Drought relief boosted by $55m as premier admits farmers need 'faster' responses

Drought relief amounting to $55 million will flow to South Australian communities in desperate need of support, with the state government announcing the additional funding a month after farmers made an urgent plea for more help.

The government said the new package was on top of $18 million announced in November, and would go towards such measures as rebates, infrastructure upgrades, financial counselling and mental health support, as well as assisting charities that transport fodder.

Premier Peter Malinauskas today conceded it had taken too long for applicants under the previous round of funding to receive responses, and that the system had "to be faster".

"I've been frustrated about some of the time it's taken the bureaucracy to respond to these applications — I can't imagine how much more frustrating it is for someone who actually needs the support," Mr Malinauskas told ABC North and West SA.

"[I've] asked my department, the Department of Premier and Cabinet, to oversee an effort to expedite the timeliness.

In March, Adelaide Hills farmers urged more assistance including interest-free or low-interest loans to help with the cost of bringing in feed and water.

Swathes of South Australia have endured extremely dry conditions for months, leading to crop losses, dry dams and a high reliance on water-carting in the Adelaide Hills.

"Inputs have been high for some time now, so you're spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to put a crop in and last season there would have been very minimal income for a lot of these farmers," Grain Producers SA CEO Brad Perry said.

Adelaide's reservoirs were recently described by the environment department as being at their lowest levels in more than two decades.

"For a lot of livestock businesses, recovery from this will take years," Livestock SA CEO Travis Tobin said.

Mallala farmer John Lush said while he had not applied for support, the extra funding would be especially valuable to young farmers and those in the worst-hit regions.

"None of us are going to have any income until November, December, January so we've got to get through that period of sowing a crop, keeping our livestock alive and paying our bills," he said.

"The state government has not got a magic bullet but it will do what it can.

"When it does rain it won't rain money, but it will mean that we can get on with our lives, we can sow our next crop."

The package includes an additional $4 million to help charities with the cost of transporting donated hay to livestock farmers.

Michael O'Keefe from the Farmers Relief Agency — which fundraises to purchase hay, which it then donates — said the charity had delivered around 600 large bales to 55 farmers so far.

He said he hoped the extra funding would allow the agency to double its work.

"The inquiries are coming from right through South Australia," Mr O'Keefe said.

"When you've never had a drought before and [then] you get one, you're not always prepared for it and that's the real issue.

"They think, 'Oh well, I'll go and buy some more hay', and then they realise that the price of hay is through the roof and transport costs are a lot of money, [so] they can't really afford it."

Infrastructure grant cap expanded

Of the funding, $13 million will go towards rebates in the form on-farm drought infrastructure grants, which had previously been capped at $5,000 "with a 25 per cent commitment and co-contribution from the farmer".

But Primary Industries Minister Clare Scriven said the measure had been expanded.

"The feedback that we've had from industry is that we should actually increase that to $20,000 with a 50 per cent co-contribution," she said.

"The $5,000 grants will continue as well so there'll be streams that will address a variety of different needs."

Ms Scriven said the new support package would be made available "in the coming weeks".

"It's been designed with farmers to both look at what the immediate supports are that they need to get through day to day as they're facing one of the worst droughts that they've experienced, as well as preparing for the ongoing issues of drought," she said.

Another $17 million had been set aside for future drought preparedness and resilience programs, while about $2.5 million will go towards the provision and upgrading of standpipes, and $4.5 million to electronic identification for sheep and farmed goats.

"We've dramatically boosted the size of the fund because it was oversubscribed, the first time round when we did it," Mr Malinuaskas said.

"We haven't seen circumstances of drought quite like this in South Australia ever before and on one level it's frustrating because normally when we see a drought of this nature, we see it across the landscape throughout Australia, but right now what seems to be dominating the national headlines is challenges around too much water or flood."

The opposition's spokeswoman for water resources, Nicola Centofanti, said the support was overdue.

"There will be a lot of farmers who'll be waking up today somewhat relieved that this support has finally been delivered.

"This has been a long time coming."

She said on-farm drought infrastructure grants had previously been capped at $5,000.

"The criticism has been that $5,000 doesn't really get you much in the way of drought infrastructure," she said.

"Most farmers I talk to don't want a handout, they want a hand-up, and low concessional loans provide that."