A NSW farmer has assured Australians food security is the least of their worries as the coronavirus crisis sends ripples of fear through households across the nation.
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Mungindi farmer Sam Heagney this week took to social media to assure people the country's farmers would continue to keep supermarket shelves stocked with safe and nutritious food.
Sitting in his tractor cab preparing a paddock to plant wheat this week and brandishing a sandwich, he shared his comforting calculations.
"Based on average readings this paddock alone should grow enough wheat to make 2.25 million loaves of bread," he stated in a video posted to Facebook.
"That equates to 22 million Vegemite sandwiches just off this paddock."
Mr Heagney assured Australians their farmers grew enough food for 75 million people - that's three times our population!
His South Bunarba Agriculture business is a family-owned farm that grows wheat, barley, chickpeas, cotton and also runs Angus cattle.
Adding a small injection of humour into the current climate of crisis - "and this is the one I really like" - he said this one paddock of barley alone "should grow enough barley to make 23.5 million cans of beer - that's almost one tinny per Australian".
"And if we get enough rain and get a good season we can easily double that yield."
The point is, according to Mr Heagney, in Australia we don't have to worry about food security.
"Aussie farmers are great at what we do," he assured.
"We will continue to supply affordable, nutritious and safe food for Australians."
He added farmers had been "bashed around the head in the last few years" and even in the worst drought in 100 years they had continued to supply food on supermarket shelves.
"So a virus is not going to stop us either ... so calm the farm, we've got this," he said.
