Farmers call for more help to for biodiesel production

Tuesday, 13/06/2006
Farmers trying to establish commercially viable biodiesel operations say the Federal Government needs to do more to encourage development.

Victorian farmer Josh Pearse, who has set up a plant at Donald, in the state's west, says taxing biodiesel at the same level as ordinary diesel is a disincentive to farmers making or using it.

He says in the face of rising fuel costs, grain farmers particularly, have a great opportunity to start growing some of the fuel they need for their farms.

"There should be a few more incentives for people to actually get into the biodiesel industry, and even for some sort of tax benefit for farmers and for people to start using biodiesel," he said.

"I think what is going to happen is that it is going to go back to a bit like the old days where they used to grow a quarter of their farm to feed the draft horses. We're going to go back to growing canola to fuel our tractors."