Aussie Hay Runners’ first ever convoy to drought-stricken South Australia
Thirty three truckloads of “moo chew” (or in most of these cases “ewe chew”) have been delivered to South Aussie farmers struggling to keep feed up to their livestock.
The charity convoy arrived from Victoria last week, carrying almost 1200 bales of precious cargo, to help ease the burden momentarily for stock owners from Mannum to Morgan, Sedan, Robertstown and Peterborough.
Chief trucker and the passionate planner behind Aussie Hay Runners, Linda Widdup, said she was overwhelmed by both the warm welcome from South Aussies and by the heartbreaking stories and baron landscapes.
Not only did the truckies deliver feed for the mob, they also rolled in with 2000 cans of dog food, bags of hobby mix for horses and goats and some very special “shoeboxes of love” for families doing it tough.
The convoy was greeted with a warm welcome in Tailem Bend, where the Lions Club cooked up a feed with meat generously donated by Murray Bridge Meats, and members of Parliament and council representatives turned out to say thanks.
Linda, who was the worthy recipient of the Transport Women Australia’s Dream Maker Award in September, had personally spoken to every farmer who received a hay donation in the South Aussie run, and was humbled by their gratitude. “One farmer from Sedan said his family would be able to have Christmas now,” she said. With hefty hay prices locally, the relief has come at a welcome time.
“We’ve had a few calls from people with hay who are disappointed to see interstate hay coming in, but at the end of the day, these farmers who are doing it tough simply don’t have the money to be paying top dollar for hay,” she said.
“I’m happy to use the Aussie Hay Runners page to advertise who is selling hay, but to really be able to help people out we need to source low cost, high quality feed as well as donations.”
Mannum family face another challenging season
The Klose family who run a sheep and cropping property at Mannum, have de-stocked to 300 head of sheep and are hopeful to reap enough seed to do it all again next year. There won’t be any trips to the silo this harvest. In fact in the past eight years, only two have passed as “average” seasons, the rest have been drought years.
“This year we had 72 millimetres of rain up until October 13, and then rain fell but it was too late to do any good,” mum of three, Missy, said.
“I’ve never been into gambling, and now I’m bloody farming!”
The Klose’s have turned their sheep onto crops they won’t reap, but already the countryside is looking reminiscent of late Summer. A hay donation from Aussie Hay Runners will go a long way to helping them save their stock and grow out their lambs, until hopefully, some Summer rain falls.
