Latest news with #RobertBrokenshire
West Australian
3 days ago
- Climate
- West Australian
WA truckies have successfully delivered almost 6000 bales of hay to farming families across SA on mercy dash
WA's historic hay run has successfully delivered almost 6000 bales of hay to drought-affected farming families across South Australia. The 86-truck mercy dash broke records when it departed from Fraser Range Station on the Nullabor on Friday, bringing practical support and hope to farmers battling ongoing dry conditions. The powerful grassroots effort driven by Farmers Across Borders and Need for Feed was both organisations' biggest interstate convoy to date. More than 400 farming families — and roughly 450,000 livestock — benefited from the delivery which aimed to ease financial pressure and protect the wellbeing of both livestock and farmers. Since establishing in 2019, Farmers Across Borders has delivered 15,000 donated bales of hay across New South Wales, Queensland and WA to those in need — making this run of 6000 bales a mammoth effort for the volunteer-run organisation. The South Australian hay run was more than double the size of Farmers Across Borders' Australia Day hay run record in 2020, when 20 trucks delivered 2000 tonnes of feed to 60 stations across Gascoyne and Murchison. 'We've had an incredible team of volunteers, generous donors, and essential support from both states,' she said. 'We're proud to stand beside South Australian farmers in their time of need.' Truckies and their support crews travelled more than 1300km to reach the assembly point in Wudinna on July 26 before splitting off to various drop off locations within the State. Four waves of road trains made the trek in 30-minute intervals, departing Fraser Range around midday on July 25 after a delay due to freak weather including 100kmph winds. To put it into perspective, if the convoy was to line up back-to-back, it would cover 5km of road. There were both tears and cheers as the convoy rolled into the quarantine checkpoint at the border, after witnessing the welcoming committee of locals on arrival. Countless farms across the state have been in the grip of devastating drought with many areas having recorded record-low rainfall over the past 12 months. According to data from the Bureau of Meteorology, the Mid North and upper Eyre Peninsula were the the worst affected. Widespread heavy rain fell across SA this week and will continue to fall in the coming days however, livestock were still being hand-fed daily and farmers were exhausted. The continued rainfall and donated hay boost have alleviated some of this difficulty. SA Primary Industry Minister Clare Scriven said the run was 'one of the biggest we've seen' to South Australia and brought the number of farmers helped since the start of 2025 to almost 2000, including dairy farmers. South Australian Dairyfarmers' Association president Robert Brokenshire said without the support, many farmers would have had to dry their cows off or sell them which would have resulted in a milk shortage across the State. The Herculean effort was supported by 'top-notch' pit stops along the way — including the communities at Cocklebiddy, Caiguna, Ceduna and Wudinna — as well as multiple support services, hundreds of volunteers and fuel subsidy support from the SA government. SA's drought support Commissioner Alex Zimmerman met the convoy at Wudinna and offered support on the ground. A mammoth journey:
ABC News
27-05-2025
- Business
- ABC News
Hay shortage and high prices causing concern for farmers amid ongoing drought
South Australian farmers say "there's no hay" in the state, and where it is available, it has reached unsustainable prices, as southern parts of the country battle ongoing drought conditions. David Mews runs a horse sanctuary in the Adelaide Hills and was grateful he had enough hay for the horses he looks after, some of which have been surrendered due to owners struggling with the cost-of-living crisis and feeding the animals. "There's no hay in South Australia," he said. The not-for-profit charity, Windamere Horse Haven, usually just breaks even, but it is down tens of thousands of dollars this financial year. "We had to buy [the hay] all up front this year, so that was all the hay money we normally pay across the year, was in one big chunk," he said. "Which impacted our ability to buy other essentials that we need, like hard feed, to pay our vet bills, to pay our farrier bills." It is not just a short-term concern though, and while there has been significant rain seen in SA recently, Mr Mews is worried there could be longer-term issues. It is a similar story in what should be one of the lusher parts of SA, where Robert Brokenshire is a dairy farmer on SA's Fleurieu Peninsula. As president of the state's dairy association, he hears from a lot of struggling farmers. "We've got some dairy farmers spending up to $40,000 a week buying fodder; that's not sustainable," he said. "But we're running out of fodder in South Australia." Mr Brokenshire said fodder was now being sourced from interstate, but he was worried about what would happen if the drought does not break. "If South Australia and Victoria don't get a good spring, there won't be any fodder," he said. "South Australia in the past has been the state that's provided fodder to the other states. "This time we're having to source that fodder from New South Wales and Queensland at a time when they need it themselves." Mr Brokenshire wants the federal government to visit the state and see the situation firsthand. Agriculture Minister Julie Collins will be in South Australia on Wednesday to announce a $36 million extension to the Future Drought Fund Communities Program, which has been extended for another four years. There will also be an extra $800,000 to Rural Financial Counselling Service providers in South Australia and Victoria. The state government also has a suite of resources for drought-affected farmers, including money for charities providing hay. Graham Cockerell from Need for Feed in Victoria said the organisation was coming up to 20 years of providing hay for farmers in need. "We've seen a lot of drought and a lot of disasters; this one would rate up there with the worst of the droughts that we've seen in the worst-hit parts of South Australia," he said. The charity has provided nine runs of hay, with a tenth planned, to farmers in South Australia throughout the ongoing drought conditions, which has helped hundreds of farmers. "While that amount of hay won't rescue anyone's farm business, what it does do, and to us the most important part, is that it's letting those farmers know that somebody cares," he said.
