Australian farmers and regional businesses are in need of our support. Bushfires, droughts, floods and the pandemic have all taken a toll.

Supporting Australian Farmers and Regional Businesses Through Tough Times

Everyone is feeling the pressure at the moment, from major cities to rural centres. In conditions like these, it’s crucial we all help each other out. Pay special attention to this over the coming months, while we continue to deal with the economic fallout of the pandemic. Australian farmers and businesses far away from cities will be especially challenged by the weakened economy. During recessions, people are more conservative when making monetary decisions. This can be particularly taxing for those far removed from population centres.

We all know that our farmers are working hard. Drought, bushfires, work and social restrictions and economic collapse are some of the serious challenges facing Australian agriculture in the last six months. Nevertheless, the show goes on. While international trade has been limited, we have relied more heavily than usual on our own farmers to continue feeding us. Federal and State governments have implemented a number of economic support measures aimed directly toward regional businesses. We covered a number of the most relevant in our recent article.

 

Supporting Our Australian Farmers

Unfortunately, the broader population often overlooks farmers and other regional businesses, especially in a rapidly changing landscape. Providing support to regional Australia helps these businesses do what they do best, feed our country. Farmers need to be tough to deal with the constant challenges they face. Recent times have seen the agricultural sector provided with little relief.

Rural communities are known for the level of care their members show one another. Sometimes, this might be feeding a neighbour’s livestock when they’re away and other times it might be lending a hand to help mend a fence line. A strong sense of community is one of rural Australia’s most powerful tools for persevering through difficult circumstances.

 

How We People Can Help

One of the easiest and most important ways to contribute to regional businesses is buying your produce locally. Buying locally grown completes a domestic supply and demand chain. Not only does it help Australian farmers, but it’s more environmentally sustainable than purchasing imported goods. This is an excellent behaviour to adopt beyond produce as well. Buying any Australian made good is less environmentally taxing than an imported one and ultimately puts money back into our national economy.

Volunteering is another option, if you live close enough to a farm. Donation might be the easiest and fastest way to the support Australian farmers – some quick research can help you find an organisation whose work aligns to your values. The following might be two such options:

ruralaid.org.au  – a rural charity providing financial assistance, water and other resources to farmers in time of need.

buyabale.com.au – a campaign providing drought, flood and fire affected farmers with feed for cattle. Rural Aid Australia also runs this campaign.

 

One of the best things about regional Australian business is the sense of community. It’s easier to get through tough times when everyone is looking out for each other. Pushing that message out to the cities isn’t always easy, but it is critically important to helping our farmers make it through this challenging time.

SHARE THIS POST: