“A truly unbelievable gesture” – Victoria brings help for struggling South Australia
Mid North sheep farmer, Mark Ludgate, has applauded the generosity of our interstate mates at Aussie Hay Runners, after receiving a truckload of quality stockfeed, delivered with a welcome dose of kindness.
Ludgate, a fifth generation farmer at Gumbowie, between Peterborough and Terowie, was one of over 100 struggling South Aussie stock owners humbled to receive a hay donation during what was Aussie Hay Runners’ biggest ever charity convoy.
Led by legendary Victorian, Linda Widdup, and her team of big hearted truckers, the Australia Day hay run was the second major delivery to SA since November, and this one welcomed an incredible 106 truckloads of freshly baled hay to ease the burden on farmers doing it tough after a record-breaking and widespread drought year.
For Ludgate, who runs 1600 breeding ewes, it wasn’t just the stockfeed that was a welcome site – he said the whole operation was a truly unbelievable gesture.
“It’s just something that makes you feel really good,” he said.
“These truck drivers are giving up their own time, their long weekend.
It was up around 40 degrees in Peterborough, and it happened to be the driver’s birthday, and here he was dropping off a load of hay to someone he doesn’t even know.”
Also overwhelmed to be handed a couple of “shoeboxes of love” and some food for his dogs, he said there were plenty of handshakes happening at the Peterborough Rodeo Club that night.
As for Linda Widdup, who’s no stranger to the trucking industry and was deservedly awarded a 2024 Transport Women Australia Dream Maker Award – her tireless work doesn’t go unnoticed by the people who know just how mighty it must be to pull off such a task.
“Linda’s passionate and just a really genuine person,” Ludgate said. “It would be a huge undertaking, with a lot of hours, phone calls and emails. The work she does and what she achieves is not lost on me. It’s greatly appreciated and I hope one day I can return the favour in some shape or form.”
The Peterborough farming district has been hard hit by dry conditions over recent years, so locals have become “a bit conditioned to it”. What’s made the current situation tougher, is the fact that so much of South Australia’s farming land was also left high and dry in 2024.
Although he’s thankful that charity’s like Aussie Hay Runners were able to secure some state government funding to get hay across the border, he’s disappointed that farmers in the upper Mid North have been struggling for a long time, with no government recognition.
“It’s been pretty hard and depressing up this way for many years in all honesty. And that’s just been compounded by livestock prices and wool prices,” he said. “We’ve really felt hung out to dry, like we weren’t significant enough. There’s a lot of ripple effects. Businesses are hurting, young kids aren’t coming back to the farm because the money isn’t there. The young ones have seen what mum and dad have been through and they either don’t want that or mum and dad are steering them away from it.”
Looking ahead, Mark said the farming community would prepare for the worst and hope for the best.
