Category: News

Heartbreaking reality Australian farmers are facing

Posted on

A struggling farmer has revealed the devastating price the drought is having for hundreds of families working on the land.

Jason Maloney told Weekend Today the drought crisis was affecting farmers all across the country.

“This drought, that’s Mother Nature and we have no control over that,” he said.

Mr Maloney is one of hundreds of farmers suffering financially and mentally because of the drought. Image: 9News

Mr Maloney is one of hundreds of farmers suffering financially and mentally because of the drought. Image: 9News

However, he also said consumers opting for cheaper products at the supermarket came at the expense of farmers who were already struggling to keep themselves afloat.

 “Primary production across this country, the prices are way too low and we are seriously getting affected,” he said.

Since Mr Maloney’s story went to air thousands of Australians reached out to show their support.

“The most effective way people can support farmers like Jason is through campaigns like the buy-a-bale program we are running, because it consolidates the money which can be used to buy fodder, groceries or provide the mental health support our farmers need,” Charles Alder, the founder of Rural Aid, told Today.

He said Rural Aid  had raised almost $1 million in the past week to help farmers like Mr Maloney.

The drought is one of the worst the country has seen. Image: 9NewsThe drought is one of the worst the country has seen. Image: 9News

John Haycock is a third-generation farmer in Dubbo, NSW.

He told 9News his family are having to cut back on groceries and winter clothes because they are spending the money on keeping their livestock alive.

“People don’t realise how bad the drought is. NSW is virtually out of hay and we’ve got a pre-order to get grain for us and we can’t find it. It’s just being sold overseas,” he said.

Today Woolworths announced it would invest $1.5 million into the buy-a-bale program which directly helps farmers in need.

Mr Haycock said the government looked after the framers during the bad drought of 1982.

Farmers are losing livestock because they are unable to survive the harsh conditions. Image: 9NewsFarmers are losing livestock because they are unable to survive the harsh conditions. Image: 9News

“They paid our freight and half the cost of grain. This is what got farmers through,” Mr Haycock’s daughter, Krystal wrote in a letter to NSW Minister for Primary Industries Niall Blair.

Mr Alder has also suggested visiting farmers could be a great way to show your support.

“A lot of these guys and girls are really lonely,” he said.

He also encouraged shoppers to buy local as a way of better helping our farmers.

Source: 9 NEWS

Farming crisis worsens: ‘90% of NSW effectively in drought’

Posted on

Macquarie Media, Fairfax Media and Buy A Bale have joined forces to launch The Big Dry Drought Appeal.

Some coastal areas have received plenty of rain lately but inland Australia has been crippled by drought, leaving many farming families on their knees, both financially and emotionally.

Steve Price speaks with Charles Alder, the founder of Rural Aid, which runs Buy A Bale, for an update on the situation.

Charles tells Steve this drought has taken everybody by surprise.

“We’re now looking at up to 90% of New South Wales effectively being in drought, if not already declared, and that’s a fairly monumental number.

“We’ve touched that number in Queensland before but the speed and the ferocity that the drought has hit across NSW has just been unrelenting this year.”

Farmers are now having to buy feed to keep their remaining stock alive, a process that can cost tens of thousands of dollars.

Charles says they’re doing everything possible to help out.
“We’ve moved over 5,000 bales into the drought-affected areas of NSW, just this year.

“We have a farmer in southern NSW that we have a long-term contract with to supply, so he was very good. We’re now buying hay from the Lockyer Valley and even up as far as the central coast of Queensland.

“Last week we spent $150,000 buying 2,500 bales.”

By making a cash donation to Buy A Bale, you’ll be helping farmers in a direct and immediate way.

Every cent donated goes towards the purchase of feed and water for animals and for groceries to keep farming families going.

We need to do something to help our farmers. And we need to do it now.

Source: 2Gb 873AM

Rural Aid’s Black Tie and Boots Ball in Bathurst: Grant Denyer to be MC

Posted on

IT’S time to get out your best dress, or suit, put on some boots and do your bit to help the region’s farmers.

Rural Aid’s Black Tie and Boots Ball will be held at Bathurst Goldfields on Saturday, August 11 and all funds raised will go to help farmers as they struggle through the state’s crippling drought.
HELPING FARMERS: Jess Bennett is among the supporters of the upcoming Rural Aid Black Tie and Boots Ball to be held at Bathurst Goldfields. Photo: PHIL BLATCH 070418pbboots6

 PHOTOS: Rural Aid’s Black Tie and Boots Ball in Bathurst

Rural Aid is “hands-on” across the country through its Buy A Bale campaign and so far this year has distributed $1.5 million worth of aid, including hay, water, groceries and transport, to farmers in NSW.

Founder Charles Alder said the upcoming Black Tie and Boots Ball would be a great night out and a chance to hear first-hand from farmers about just how hard times have become.

“We’ve delivered 4500 large bales of hay this year alone, just in NSW,” he said.

“We’re by far the largest national distributor of fodder this year. There’s no-one else in a bull’s roar of that.”

Rural Aid is close to the hearts of Bathurst couple Grant and Chezzi Denyer and they signed on earlier this year to help raise awareness of the charity’s work and encourage supporters. Mr Denyer will MC on the night.

Tickets are $150 each and include canapes, dinner, live entertainment, dancing and a host of prizes with auctions and raffles.

The ball comes as 29.5 per cent of the Central Tablelands has been declared in drought and 66.4 per cent is at the onset of drought.

Mr Alder said many farmers have sold off all but their core breeding stock and they are still struggling to feed the animals left.

Mounting transport costs for fodder, failed crops, rising debt and the continued lack of rain are all affecting farmers’ mental health.

Mr Alder encouraged those who do not live on the land and those in metropolitan areas to have empathy for the region’s primary producers.

“Walk a day in someone else’s shoes,” he said.

Single tickets or tables of 10 can be purchased online.

To book a seat for the Black Tie and Boots Ball, visit www.ruralaid.org.au/black-tie-and-boots-ball.

Source: Western Advocate

Rural Aid launches on-the-ground rural counsellors program to assist drought – stricken Hunter farmers

Posted on
DROUGHT-stricken farmers and their families in the Hunter region will now be able to access free, on-the-ground support from a group of qualified rural counsellors.Charity Rural Aid launched the program – the first of its kind in Australia – at a property near Scone on Tuesday.

With four counsellors dedicated to the Hunter – two in the Lower Hunter and two in the Upper Hunter – the aim is for the program to be rolled out across the state and eventually rolled out Australia-wide.
SUPPORT: Rural Aid counsellor Louise Gourley, Scone local Deborah Wharton and Rural Aid's Tracy Alder with one of the Rural Aid cars at a property near Scone on Tuesday.

 SUPPORT: Rural Aid counsellor Louise Gourley, Scone local Deborah Wharton and Rural Aid’s Tracy Alder with one of the Rural Aid cars at a property near Scone on Tuesday.

Rural Aid Co-founder Tracy Alder said the counsellors will be on the road in Rural Aid cars visiting different communities and out being seen.

“It will just give farmers an opportunity to know that they’re there and that they’ve got someone to talk to,” she said.

“It’s a brand new program; I don’t believe there’s anything else like it.

“We’ve already launched in Queensland with one counsellor and with the four down here that makes five, with a view for another two or three that will be rolled out in the coming months.”

The program has been made entirely possible through donations from individuals, corporations and the community.

“It’s a vision that we have had for quite some time,” Mrs Alder said.

“As we have been out and about seeing farming families and dropping hay, we have realised that the stress goes far beyond hay.”

Rural Aid also connects farmers and their families with financial counsellors, resilience officers and networks with other organisations in the area to understand who really needs the help.

“I think it will be well received here,” Mrs Alder added.

Louise Gourley, the one female counsellor out of the four assigned to the area, said although there is a lot of over-the-phone assistance out there, it’s face-to-face assistance that is really needed.

“There are lots of telephone numbers you can call, which is great, but the majority of the population don’t,” she said.

“And, if they do, they have a short conversation in a moment of crisis. So it’s a bit of a ‘band aid for a bullet wound’.

“Whereas what we’re doing is going into the homes, with their permission, talking to farmers, farmer’s wives, farmer’s husbands if the wives are the farmers, families or whoever needs to have a conversation.

“It’s not intensive counselling, it’s more of a therapeutic conversation.

“But, it will be two-fold and we will refer farmers to any of the other services at Rural Aid, like Buy A Bale and Farm Aid and all the other programs that we’ve got.”

Ms Gourley said the Hunter region has been carved into four areas with each counsellor assigned to one.

“I live around Lake Macquarie so I’ll be going up through Kurri Kurri, Singleton, Muswellbrook, Scone, out to Willow Tree and doing a big circle around from there,” she said.

“I believe it is the first program of its kind in Australia – there are certainly programs targeted towards rural Australians but they’re managed by people in more populated areas.

“I’ve only been in Scone for four hours and there are quite a few clients already.

“So, I feel like we’re going to need a lot more people.”

With the Hunter region one of the worst drought-affected areas in the state, the charity has been working in the area since February, and through their Buy A Bale Hunter campaign have so far delivered 5000 bales of hay.

A  $200,000 donation to the campaign from mining company Glencore in April has now been entirely used on hay drops for the Hunter region.

Farmers can register with Buy A Bale by visiting https://www.buyabale.com.au/ or calling 1300 327 624.

Source: The scone Advocate and The Maitland Mercury

Walcha Roos helping out off-the-field

Posted on

In an effort to help those in need, the Walcha Roos are gearing up off-the-field for their annual charity fundraiser event.

The Roos have chosen to raise funds for the Walcha Support Group and Rural Aid’s Buy a Bale campaign by auctioning off special commemorative jerseys worn by the men’s and league tag players at the July 21 home fixture against the Uralla Tigers.

The Walcha Support Group is a long-standing and worthy charity who has been helping out people within the community for nearly three decades and it is fitting the Roos have opted to put funds back into the organisation.

With NSW is in one of the worst droughts in history, the Roos have also chosen to support Rural Aid’s Buy a Bale campaign for farmers in the New England and North West as their second charity.

The not-for-profit organisation delivers hay and supplies to drought-stricken farmers within our region.

Roos president Michael Aspinall said it was a unanimous decision among the players and club’s committee to raise money for organisations important to the Walcha community.

“The Walcha Support Group has been helping out locals for such a long time and it’s our way of paying back all the help they have given people within our club and the wider community over the years,” he said.

“With a lot of the players and committee coming off farms and Walcha being a farming community, we thought the Buy a Bale charity was an important one to support.

“The fact the money goes back into purchasing hay and other supplies for farmers in the New England North West was pretty significant for the players as well.

“Hopefully the community can come along to the bowling club and get behind the fundraiser after we beat Uralla in two grades.”

Donation barrels for the Buy a Bale campaign can also be found at various businesses around town to add your spare change to.

The fundraiser will commence after 5pm on July 21 at the Walcha Bowling Club.

For more information go to buyabale.com.au where you can find out more about helping raise money for farmers struggling through the drought as well as signing up for assistance.

Source: Walcha News