Running out of fuel creates 'triple whammy' for farmer

By Emily Middleton

ABC Central West

Topic:Agricultural and Farming Practice

Fuel tanks on Scott Worthington's property have been empty for a few weeks. (ABC Central West: Emily Middleton)

In short:

Farmers across the state say they are rapidly running out of fuel amid soaring diesel prices and a vulnerable supply.

Coupled with drought conditions across western NSW, farmers are finding it challenging to cart feed and water to their livestock.

What's next?

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission is investigating allegations of anti-competitive conduct by major fuel suppliers.

Scott Worthington says he is experiencing a "triple whammy" of farming pain.

He has run out of water on his drought-stricken farm in western New South Wales, and his pastures have turned to dirt.

That was before he also ran out of fuel.

"It brought us to a stop," the Condobolin farmer said.

While he can buy feed and water, without fuel, he cannot deliver them to his stock.

"The animals need to be fed, they need to be watered, otherwise we'll have an animal welfare situation on our hands," he said.

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Mr Worthington said he placed an order for 40,000 litres of diesel before the war in the Middle East began, which still had not arrived.

He said he has had to source a limited supply from the nearest town, 60 kilometres away.

With his dams dry and pasture gone, Mr Worthington needs to use thousands of litres of diesel each week to keep the farm running.

Apart from on-farm fuel use, he also needs to drive a 20km round trip to pick up water for his 3,000 sheep and 600 cattle.

Some sheep on Scott Worthington's property have been hand-fed since March last year. (ABC Central West: Emily Middleton)

"[The fuel supplier has] told me it would take probably two to three weeks to get a delivery here, but they have something like 170 orders on the books that they've got to get through."

Sheep on Scott Worthington's property must be hand-fed due to ongoing drought conditions. (ABC Central West: Emily Middleton)

School bus stranded

Nearby in Trundle, cropping farmer Andrew Curr said it took two weeks and dozens of phone calls to secure a delivery of fuel before his crucial sowing season this month.

His initial order never reached the farm.

"So it was a fairly worrying period because we were coming up to our major winter sowing program, which we need a lot of fuel for, because everything runs on diesel," he said.

Mr Curr said the impact of the supply issues would inevitably flow on to consumers.

Andrew Curr is rapidly running out of diesel on his Trundle property. (ABC Central West: Emily Middleton)

Beyond the farm gate

Mr Curr also drives the local school bus, and for two days recently, students on his route were unable to get to school.

The bus had run out of fuel.

"When it affects the kids, that's when it really hits home, and you go, 'Hang on, this is affecting their education,'" he said.

Andrew Curr says it is vital to have enough fuel. (ABC Central West: Emily Middleton)

Diesel powers the majority of the vehicles and machinery on Andrew Curr's property. (ABC Central West: Emily Middleton)

Fair distribution

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) is investigating diesel supply conduct in regional and rural Australia.

"The ACCC received reports concerning diesel availability to independent wholesalers and distributors servicing regional and rural Australia," the consumer watchdog statement said.

Scott Worthington is waiting for his diesel to arrive. (ABC Central West: Emily Middleton)

Regional fuel suppliers South West Fuel and Oilsplus said demand across the regions surged in early March.

In a statement, the suppliers said they received more orders in the first few days of the month than they would normally see across an entire month.

"This combination has placed extreme and unprecedented pressure on our supply chain — we have never experienced anything like this before," a spokesperson said.

"We have been able to secure sufficient supply to meet customer requirements to date; however, due to the surge in demand, there have been extended delays in deliveries as we work through a large backlog of orders."

The diesel price is edging closer to $3 a litre across the state. (ABC Central West: Emily Middleton)

Support for regional areas

The NSW member for Cootamundra, Steph Cooke, put a motion to parliament this week calling on the state government to ensure regional communities impacted by the fuel crisis received equitable support.

She said reliable access to fuel was essential to regional businesses, economies, education and health care.

"You can't just plant a crop at any time of the year … if we miss this period, there will not be a harvest at the end of the year," Ms Cooke said.

In response, NSW Premier Chris Minns said there had been no scheduled arrivals of petrol into Australia that had been cancelled as a result of the crisis so far.

He said the state government would be vigilant against price gouging in the supply chain.

"Buy petrol when you need it … but don't over consume it because it will come… at the expense of a neighbour or another member of the community who might need access to that, particularly if you're in a regional community," Mr Minns said.