General News
7 July, 2025
Premier relaxes fodder delivery conditions
Changes made to the delivery process of life-saving fodder and grain to drought-affected areas of the state, recently announced by the Victorian Premier, Jacinta Allan will reduce wait times and the expense of secondary freight charges due to road freight limits.
This follows the first meeting of the Drought Taskforce Response meeting held on Friday, June 6.
Drivers bringing loads of hay and fodder to drought-affected farmers have been impacted by road weight limits and have had to wait for smaller vehicles to transfer the hay onto, meaning loss of time and expensive double handling before the feed arrives where it is most needed.
The Drought Freight Network has been developed in conjunction with the Department of Transport and Planning (DTP), in collaboration with Agriculture Victoria, the Victorian Farmers Federation (VFF), and the Livestock Rural Transport Association Victoria (LRTAV) to increase accessibility of the road network for fodder transport in southwest Victoria.
This will mean fodder and grain can be transported on key freight routes in the south-west at up to 84 tonnes.
This is a 15-tonne increase on what would typically be allowed, meaning more feed can be delivered closer to the farm gate.
Permit fees will be waived, and applications could be processed in a timeframe as fast as 24 hours.
This extends that access to two trailer road-train combinations capped at 84.0 tonnes, 36.5 metres long, 4.6 metres high, and 2.83 metres wide.
Victorian Farmers Federation President Brett Hosking has welcomed the changes and said it will help some of the livestock producers get much-needed fodder and grain to stock during these difficult times.
"We have always had the Bio-Security measures in place to protect our producers, and these remain, but streamlining the freight deliveries is a help," he said.
Mr Hosking said the recent rain had been welcome, but it remained to be seen if the drought had broken or if "we just had some rain and drought conditions will continue.
"Recovery will take a long time regardless of the recent rain," he said.
The new Drought Network, focused on South-west Victoria, supplements existing freight systems to provide rapid, flexible support to regions experiencing severe rainfall and fodder shortages.
The network will be reviewed over the next several months to determine where access can be expanded.