Category: News

Farmers needed: Rural Aid volunteers ready to help

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Rural Aid volunteers are preparing to roll up their sleeves for a week of disaster-recovery works in the Alpine Shire.  

Rural Aid’s Farm and Community Events Coordinator Grant Miskimmin said there is still room for more farmers to sign up and receive a helping hand on their property. 

Australia’s most trusted rural charity, Rural Aid, has organised more than 30 volunteers to visit Dederang farms in October.  

“We are looking for farmers who could use a hand during Rural Aid’s Farm Recovery Event,” Mr Miskimmin said.  

“We know farmers can be a proud bunch and many won’t ask for help, but Rural Aid would like to change that,” Mr Miskimmin said.  

Mr Miskimmin said the volunteers can do a range of tasks, guided by the farmer’s needs.  

“We know the Alpine Shire was badly affected by storms, and that many farmers haven’t had a chance to recover from them,” Mr Miskimmin said.  

“Our volunteers can help with tasks like fencing, stockyard repairs, small infrastructure projects, plumbing, painting, gardening and more.” 

Rural Aid volunteers will be in Dederang from October 13-19.  

“Our Farm Recovery Events are always a wonderful week. Our volunteers are amazing people who really enjoy being on-farm, and our farmers often find they’ve made life-long friendships with their team of volunteers,” Mr Miskimmin said. 

“To help local farmers, we need to know who they are.” “Please get in touch if you’d like to find out more about Rural Aid’s Farm Recovery Event in Dederang,” Mr Miskimmin said.  

To take part in the Dederang Farm Recovery Event, farmers must be registered with Rural Aid and must be a primary producer. 


For more information, please contact Rural Aid on 1300 327 624 or by visiting www.ruralaid.org.au  

Rural Aid can also provide assistance with fodder, domestic water, rainwater tanks, financial assistance and mental health and wellbeing counselling.    

About Rural Aid 
Rural Aid is Australia’s most trusted rural charity. We stand with our farmers when they need us most. Rural Aid provides critical support to farmers affected by natural disaster through financial, wellbeing and fodder assistance. Rural Aid’s community programs help create more sustainable communities by building stronger futures for all Australian farmers. Find out more at www.ruralaid.org.au 

For more information or interviews, contact Rural Aid CEO John Warlters on 0409 618 641 or at john.warlters@ruralaid.org.au

Source: The Alpine Observer

Rural Aid’s iconic photo competition opens

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Australia’s most trusted rural charity has opened its annual photography competition to the public for its fifth year.  

Spirit of the Bush is an Australian-wide photography competition run by Rural Aid.  

Rural Aid CEO John Warlters said the competition was a great way to get a glimpse into life on the land.  

“Our Spirit of the Bush competition is always very popular, attracting hundreds of entrants from across Australia,” Mr Warlters said.  

“The winning 12 photos are turned into a beautiful wall calendar.” 

“I encourage amateurs, professionals and everyone in between to submit their photographs to the 2024 competition.” 

“Spirt of the Bush is a wonderful celebration of the highs and lows of life on the land.” 

Mr Warlters urged photographers to get in quickly this year.  

“We’ve shortened the competition window slightly this year, so if you’d like to take part, make sure you don’t dilly-dally.” 

“It’s our fifth year running this iconic competition, and we’d love it to be bigger than ever!” 

“We’ve already received some amazing high-quality images from previous entrants, but we’d love to see some new faces on board before the comp closes on October 1,” Mr Warlters said.  

Winners will be featured in Rural Aid’s 2025 wall calendar and will also receive a $250 pre-paid VISA card.  

The competition closes October 1, 2024. 

Entrants must submit a high-resolution, landscape image via Instagram or Facebook, with the hashtag #SOTB2024 and tag @ruralaid in the picture, or upload their photo through the Woobox link: https://www.ruralaid.org.au/spirit-of-the-bush/  

The competition’s Terms and Conditions can be found at: https://www.ruralaid.org.au/spirit-of-the-bush/  

PHOTOGRAPHER LOCATIONS: Spirit of the Bush 2023 winners’ details 

First name Last name Closest town State 
Anne Bell Esperance WA 
Debbie Cristinelli Tambellup WA* 
Jane Taylor Carnarvon WA 
Shannon Swanton Manilla NSW 
Paula McIver Barraba NSW* 
Lauren Bell Monogorilby QLD 
Kathryn Ecroyd St George QLD 
Neil Kendall Brisbane QLD^ 
Dave Tan Allora QLD 
Amie Hosking Moura QLD 

(*) These photographers both have two winning photos in the 2024 calendar 
(^) This photo was taken at the Dayboro Rodeo 

About Rural Aid 
Rural Aid is Australia’s most trusted rural charity. We stand with our farmers when they need us most. Rural Aid provides critical support to farmers affected by natural disaster through financial, wellbeing and fodder assistance. Rural Aid’s community programs help create more sustainable communities by building stronger futures for all Australian farmers. Find out more at www.ruralaid.org.au 

For more information or interviews, contact Rural Aid CEO John Warlters on 0409 618 641 or at john.warlters@ruralaid.org.au

Farmers urged to reach out for help

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Australia’s most trusted rural charity is encouraging farmers to reach out for assistance this Farm Safety Week.  

“This year’s Farm Safety Week theme is ‘in safe hands’,” Rural Aid CEO John Warlters said.  

“Rural Aid’s mission is to stand with farmers when they need it most.” 

“We’re encouraging farmers to register with Rural Aid, so that our organisation and its passionate donors, can support farmers’ wellbeing and safety with a hand-up.” 

Rural Aid’s range of assistance measures help farmers improve their lives and businesses before, during and after disaster events – be it drought, bushfire or flood.  

“Rural Aid’s mental health and wellbeing team do a fantastic job of heading on-farm to chat with primary producers, at no cost to the farmer,” Mr Warlters said. 

“Our financial, water and fodder assistance provides urgent relief for farmers in need. 

“And our Farm Recovery Events supply farmers with a team of volunteers, ready to tackle farming jobs post-disaster,” Mr Warlters said. 

Rural Aid’s Mental Health and Wellbeing Manager, Myf Pitcher, said it takes strength to reach out for help.  

“We want farmers to treat themselves as their most precious business asset and be open to receiving help with their busy workload,” Ms Pitcher said.  

“One conversation at the right time with the right person can change everything”. 

“More than 18,000 primary producers are “in safe hands”, already registered with Rural Aid,” Ms Pitcher said.  

“Registering with Rural Aid means we can support farmers when they need it, now or in the future, and it helps us support rural communities as well.” 

“Please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us to see how we can help.” 

To register with Rural Aid, visit www.ruralaid.org.au or call 1300 327 624. 

About Rural Aid 
Rural Aid is Australia’s most trusted rural charity. We stand with our farmers when they need us most. Rural Aid provides critical support to farmers affected by natural disaster through financial, wellbeing and fodder assistance. Rural Aid’s community programs help create more sustainable communities by building stronger futures for all Australian farmers. Find out more at www.ruralaid.org.au 

For more information or interviews, contact Rural Aid CEO John Warlters on 0409 618 641 or at john.warlters@ruralaid.org.au

Volunteers needed to help more Nowra farmers

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Rural Aid, Australia’s must trusted rural charity, is appealing for more volunteers to help in the Shoalhaven region next month.

Rural Aid is hosting a “Farm Recovery Event” in Nowra from 7 July to 13 July.

Rural Aid’s Farm and Community Coordinator, Grant Miskimmin, said the more volunteers attending the event, the more local farmers Rural Aid can help.

“We want to help as many Nowra-region farmers recover from flooding as we can,” Mr Miskimmin said. He encouraged interested volunteers to join the charity in making a difference.

“Our Farm Recovery Events are a fantastic way to give back to the nation’s farmers, who work so hard to provide food and fibre for our nation,” Mr Miskimmin said.

“We’re grateful for everyone’s help and we have a job for every volunteer, regardless of skill or experience.”

“The jobs we help our farmers with typically include fencing, cleaning, painting and repairing.

“We can usually find a job for every willing volunteer, so please don’t hesitate to get in touch if you’re unsure.

“It’s a transformative week for both our farmers and our volunteers; everyone gets so much out of the experience,” Mr Miskimmin finished.

Rural Aid is also appealing for local groups with catering capabilities to reach out.

“We’d love to hear from local organisations who could feed our crew by catering an evening meal for our hard-working volunteers,” Mr Miskimmin said.

“Rural Aid happily sponsors all food for the week, so it’s a great way for local organisations to raise some funds too.”

Volunteers are welcome to stay at the Nowra Showgrounds in their own accommodation.
All meals and equipment are provided to volunteers.

For more information, please visit www.ruralaid.org.au/volunteers or call Grant Miskimmin, Rural Aid’s Farm and Community Coordinator, on 0449 200 854.

About Rural Aid 
Rural Aid is Australia’s most trusted rural charity. We stand with our farmers when they need us most. Rural Aid provides critical support to farmers affected by natural disaster through financial, wellbeing and fodder assistance. Rural Aid’s community programs help create more sustainable communities by building stronger futures for all Australian farmers. Find out more at www.ruralaid.org.au 

Media contacts
For more information or interviews contact:

Rural Aid media
0447 116 757
media@ruralaid.org.au

Grant Miskimmin,
Rural Aid’s Farm and Community Coordinator
0449 200 854

“All is not well on the farm”- Rural Aid CEO

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Australia’s most trusted rural charity has been urgently assisting farmers who are battling increased levels of mental ill-health in recent months.  

Rural Aid CEO John Warlters said primary producers are feeling overworked, underappreciated and anxious.

“In a recent Rural Aid study, one in two farmers said they’ve felt their mental health decline in the past year,” Mr Warlters said.

“76 per cent of our farmers rated their mental health as poor, very poor or average.”

“These numbers show that all is not well on the farm,” Mr Warlters said.

“It’s a sentiment echoed across the industry; Rabobank’s Rural Confidence Survey has shown farm confidence has plummeted in the past three months.”

Rural Aid’s Mental Health and Wellbeing Manager, Myf Pitcher, said weather conditions, biosecurity concerns, and disaster recovery are on farmers’ minds.

“Our counselling team is making a really important difference every day, we’ve been all over the country supporting primary producers,” Ms Pitcher said.

“From hay drops in South Australia, to water tank deliveries in Western Australia, and resilience and recovery conversations in Queensland, our mental health and wellbeing team have been working overtime to assist farmers with the challenges they’re currently facing.”

Mr Warlters said the record dry conditions in the south and west of the nation are proving especially difficult for farmers to deal with.

“Rural Aid has organised and executed a support drop of hay, stockfeed or emergency household drinking water at the rate of roughly one per day over the last four weeks. The demand for hay in South Australia has been particularly strong.”

“But, Rural Aid can’t do any of its vital work without the generosity of the Australian public,” Mr Warlters added.

“With tax time just around the corner, it’s a good time to consider a donation to Rural Aid.”

“Thank you to every single person who has dug deep for our mates in the bush in their moment of need,” Mr Warlters said.

To donate to Rural Aid, or to find out more about Rural Aid’s mental health and wellbeing program, visit www.ruralaid.org.au or call 1300 327 624.

About Rural Aid 
Rural Aid is Australia’s most trusted rural charity. We stand with our farmers when they need us most. Rural Aid provides critical support to farmers affected by natural disaster through financial, wellbeing and fodder assistance. Rural Aid’s community programs help create more sustainable communities by building stronger futures for all Australian farmers. Find out more at www.ruralaid.org.au 

Media contact:
For more information or interviews, contact Rural Aid media on media@ruralaid.org.au or 0447 116 757.

Statistics source:
“Pulse of the Paddock” Report
Rabo Bank