The federal coalition is warning of a mental health crisis as one farmer prepares to shoot 3000 of his cattle because of the live export ban to Indonesia.

Nico Botha, of Moola Bulla station in Western Australia, says he'll start killing the animals as soon as Wednesday because he can't afford to keep them alive.

"Rather than let them starve to death over two or three months, I'm going to shoot them quickly," he told News Limited.

"My property is over-grazed and I have got too many cattle, I have to look forward to the next year or two."

Nationals deputy leader Nigel Scullion, who's just returned from a three-day visit to Indonesia to talk to industry figures, said the suspension was turning deadly.