Media Releases

The Victorian Coalition Government will re-establish the out of use Silvan weather station and donate it to the community to support local farmers.
Minister for Agriculture and Food Security Peter Walsh said the $15,000 weather station would provide micro-climate weather data to assist local farmers to plan their business operations.
"The Victorian Government is delivering on its election commitment to Silvan district farmers to activate the weather station that was built and promptly abandoned by the Labor Party,” Mr Walsh said.
Mr Walsh said the Silvan weather station has had limited use despite having been installed at the Wandin-Silvan field day site in 2006 to provide irrigators with valuable climate driven crop water data.
“This weather station is yet another example of the waste and mismanagement of the former Labor Government: taxpayers’ money was spent, the station was built but it was never switched on,” Mr Walsh said.
Mr Walsh said the Department of Primary Industries would bring the station back to working order, hand ownership back to the community and provide $6000 over the next three years to help deliver data services to local farmers.
Member for Eastern Victoria Ed O’Donohue welcomed the announcement and congratulated local farmers and the Silvan field days committee on campaigning for the weather station.
“The local weather data provided by this station will help on-farm decision making especially in relation to scheduling of irrigation watering,” Mr O’Donohue said.
“The Coalition will dust off the weather station and get it up and running for the benefit of Silvan horticulturalists,” Member for Eastern Victoria Philip Davis said.
Mr Walsh said the weather station would be an important tool for farmers to more professionally and profitably plan their businesses and supply customers.