Government assistance for drought not a hand out

 "Adverse event declarations don't make rainfall, but they do put a label on a serious situation, providing some comfort and support to affected farmers," says Katie Milne, Federated Farmers adverse events spokesperson.

"While the drought, in some parts of the country, has some farmers calling for a drought declaration, it has sparked questions in the media of whether farmers should be getting what is termed 'hand-outs' from the government. It needs to be clarified what exactly a drought declaration means."

The government goes through a rigorous process to classify a medium-scale adverse event. This includes assessing the options available for farmers based on their ability to prepare for the event, the likelihood and scale of the physical impact, and the ability of the local community to cope both socially and economically to such and event. Milne says that with nearly all parts of Canterbury, Marlborough, and North Otago already in drought and most parts of the country drier than usual according to NIWA soil moisture maps, classifying the event allows the government to decide what support and recovery measures are needed.

"If the government declares a medium-scale adverse event, much of the support made available to affected farmers will be similar to the support made to any business or family in adversity. In this case, a Rural Assistance Payment programme is activated, which farmers are able to apply for. If successful it assists them with essential living costs, such as feeding their family and getting them to school."

According to Milne, qualifying for this assistance is not easy. The 2013 drought affected an estimated 20,000 plus farmers, yet only 146 farmers qualified for the Rural Assistance Payment. The payment, which is only available at the time of the event, is the equivalent to the current rate of jobseeker support says Milne.

"What means the most to farmers is the supporting information put out by industry bodies, the ability to delay tax payments, and the activation of the Rural Support Trust, which are already in action. We don't need a medium-scale adverse event declaration to know we need to be providing support and neither do the banks, which have already opened up other avenues of providing funding to tide farmers over."

Federated Farmers and the Rural Support Trust are meeting with the Ministry for Primary Industries at the end of the month, to update them on the situation.

Milne finished by saying "If there are farm and non-farm businesses out there who are struggling, I encourage you to talk to your accountant, bank, and farm advisor if you have one. It is time to make the big calls before it's too late."