FARMERS in the Delungra area have been left extremely disappointed after a decision was made on Wednesday to not grant Exceptional Circumstances (EC) status to the region.

The National Rural Advisory Council (NRAC) passed the recommendation onto Minister for Agriculture Fisheries and Forestry Joe Ludwig following a visit to the area in October.

Nationals Senator for NSW John Williams said NRAC just gave the recommendation without detailing how the application failed to meet requirements.

Senator Williams met with representatives from Industry and Investment yesterday to look at possible reasons behind the rejection.

“People are very disappointed. They know their bank balance and they know the bills coming in,” Senator Williams said.

“This is all about a recovery period. Yes conditions are better now but they need to recover from the terrible season they had,” he said.

Farmers in the application area will continue to receive interim income support payments until April 28, 2011.

NRAC inspected the Delungra area during a visit in October when the advisory council met with producers. Following their assessment NRAC concluded that not all EC criteria were met in the application and that while conditions were difficult there was a lack of evidence to support the claim that a rare and severe downturn in farm income had occurred over a prolonged period.

Senator Williams said the knock back puts huge pressure of farming families who had their hopes resting on the application.

“Costs are just so high and more and more pressure is placed on farmers.

“I believe that is why the suicide rate is so high in the bush,” he said.

Senator Williams said he was constantly negotiating with banks to go easy on farmers.

© 2010 Inverell Times

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