A severe frost event earlier this month in the Western District that caused crops losses of hundreds of millions of dollars has prompted a call for more detailed weather monitoring.
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Victorian Farmers Federation president David Jochinke said better weather monitoring would give farmers more understanding of where the frost hit and allow them to made decisions earlier about how to respond to the event.
Mr Jochinke, who farms near Horsham, said some farmers had not realised the symptoms of the frost damage to their crops until some weeks after it hit on the mornings of November 3-5.
Early information about where the below zero temperatures hit would have helped them with their decisions about whether to cut crops for feed, spray them put, let livestock graze the crops or grow them out, he said.
Mr Jochinke said the frosts have caused hundreds of millions of dollars of damage in area that extends from Tatyoon, north of Lake Bolac, to Streatham and Skipton.
“It’s mainly in wheat crops but there’s also some damage to barley and canola.
“The damage extends from 100 per cent wipe out to minimal damage,” Mr Jochinke said.
“We will not know the full picture until harvest,” he said.
Some farmers had cut frost-damaged crops for hay but some of that which had been left on the ground had been damaged by rain that fell last week, Mr Jochinke said.
He said about 100 people attended a frost response meeting hosted by the VFF at Tatyoon last week.
The meeting gave farmers information on what to look for to identify frost damage and their options on how to deal with it, including their financial options, he said.