{"id":318097,"date":"2022-05-12T14:13:29","date_gmt":"2022-05-12T04:13:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?p=318097"},"modified":"2022-05-12T14:13:29","modified_gmt":"2022-05-12T04:13:29","slug":"drought-area-falls-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2022\/05\/12\/drought-area-falls-again\/","title":{"rendered":"Drought Area Falls Again"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Agriculture Minister Mark Furner<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

May 12, 2022<\/strong><\/p>\n

The drought status for the North Burnett and Western Downs council areas has been revoked.<\/p>\n

Agriculture Minister Mark Furner said the total area of Queensland which is drought-declared has fallen from 61.1 per cent to 44.9 per cent after recent rainfall.<\/p>\n

Minister Furner said Local Drought Committees had recommended the drought revocation of another six shires and one part-shire after a good wet season in some areas.<\/p>\n

This follows the revocation of 11 council areas last month, including the South Burnett, Cherbourg, Gympie and Toowoomba.<\/p>\n

\u201cPrimary producers in drought-revoked areas can now access freight subsidies for restocking and returning from agistment under the Drought Relief Assistance Scheme (DRAS),” Mr Furner said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI remind all producers that they now have access to the new proactive drought-preparedness measures including tailored training, grants and loans available through QRIDA.<\/p>\n

\u201cHowever, if accessing the new assistance from QRIDA, they will no longer be able to access DRAS which is being phased out and will not be available if areas become drought-declared again in the future.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cIf a producer is experiencing difficult conditions in a Council area that is not drought-declared, then they could apply for an Individually Droughted Property (IDP) declaration. This gives them the same access to our drought assistance as an area declaration.\u201d<\/p>\n