But while he might not be in as deep as his Victorian counterparts, Tamworth farmer Terry Tout was happy to be a part of it all.

It was just after 7am when the first of the media scrum began rolling in. Mr Tout had barely managed to feed all of his calves when the political movers and shakers rolled through the frosty front gate.

In a media conference organised the night before, Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce stood with Mr Tout as he made the announcement which would send sighs of relief through dairy farms in the nation’s south.

“I’ve sympathised with the farmers down south wholeheartedly. They’ve really copped it bad,” Mr Tout said.

“The export market is a real rollercoaster and they’ve been let down badly by their companies not giving them a lead on what was happening a lot earlier.”

Asked if regional dairy producers were facing a similar situation, Mr Tout believed farmers in the Peel Valley were a lot better off.

“The local market is a lot more stable than the southern market. We deal in the fresh milk market mainly, which is all domestic,” he said.

“Most of the milk from the Peel Valley heads north and usually goes to the Brisbane market because there’s a big shortage of fresh milk in Queensland, and that was brought on by the deregulation and downward pressure due to the $1 a litre stuff a couple of years ago.”

The farmer said local producers had been warned that there would be a reduction in the milk price in July, but he did not expect it to be any more than 5 per cent.

“Marketwise we are worried about the export price because this will put downward pressure on the domestic price,” he said.

“This area is pretty stable, but it would be a lot better if we had better access to water.

“Water is a big issue for us here in the valley. It’s very expensive and unreliable.”