieved this target and aimed to have the same number in training for 2024-25.

For 2023-24, a target was set for non-state groups to invest in the department's research projects to the tune of $41m.

However, a lower $35.4m was secured and a target of $36m was set for 2024-25.

The department had 235 scientific publications subjected to peer review in national and international scientific journals last year.

The studies were aimed at supporting a productive agricultural industry in Victoria.

The 235 publications were reviewed off a target of 260 and for 2024-25, a lower target of 210 was set.

There was some deviation in the biosecurity service targets laid out in Budget 2024.

The department had five animal pest, disease and residue control programmes in 2023-24 and the same target of five was made for 2024-25.

The department aimed to treat 95pc of the state's known prohibited weed sites last year.

Officials met this target and aimed to hit 95pc of sites again across 2024-25.

There was some change in the number of farms to be inspected by department officials for invasive plants and animals.

In last year's budget, a target of 2700 inspections was set for 2023-24.

However, just 2160 inspections occurred and this year's budget set a lower-again target of 1800.

The drop was down to the "redirection of resources to higher priority areas", according to the budget papers.

Some of these resources included the provision of better emergency responses to invasive species threats.