Condah farmer Graham Thomson was fine $398 for carting two bales on his tractor across a road.

A VICTORIAN farmer fined almost $400 for carrying two bales of hay on his tractor forks across a road to feed sheep at the weekend will contest the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator action.

Condah farmer and hay contractor Graham Thomson said the NHVR fine of $398 was “very heavy handed” and it meant farmers across the state have been acting illegally by transporting hay on tractors across roads to livestock during the drought.

“Every farmer is breaking the law as soon as they put a round roll or a square bale on those forks to go across a road.

“The fine was worth more than the value of the hay.”

Mr Thomson said he owns four separate titles with livestock surrounded by roads in the Condah area, but was told by an NHVR officer he would need to put any hay bales on a truck to transport hay on a road.

Fellow farmer Andy Satchell composed a Facebook post about the incident and said the fine was “way over the top, totally impractical and completely unnecessary.”

“It is just showing how over-regulated we are as a society.

“Everyone is doing the same thing to feed their stock,” he said.

“It just shows the complete disconnect between city and country too.”

He said the fine came as farmers were fighting the emergency fire services levy and on the same day as a mental health day for farmers at the local Condah Hotel.

Mr Thomson said he was taking two bales of hay on his tractor about 600 metres down Fleece Road and after checking there were no vehicles in sight, across the Henty Highway, before being stopped with flashing lights and a siren by an NHVR officer.

The farmer was told he was not allowed to cart anything on a front-end loader on a public road, and that it was an expensive fine but he would be fined for having bales on the front of the tractor “not restrained.”

“I’m meant to have a load binder over them.

“I’ve been farming for about 50 years and I didn’t know that,” he said.

“I didn’t say anything, but one minute he says I can’t carry anything on the road and then he books me for carrying something on it that’s not restrained.

“So that didn’t make sense to me.”

The offence recorded was ‘Driver of a heavy vehicle that does not comply with the loading requirements – MINOR Risk Breach.

“It was very heavy handed,” Mr Thomson said.

Mr Thomson is a life member of the Australian Fodder Industry Association and has about 400 phone messages from people across Australia after Mr Satchell made his Facebook post.

“I’ve got about 300 people want to go (to court) and back me up – it’s being contested.”

The post had been shared 589 times by 2.30pm today, had about 380,000 views and generated more than 130 comments, mostly sympathetic and urging him to contest the fine.

Polite commentators branded the fine as “ridiculous”, while others branded it a joke and “absolute bullshit.”

AFIA president Louis Kelly said was aware hay loads on a truck or ute it would need to be secured but he had not heard of farmers being fined for transporting hay on tractors.

“It’s a stupid rule, I’m not in favour of it at all – I’ve never heard of it before.”

“I’ve seen so many tractors on the road with hay on them, does that constitute a truck or a ute?”

Mr Kelly said he had been working with the NHVR on standardising road rules.

“What are we going to do here, stifle agriculture altogether?

“How is this going to work?” he asked.

“As far as I am concerned, Thommo’s in the right to feed his animals, but if someone challenges him on how he ties his load down on a tractor which is registered as an agricultural machine, I just think that’s a bit different.”

Sheep Central was told the NHVR regulates all heavy vehicles with a gross vehicle mass or aggregate trailer mass of more than 4.5 tonnes, including livestock and agricultural vehicles.

The Schedule of HVNL Penalties, Infringement Penalties and Demerit Points 2024/25 (PDF, 403KB) provides a summary of the penalties and infringements outlined in the HVNL. This includes breaches of mass, dimension or loading requirement, where a minor risk breach carries a minimum fine of $398 fine and a more substantial or severe breach may see a maximum penalty of $13,310.

The NHVR said agricultural vehicles, such as tractors, are permitted on the roads if the driver and vehicle comply with all jurisdictional and Heavy Vehicle National Law (HVNL) requirements, such as holding the correct registration and access permit, as well as safe restraint of the load.