Farmers Struggling to Keep Up With ‘Constantly’ Changing Environmental Laws: Peak Body

Environmental policies are making life harder for farmers and it could bear a cost for customers and shoppers, a peak body has warned. During a Senate hearing on March 12, Michael Drum, executive officer at Macquarie River Food and Fibre, a peak body representing 500 families and businesses holding river, water, and ground water licences in the Macquarie Valley Catchment, spoke about the impact of government regulations on farmers. Mr. Drum said agricultural policies had driven compliance to “a much greater level than it ever had been in Australia,” adding more costs to producers, and subsequently for customers. “It seems to us that individual policies come with a cost, but the cumulative effect of government policy state and federal has not been taken into account, and that’s severely impacting farmer’s ability to be able to produce things efficiently,” he said, noting that the compliance cost could reach hundreds of thousands of dollars for farmers....