Victorian Farmers Federation boss reveals ‘astounding’ cost of flood disaster

The president of the Victorian Farmers Federation has warned there’s a “disaster unfolding” across Victoria and NSW, and “we need to pay attention”.

Significant flooding is still impacting growing regions, and Emma Germano estimates hundreds of millions of dollars worth of crops and livestock have been lost in Victoria alone.

“We’ve got livestock losses of more than 9800 dead animals with another 1400 still missing,” she told Neil Mitchell. “There’s more than 9500 kilometres of fencing that is either damaged or destroyed and we’ve got more than 300 hectares of farm area of crops that are underwater, 109,000 tonnes of hay and silage that have been lost.

“We’re talking … hundreds of millions of dollars, if not more than that.

“This is a really slow-moving flood so the disaster just continues to get worse and worse.”

Press PLAY below to hear why “we need to pay attention”

Ms Germano warned the price of food will surge as a result of the wild weather.

And it’s not just Victorian farmers that are struggling to cope.

Lance, a farmer in Kyalite, in southern NSW, has shared footage of the devastating impact flooding has had on his wheat crop.

“It’s about a metre of water over the crop,” he told Neil Mitchell.

Press PLAY below to see the footage