Hay runners donate 2100 bales to drought-struck SA farmers

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Hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of fodder has been delivered to Murraylands farmers this week, offering a much-needed leg up in the face of the current drought.

Federal and state governments may not yet have announced any extra help for farmers who are struggling through one of the driest years on record, but everyday Australians have stepped up in a big way.

Fifty-five trucks loaded with hay rolled into the region on Saturday before fanning out to properties across the Murraylands and Mid North.

Thirty-three from a group called Aussie Hay Runners arrived at Tailem Bend around lunch time, having come from Ararat; and another 23 from Need for Feed set up camp in Murray Bridge six hours later, ending a long drive from Cobram.

Both convoys were initiatives supported by Lions Clubs in rural Victoria.

At Tailem Bend, the local Lions Club put on a barbecue for the truckies and their helpers as they passed through, serving up sausages, patties and bacon in the wind and dust of a service station car park.

Organiser Linda Widdup said the Aussie Hay Runners would distribute almost 1100 bales of hay, worth $100,000, to 66 farms at Mannum, Sedan, Parilla and other locations around South Australia.

All were donated by rural people in Victoria and New South Wales, and the drivers donated their time and fuel, too.

“At the end of the day you’ve got farmers that can’t access hay, financially they’re stressed, they haven’t got the money to go and buy it, and there’s just no access to hay in a lot of those towns,” Ms Widdup said.

“There’s a lot of emotion out there at the moment.

“These people live in marginal country and they’re prepared for most things … so they’ll stock up on grain, stock up on hay and get through those two or three years.

“But it’s been a very long time since it has come good, and that’s where the problem is.”

The reception the convoy had received as it steamed down the highway had been unbelievable, she said: “waving, air-pumping – it’s just been great”.

At Murray Bridge, semi-trailers looped around the showgrounds oval and came to rest in a paddock next door for the night, ready for a cooked dinner and breakfast courtesy of the city’s two local Lions Clubs.

Need for Feed’s Graham Cockerell estimated they had brought almost 1000 more bales of hay for distribution to locations around the Murraylands.

His second-in-command, Kelly Laffan, said Need for Feed had planned to use Murray Bridge as staging post and send feed out about 50 to 80 kilometres in all directions.

Why?

“We love doing what we do,” she said.

“It’s about Aussie mates helping mates.”

Shoeboxes of Love’s Kimberley Cepon was at both locations, giving out boxes of toiletries, socks and other everyday luxuries for distribution to drought-affected farming families.

It wasn’t an act of charity, she insisted – they were gifts for families who might not have time to keep up with the little things at the moment.

“The aim is to free up the cost (of those items) or give people the things they’re not buying,” she said.

These won’t likely be the last hay runs this summer, and Ms Widdup hoped the Aussie Hay Runners would be able to get some major sponsors on board next time around.

“We’re a bit of a band-aid,” she said.

“We’re there to give these people a little bit of relief because these people have absolutely exhausted their finances.”

• More information: Search for Aussie Hay Runners or Need for Feed Australia on Facebook, or visit www.needforfeed.org/home-1.

Farmers Community Connect event will offer more help to Mid Murray producers

More relief for Murraylands farmers will come at the end of this month.

The Rapid Relief Team will support farmers who have been hit hard by the ongoing drought by making 250 one-tonne bags of donated livestock feed available at Mannum Showground on November 22.

The bulker bags contain digestible fibre-based feed pellets that are designed to help maintain cattle and sheep nutrition.

RRT director Mick Dunn said Farmers Community Connect was another initiative designed to bring local communities together by donating feed.

“Farmers across the Murraylands have been doing it tough as the drought conditions continue impact lives and livelihood,” he said.

“We’re all in awe of the resilience of our farmers, but this drought is more severe than many people realise.”

There would also be access to a range of local service providers at the event on the 22nd, he said, plus a barbecue with burgers on the menu.

The Farmers Community Connect event will be held from 7.30 to 11am.

• Register: Visit rrtglobal.org before November 15.

Liberal MPs call for more support

Meanwhile, federal MP Tony Pasin has called for the state government to assist Aussie Hay Runners and other organisations like it by subsidising their fuel costs; and to provide more rural financial counsellors.

“Regions of our state are experiencing the driest conditions on record,” he said.

“A helping hand to assist with fuel costs from our state government would be a modest but meaningful way of assisting drought-stricken farmers.”

He described the government’s drought response so far as “woefully inadequate”.

The state opposition’s primary industries spokeswoman, Nicola Centofanti, echoed the call for more support for farmers.

The Victorian government had provided $13.5 million worth of assistance to farmers in 11 local government areas by mid-October, she said.

What had South Australia done?

“The government has so far shown indifference to giving meaningful assistance to the vital agricultural sector, a sector that provides a multi-billion-dollar income to South Australia and supplies world class food, fibre and wine to the people of this state and the world,” she said.

“Where are this government’s priorities?”