Farmers in western NSW will receive hay and hampers in the coming weeks after nearly $3 million was raised to directly aid those affected by the drought.

Rural Aid’s successful Buy a Bale Hay Mate charity concert at Tamworth in October featured the likes of music legends John Farnham, Daryl Braithwaite, Guy Sebastian, Adam Harvey and more, come together to support farmers in need.

So far, farmers in Walgett, Narromine and more have received relief, with future hay drops planned for Brewarrina and Coonamble.

The hay has been sourced from South Australia and Western Australia, with farmers to receive approximately eight to 10 bales at a time.

Rural Aid founder Charles Alder said exact number will vary as the organisation are still registering farmers to distribute the hay to.

“Over the course of the following months we are distributing the $2.8 million raised from the Tamworth concert, included in that figure there are $200,000 dollars’ worth of gift cards, another $500,000 of this figure is also scheduled to be distributed in January in North Western NSW,” he said.

Mr Alder was humbled by the community’s efforts.

“These hay drops, hamper giveaways and fuel cards will help make the Christmas period more bearable for our Aussie farmers,” he said.

“Many have struggled to afford the basics and this generosity will help families and their towns get through.”

The visionary behind the event, entertainment industry executive and former musician Glenn Wheatley, will present Mr Alder the $2.8 million cheque of concert proceeds in front of a proud Tamworth community on December, 11.

In another effort to provide as much economic boost to rural communities, Rural Aid has created a new card program that injects cash without any fees to the card holder or businesses directly into the bank accounts of businesses who accept the card.

Every purchase made with a Country Card sees 100 per cent of the value be paid to the retail business, no eftpos or credit card fees.

More information visit www.ruralaid.org.au/countrycard/

Source: Western Magazine

Owner of local business McPhersons Parts and Service, David Thompson, requested the artwork from nine-year-old Alana Finnegan to contribute to her drought relief efforts.

“Dar [David] saw it and asked if I could paint a blue tractor and donate some of the money to the farmers for the drought.

“I wanted to, I liked the idea and I started painting.”

David said after he and his team saw Alana’s agricultural paintings on Facebook they rang her mother, Michelle, and said they were interested in a tractor.

“We knew she was doing it for drought relief, so we said ‘if she can paint us a New Holland tractor, we want to buy it’,” David said.

“If she is having a go, we want to get involved as well.

“We are giving her $500 for her exceptional painting to donate to whatever drought relief fund she wants and she has chosen Rural Aid.”

A member of Parkes’ “The Little Art Company” for five years, Alana loves painting.

She googled an image of a blue New Holland tractor and got to work.

“The painting took me about three or four days,” she said.

“I painted for a couple of hours in the afternoons after school and we sent progress photos to McPhersons.”

Alana also sells postcards of her other paintings to raise money for drought relief.

“Some of the money I donate to Buy a Bale and some I keep for printing costs,” she said.

“This money I’m donating to Rural Aid because it’s more for the farmers than food for the animals.”

And her next big project?

“At the moment I am doing a request from my Nan,” she said.

“It’s a still life of a water jug and some flowers.

Rural Aid was founded in 2015 to provide a central point of focus for rural communities who require assistance. The charity operates on a nationwide basis.

Source: Parkes Champion-Post

A donation of $15,000 raised by the community at the Lithgow Workies’ Feed Our Farmers fundraiser held in September was donated to Rural Aid on November 25.

Rural Aid’s ‘Buy a Bale of Hay’ campaign has reached Cowell, with road trains bringing $50,000 of hay to the area on the weekend.

Rural Aid General Manager Wayne Thomson, Minister for Primary Industries and Regions Tim Whetstone, Minister for Flinders Peter Treloar and newly appointed Family and Business Scout Steve Whillas were there to meet local farmers.

The ‘Buy a Bale’ campaign used donations to purchase the hay from farmers in Lock.

Mr Thomson told those at the hay drop that $8500 of the donations came from a primary school in Nhulunbuy, Arnhem Land.

He said it was emotional to see Australians helping Australians from opposite sides of the country.

The hay drop was the fourth in South Australia since the campaign began accepting registrations from the state.

Mr Thomson said Rural Aid had committed $1 million to South Australia before Christmas, and he would be “rattling the tin” with corporate business in the state to double or even triple the figure.

Lock farmer Micheal Hancock was involved in the trucking of the hay across the Eyre Peninsula.

He said up to 20 trucks were coming in and out of Lock each week as part of the campaign.

The opportunity to sell their hay has been a blessing for many farmers in the area, with frost having a major impact on this year’s harvest.

Some have had their entire wheat crop damaged by the frost, and would not be able to afford to donate.

Selling their hay to help drought-affected farmers 100 kilometres down the road has been beneficial for both areas.

“There’s people here who have pretty much been financially saved by this,” Mr Hancock said.

The hay drop gave Minister Tim Whetstone the opportunity to speak to farmers and members of the Franklin Harbour District Council.

He said he was there to remind and inform locals of the services and charities available for those in financial difficulty, and to acknowledge the hardship in the area.

He said his role was “listening to what people would like to express to me,” and mentioned water infrastructure as an area for improvement.

Council Chief Executive Officer Chris Smith expressed frustration to the Minister over the difficulty of accessing state funding.

The council is hoping to access grants to fund the Coolanie water scheme.

Minister Whetstone said the Primary Industries and Regions Department would not be funding the project, and that he had offered the department “to be a coordinator and help administer” federal funds and other grant applications.

He suggested farmers access state funding individually for on-farm water storage infrastructure.

Source: Eyre Peninsula Tribune