Mayor Jo Beard said the dairy industry was worth more than $300 million to Corangamite and made up almost one-third of the area’s workforce.

As well as farmers struggling with dramatic milk price cuts, the council is also concerned for the the knock-on effects to small businesses and communities.

“With dairy farmers doing it tough, their discretionary spending will reduce, which is likely to affect local businesses,” Cr Beard said.

The council voted for chief executive officer Andrew Mason to write to state and federal governments calling for ongoing support and a united approach from all levels of government.

“We will continue to really advocate for our dairy farmers but also the small businesses and communities that are affected,” Mr Mason said.

“Council will continue to lobby the local member Dan Tehan and the Minister for Agriculture for funding to support dairy farmers and communities impacted by this situation.”

Cr Beard said a united approach was the best way to get through the issue.

“Obviously there is a focus on our farmers, we certainly stand there beside them, but we need to put it out there that we also need to continue to support small businesses… a lot of our towns live on the lifeblood on the agriculture industry so it’s certainly important that we dig in and we’re all there for each other,” she said.

“If I can make one plea to our farmers and, in particular, anyone that has been affected, it’s to please not disengage from your communities, we all need each other… the greatest thing that everyone can do is be there for each other.”

Cr Beard also called on dairy processors to provide more information.

“We want to call on the processors particularly to give some clarity and guidance on where the opening prices are going to be. It’s very important for our farmers to be able to budget going forward and until there’s some security around those prices it’s anyone’s guess,” she said.