Hay runners send truckloads from Murray Bridge to the Riverland

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It hasn’t been a great year for farmers in the Murray Bridge district, but the folks up around Waikerie have been doing it even tougher.

That was all members of the Monarto Agricultural Bureau needed to know.

The Murraylands farmers got together seven truckloads of hay for their counterparts in the Riverland, and sent it off from the Swanport Hotel on Thursday morning.

What started as a conversation around Rob Thiele’s kitchen table just before Christmas quickly turned into a determination to help.

“The idea … was instigated by an article in the Stock Journal showing a Maggea land owner kneeling in her wheat crop, which had been severely sandblasted from a very poor season,” Mr Thiele said.

“Louise Smith is known to many farmers in the Murray Bridge area, so the Monarto Ag Bureau swung into gear to send much-needed fodder to farmers in the Maggea district.

“The fodder will assist in feeding sheep and cattle in containment paddocks in the short term.

“A substantially wetter season in 2026 will lift spirits in the Maggea district (in the longer term) after a run of severely dry seasons.”

Farmer Richard Reedy, who had visited the area in his role with SA Murray Irrigators, said it looked “like the Sahara Desert” up there.

More than 20 growers from Murray Bridge, Monarto, Callington, Brinkley, Tailem Bend and Malinong contributed to the relief effort, and Male’s Fuel made sure all seven trucks were fuelled up before they left.

Ag bureau chair Dave Miegel said he had been overwhelmed by the generous response, especially after a couple of bad years for locals.

The hay trucks started rolling out of Swanport around 9am on Thursday, bound for Waikerie, where a local ag bureau planned to put on a barbecue lunch and distribute the much-needed cargo.

Murray Bridge Mayor Wayne Thorley and Lutheran Pastor David Kuss offered their well-wishes and blessings before the convoy left.

Mr Thorley said he, too had been impressed by the donors’ generosity.

But he hoped governments would come up with more ongoing support for South Australia’s agricultural industry, rather than jumping to make announcements during times of drought.

All hoped for a better season in 2026.

The Bureau of Meteorology’s latest seasonal outlook, released last week, suggests there is a 65-70 per cent change of below-average rainfall in the Murraylands over the next three months.

Temperatures are also very likely to be higher than the long-term average.

However, rainfall of 5-25 millimetres is forecast for Murray Bridge this Sunday.