Federal Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce says he plans to mend trade ties with Indonesia. Source: AAP
AS summer looms, drought-stricken Queensland graziers and farmers are hoping Tony Abbott's government will help pull them out of strife.
Charles Burke, CEO of the state's peak rural body Agforce, says graziers in the north, northwest and southwest have been struck by a "perfect storm".
"I can't say that the drought is any worse than any other year," he told AAP from the annual Agforce conference in Townsville on Thursday.
"But many factors have exacerbated the problem: a high Australian dollar, we had fires in northwest of the state last November and no rain in those areas since.
"We've got legacy impacts from the live cattle export ban, so we've had more cattle queued up than we normally would have.
"It's just been a perfect storm as far as a drought goes."
The Queensland Government extended the drought area this week to include 60 per cent of the state.
Mr Burke hopes new Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce will boost growth in the industry, mend ties with Indonesia, develop trade with other countries and offer more support to struggling graziers and farmers.
"There are some assistance measures under the state government but we now need the federal government to start considering more support measures," he said.
"Rural Queenslanders are financially, physically and emotionally stressed."
Graziers say a temporary live cattle ban in 2011, brought on by claims animals were being mistreated, has crippled the cattle industry.
Although the export ban was lifted later in 2011, Indonesia reduced its import quota from 660,000 head of cattle to 260,000 per year.
In his first public address since becoming minister, Mr Joyce told those at the Agforce conference that he plans to mend the relationship between the two countries in an attempt to boost the market.
His list of "critical tasks" also includes plans to finalise Free Trade Agreements with trade partners including Korea, China and Japan.
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