FIRE IMPACTED BEGA FARMERS RECEIVE MUCH NEEDED HAY FOR LIVESTOCK

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52 tonnes of hay to roll into Bega

Rural Aid are delivering 74 large bales of hay to five drought and fire affected Bega NSW farming families.

The Bega hay drop, funded from a $100,000 donation to Rural Aid, will assist local farming families struggling to feed livestock.

Rural Aid CEO John Warlters said this generous donation will go a long way to help make life a little easier for many of the farmers and their families. 

“Our farmers are going through challenging times,” John said. “They’ve been impacted by one of the longest droughts in recent history, followed by fires that have devasted the land, people, livestock and homes. Now they are dealing with the impact of current restrictions.

“Bega has a large dairy industry, its name synonymous with cheese, and there were many news reports showing the devastation that the recent fires had on the area, in particular the region’s dairy industry that including loss of pasture, fences and cows.

Livestock loss across NSW as a result of the fires exceeded 13,000 with over 16,000 landholders estimated to have been impacted by the fires. Southern NSW had the greatest losses with more than 12,000 head of livestock dying as a result of the fires¹. As of 28 January 2020, the fires in NSW had burnt 5.3 million hectares or 6.7% of the State².

The generosity of this donor has also allowed Rural Aid to deliver hay to other farmers in NSW fire impacted areas.

“Transport continues to be an essential service during these current restrictions and since the 16 April 2020, trucks loaded with 12 trailers of donated hay, were also delivered to 38 farmers at six other NSW locations by leveraging Rural Aid’s proven delivery model, ensuring farmers could feed their livestock.”

Date Location Farmers Large bales of hay
16 April 2020 Braidwood 9 66
27 April 2020 Coolagolite 5 66
28 April 2020 Cobargo 5 66
29 April 2020 Wandella 8 66
5 May 2020 Verona 6 74
6 May 2020 Quaama 5 74

Bureau of Meteorology

The Bureau of Meteorology noted in the Events section of its Annual Climate Statement 2019, published on 9 January 2020, that, ‘The extensive and long-lived fires appear to be the largest in scale in the modern record in New South Wales, while the total area burnt appears to be the largest in a single recorded fire season for eastern Australia’³.

  • Warmest year on record for Australia – mean temperature 1.52 °C above average
  • Warmest year on record for New South Wales and Western Australia
  • Annual total rainfall 40% below average with much of Australia affected by drought

“Sadly, it’s not surprising that many farmers are contacting us for assistance, however it’s the generosity of organisations that allows us, at Rural Aid, to continue to support our farmers and their families.” 

Bega Hay Drop Delivery Information:

When:  11am Tuesday 12 May 2020

Where: 826 Angledale Road, Bega NSW 2550

¹Sourced from NSW Department of Primary Industries  

²Sourced from Parliament of Australia Parliamentary Library

³Sourced from Bureau of Meteorology (BOM)

About Rural Aid

Rural Aid is one of Australia’s largest rural charities. Well known for the highly successful ‘Buy a Bale’ campaign, the charity also provides financial assistance, water and counselling to farmers in times of drought, flood or fire. Other initiatives support its vision that farming and rural communities are safeguarded to ensure their sustainability both during and after these natural disasters. Visit www.ruralaid.org.au for further information on these programs and other support for our rural communities.

Visit www.ruralaid.org.au/snapshots for Rural Aid’s latest assistance statistics.

Media: 0447 116 757 | media@admin.media.ruralaid.org.au

Spokesperson: Rural Aid CEO John Warlters | 0409 618 641

On Site Contact: Rural Aid Business Development Manager – NSW Craig Marsh | 0427 976 294

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