Hay run bringing bales — but also smiles — to drought-stricken SA farms

Australia Broadcast Center

a day ago

At Elbow Hill, near the Lincoln and Birdseye Highways, the delivery of donated hay bales is a life-and-death matter for the sheep of Antonia Haselton and Michael Shakes.
Their property outside Cowell on South Australia's eastern Eyre Peninsula has, like countless farms across the state, been in the grip of devastating drought.
"We're new to this area, too, so it has been a big struggle for us, that's for sure."
Michael said that, after two bad years in a row, the venture was "not making any money" — but he could barely conceal his delight when he contemplated the arrival of relief.
Michael and Antonia are among hundreds of property owners across South Australia who have looked west in search of salvation.
On Friday, scores of trucks carrying thousands of hay bales left Norseman in WA to cross the Nullarbor, bringing fodder to desperate farms.
"We haven't fed them for about three weeks now.
"The lambing percentages were way down because it was so dry and the ewes weren't looking after the lambs, they were just leaving them behind."
Organised by the charities Farmers Across Borders and Need for Feed, with support from the SA government, the 85-truck convoy arrived at Ceduna on Saturday afternoon and then pushed onto its final destination in Wudinna, before the drivers went their separate ways to deliver hay to farms across the state.
Another recipient of the donated fodder is Daryl Smith, who has a couple of properties around Cowell on which he grows crops and runs between 2,000 and 3,000 sheep.
His feed stores have been running extremely low.
"We're probably down to about two weeks' worth, I would say, so what we pick up today hopefully will just get us over the line," he said.
Daryl has had to reduce numbers from his stud, and he said his upcoming ram sale in a week's time would be down quite a bit.
"Too many people have had to halve their numbers — it was just too hard for too long and there have been quite a few people that have had to get out altogether, and we can understand that," he said.
"When the country is bare and you have to make sacrifices somewhere."
The arrival of the convoy — and the 30 bales of hay he was allocated for his Glenville poll merino stud — has replenished not just his much-depleted feed stores, but his spirits.
"You look at what's happening around the world and you sort of lose faith in humanity," he said.
The trek has also warmed the hearts of the truckies.
At Wudinna, where a hot meal was waiting at the end of the arduous crossing, several were openly moved by the scale of the operation.
"The camaraderie — yeah, it's been really, really good," said driver James Demetriou, whose cargo was destined for farms around Adelaide.
"It gets quite emotional, the farmers are so thankful. It makes you feel good.
"A lot of people need a lot of help, and I'm in a position where I can help people so I'm more than willing to do it."
Gippsland driver Ken Schultz said it had been a "pretty emotional" experience for him too.
"It always is when you go to the farmers' places, they're pretty special people," he said.
"It's good to give something back. It's just what we do."
Mr Schultz will make his deliveries in the hills south of Adelaide, not far from the home of fellow convoy participants Jack and Tanya Traeger, who have deep personal reasons for wanting to be involved.
"It's an old truck so I've been sitting [in] it since I was about six months old, so it's good to be driving it.
"I think he'd be pretty proud.
"It's a great cause and it makes it even more special, more important."
Cleve farmer Cassandra Elson said the hay delivery had arrived just in time for the lambs on her property.
"I was happy to get out and help today and it's just amazing that it has all come together in the end and we have ended up with something out of it," she said.
"It's good to see in this part of the world."
Brady Siviour, who farms at Verran near Arno Bay and who applied for support, described the arrival of the fodder as a game changer for his livestock.
"We ran out of feed months ago and [it's important] to keep them happy and give them a bit of variation, instead of the grasses so they don't just eat that down to keep their stomachs full," he said.
"Some days have been harder than others, and I was a bit emotional when we got approved — I was like, 'far out', and there was a bit of a tear in the eye last night."
When it comes to expressing their gratitude, all the farmers have been singing from the same hymn sheet.
"I just want to thank our Western Australia counterparts for bringing this hay and taking time out of their busy schedule," Brady said.
Elbow Hill's Michael Shakes seconded that motion.
"Western Australia's very generous," he said, and he was unequivocal about the impact the hay would have.
"We won't have any dead sheep, we'll have live sheep.
"That's the main thing."