Twenty-seven farmers from the Karoonda East Murray district and surrounds have shared more than 275 tonnes of feed dropped off to help them through the dry year.
Rural Aid arranged the drop of more than 200 tonnes of hay and 75 tonnes of pellets at the town’s old sheep saleyards on Thursday, with help from the local council and WSB Distributors.
The feed, worth more than $120,000, was collected through Rural Aid’s “Buy a Bale” drive.
Primary Industries and Regions SA and stock feed manufacturers JT Johnson and Sons were also represented at the gathering.
Qantas and Rural Aid are delivering approximately 370 large bales of hay valued at over $150,000 to 40 farming families in the Eudunda region of South Australia. A further $20,000 in gift cards will be handed to farmers for everyday needs, such as groceries, water, petrol, and household necessities.
10 B-Double trucks loaded will roll into Eudunda on Wednesday morning, 31 July to assist local farming families struggling to feed stock. This is the second time the Buy a Bale initiative has delivered support to farming families in the area.
The Eudunda Rural Aid hay drop is being funded from some of the $3 million dollars that Qantas committed to donating in August 2018; made up of a $1 million dollar immediate donation, an additional $1 million dollars that has since been raised by customers through special charter flights, collection barrels in lounges, and donation of frequent flyer points, which was matched by Qantas with an additional $1 million dollars.
Rural Aid General Manager, Wayne Thomson said one of the worst droughts in Australia’s history is also impacting rural communities in South Australia.
“Thanks to the support of Australians who donate to Rural Aid, farmers who are struggling to afford the cost of fodder to feed their stock will receive some respite with this much needed hay.”
QantasLink CEO John Gissing said while Qantas was glad to have reached its initial $3 million-dollar fundraising goal that will offer some short-term relief to farming families around the country, regional communities continue to be crippled by the ongoing drought crisis.
“Having been founded in the outback nearly a century ago, Qantas has a deep connection with regional Australia and together with our customers and staff, we will continue to band together to provide ongoing support for our Aussie farmers as they front in to one of the worst droughts in decades.”
The airline has vowed to continue its efforts by operating future fundraising charter flights and through its ongoing partnership with Rural Aid.
Wayne Thomson added that $26,000 worth of musical instruments will be handed to local schools in the area as part of Rural Aid’s Gift of Music program which focusses on providing children in regional Australia with similar access to music programs and instruments as those living in the cities.
Donations received by Rural Aid aids farmers and communities during natural disasters in the form of fodder, financial assistance, gift cards and water delivery. In 2018/2019, thanks to the generosity of many Australians, Rural Aid provided over $30 million of disaster-relief assistance.
If your organisation is looking for opportunities for corporate sponsorship, please contact Rural Aid on 1300 327 624 to find out how you can help to support our farmers and rural communities.
Qantas Fundraising Fast Facts: • $3 million dollars is the equivalent of 15,900 bales of hay, across 480 trailers, or 249 road trains. • A portion of the funds were used to assist 33 farmers purchase appx 1,000 cattle following the floods of NW Queensland. • Fundraising activities included three charity charter flights, Rural Aid collection barrels placed in Qantas lounges and at Qantas and Jetstar gates for customers to donate. • The airline hosted “Chops for Change” pop-ups at various lounges around the country where guests were offered gourmet lamb chops in exchange for a small donation. • Qantas staff donated 650kg of dog food for the working farm dogs in the Tamworth region, timed with the Hay Mate benefit concert.
About Rural Aid Rural Aid supports farmers and rural communities in times of natural disaster such as flood, fire and drought. In addition, Rural Aid focusses on supporting the sustainability of regional and farming communities. Its’ disaster relief program includes the nationally recognised Buy a Bale campaign. Other programs include providing volunteer support to rural towns, musical instruments to regional schools and mental health counselling. Visit www.ruralaid.org.au for further information on these programs and other support for our rural communities.
Media Contact: Raylee Huggett – Rural Aid Communication and Media – 0422181796
We may be a long way from seawater but Tenterfield Shire Council is now proudly in possession of a portable reverse-osmosis filtration plant that will extend the life of the Shirley Park Bore.
Rural Aid’s Charles Alder hands over the aid organisation’s first desalination plant to Mayor Peter Petty. Behind them are (from left) John McKinnie from Salt Free Desalination, driver Blair Johnston of Hancock Farming Enterprises, and council staff, Tamai Davidson, Gillian Marchant and Melissa Blum.
The $120,000 plant, which arrived at Tenterfield Dam on Tuesday atop a truck that has transported thousands of hay bales to drought-stricken farmers, is on loan to council for as long as necessary, Rural Aid CEO Charles Alder said.
He said it’s the first of this type of assistance Rural Aid has provided, but there are several councils entering dire straits that he expects to put up their hands soon. The plants are assembled in Australia to order, with an eight-week lead time.
The unit finally enters the gates of Tenterfield Dam after a long trip from Melbourne where, perversely enough, driver Blair Johnston of Hancock Farming Enterprises had to contend with rain for the first couple of hundred kilometres.
Rural Aid receives no government funding, instead relying on corporate and individual donations.
“We’ve delivered 66,000 hay bales in the past 12 months to keep livestock alive, but a town can’t survive without water,” Mr Alder said.
From his Australia-wide perspective, he said the stretch from Tamworth to the Queensland border seems to be the most drought-affected.
More than 9000 farmers have sought assistance with the organisation which is now also extending its help to community groups who are suffering as a consequence, be it the local footy club who can’t afford jerseys or insurance, or a childcare centre needing transport.
The council crane offloads the unit for installation on a pad near the water treatment plant at Tenterfield Dam.
It is also running a Farm and Community Rescue service where a team of volunteers descends and does whatever infrastructural work is needed, be it painting, repairs or anything else.
“When they get tired, farmers don’t have the time to contribute to their community,” Mr Alder said.
He was next off to meet with Southern Downs Regional Council, but not before seeing the desalination plant offloaded into council’s hands. Passersby may see the bore’s input to the dam cease, as all the water transfer will now be done underground.
The inlet pipe will be now directed to the new plant, with the filtered water then sent directly to a pond in the treatment plant.
This will not only virtually eliminate losses to evaporation, but the new setup’s moves to manage pressure in the bore will limit pressure changes, so that the bore may be able to operate continuously rather than the on/off process of late.
Danny Potter, John Edmonds (on digger) and Aaron Long prepare to redirect plumbing from Shirley Park bore to the new desalinator.
The Tenterfield community will have access to an extra 75,000 litres of fresh drinking water each day with the arrival on Tuesday, 30 July of Rural Aid’s mobile desalination unit.
One of the worst droughts in Australia’s history is impacting rural communities in NSW. Like Tenterfield, many areas are looking at ways to maximise and extend their water supply.
Rural Aid CEO, Charles Alder said the Tenterfield Shire had approached Rural Aid to support the community.
“Tenterfield have really been doing it tough and the dam is now down to around 32 per cent. The positioning of this unit in Tenterfield complements the work that the NSW Government is doing in also providing reverse osmosis units to some affected towns. We will continue to work closely with the NSW Government to ensure the best outcomes possible for these regional communities.”
Housed in a 20 ft container, Rural Aid’s salt-free desalination unit will be connected to Tenterfield’s water filtration system and will use the reverse osmosis process.
Currently, for every 10 litres of water filtered through the Shires filtration system, one litre of water is used to process it. In Tenterfield, that is up to 70,000 litres each day, that is lost to Tenterfield’s drinking water. Rural Aid’s desalination unit will extend the town’s drinking can by adding an extra 75,000 litres of fresh drinking water each day.
Tenterfield Shire Council Mayor, Peter Petty said Tenterfield is grateful for the support of all Australians who donated funds to Rural Aid to ensure the Tenterfield community continues to have safe drinking water.
“This new unit will assist in maintaining the dam level until we can source a supplementary supply from elsewhere which Council is currently working very hard in conjunction with the NSW State Government to do. But we are by no means out of the woods and I urge everyone to remain vigilant with their water usage,” Mayor Petty said.
Tenterfield Shire Council will be responsible for the ongoing use and maintenance of the desalination unit for as long as they require it.
About Rural Aid
Rural Aid supports farmers and rural communities in times of natural disaster such as flood, fire and drought. In addition, Rural Aid focusses on supporting the sustainability of regional and farming communities. Its disaster relief program includes the nationally recognised Buy a Bale campaign. Other programs include providing volunteer support to rural towns, musical instruments to regional schools and mental health counselling. Visit www.ruralaid.org.au for further information on these programs and others supporting our rural communities.
DROUGHT RELIEF: Farmer Matt Hannelly and truck driver Greg Waters at Borenore on Monday waiting to receive an allocation of the stack of hay. Photo: NICK McGRATH
Orange region farmers Matt and Linda Hannelly have been in drought for three years.
Mullion Creek’s Ted and Nicole Gill have taken other jobs to make ends meet.
Like many farmers in the region much of their herds have died or been sold off.
Mr Hannelly and Mr Gill joined a line of more than 20 trucks from hard-working, but needy, district farmers who waited in line at the Borenore Field Days site on Monday to receive an allocation of hay trucked over from WA as part of the Rural Aid drought relief program.ADVERTISING
It was a similar case earlier in the day at a Molong property where truckloads of hay were unloaded for farmers and $500 gift cards were handed out.
One farmer there wept as he told Rural Aid officials how he needed the money to buy a pair of shoes for his young daughter.
Mr Hannelly said he now had only 10 head of cattle at his Ophir Road and Stuart Town farms.
“At Stuart Town I have been feeding for three years straight,” he said.
TOUGH TIMES: Mullion Creek farmer Ted Gill in the line for hay. Photo: DAVID FITZSIMONS
“I bought the property just at the beginning of the major part of the drought.
“It’s bad at Stuart Town. There’s no pick, there’s nothing left out there. Wildlife is the next problem, deer and kangaroos, deer is a huge problem. Rabbits are coming back through again, you just can’t win at the moment.”
He said this was his first allocation of free hay. “And it’s just come too late for me, throwing the livelihood of it [away]. I’m working trying to make up for it now.”
Mr Gill said he hoped to get 13 bales which would provide enough feed for his reduced herd of 100 head for about a week.
“Me and my wife [Nicole] have had to get jobs off farm,” he said.
Mr Gill said getting hay had been a major problem as some he had previously sourced “was just rubbish”.
Rural Aid general manager Wayne Thomson said delivery days were emotional.
“We had a farmer this morning who burst into tears. He said he hadn’t been able to buy a pair of shoes for his little daughter,” he said.
“It’s very emotional. There’s lots of tears. This morning there was a lot of hugging going on.”
EMOTIONAL TIMES: Rural Aid general manager Wayne Thomson at Borenore. Photo: NICK McGRATH
At Borenore two trucks, each carrying 140 bales of hay which weighed 750-800 kilograms each, arrived.
Mr Thomson said each truckload cost $250,000, with transport the biggest component at $150,000.
The hay has been bought through donations to Rural Aid’s Buy a Bale scheme and government relief funding, particularly for the transport costs.
The donors included staff from the Merrylands RSL club in Sydney who have given $30,000. That was matched by the club’s board and in turn that was matched by Qantas Airways raising a total of $120,000
About 25 club staff visited the two donation sites on Monday by bus to meet farmers and see first hand conditions in the Central West.
TOGETHER: Merrylands RSL Club staff, Rural Aid workers and farmers at Borenore.
Club CEO Bryn Miller said about 100 staff had been donating $5-$40 out of their pay each week since September toward drought relief.
Mr Miller, who grew up in Nashdale, said he still had family in Orange and was following the drought situation.
He said they would continue to donate funds and he would challenge other RSL clubs in Sydney to join their efforts.
“It is a long way from being over. You tend to forget about this when you are in the city,” he said.
“We hope the hay can make a difference. But we know only rain can make a difference.”
