SW farmers taking 270tonne of hay to NSW farmers affected by fire

With the air crisp and the sun yet to rise, a group of farmers and truckies with hearts of gold will tomorrow morning set off on a road trip with a difference.

A convoy of roadtrains carrying almost 300-tonne of hay will leave Burekup in the early hours, en route to Cooma, NSW, to deliver hay to farmers devastated by bushfires.

It is part of a mammoth effort by local farming communities in the region, dubbed Harvey Hay Run 2020.

It is the brainchild of Cookernup local Belinda Hall, who since having the idea two weeks ago, has been amazed by the outpouring of support from the local community.

That’s the Aussie spirit, helping out a mate.

“As an Australian I just couldn’t sit there and watch it happen without doing anything. I thought if there was anything we could do we would try, and we started just with our trailer on our vehicle, and within a couple of hours we had two road trains and three days later we had eight so it kept snowballing.

“Because it was so close to the four-year anniversary of the Yarloop fires I think it hit home with people, it drew a few heartstrings.”

There have been more than 40 donations, from hay to about $20,000 in fuel money, and a few mums and wives have been busy cooking and will jump on board to cook during the five-day cross-country adventure.

They will be driving to South Coast Rural Relief, where Belinda and a few others will then stay to help distribute the hay.

“A few of us will stay a bit longer to help get the hay out to where it needs to go and it also give us a chance to meet the people as well and see what’s happening first hand,” she said.

Limerick Farms owners Rhys Yuill and Ian Isbister jumped at the chance to be involved, donating 432 squares.

“It’s catastrophic in every sense of the word, you could never prepare yourself for it and you just wouldn’t have a clue what they’re going through,” Mr Yuill said.

The poor buggers have practically lost everything.

They hoped the hay would lift morale for farmers doing it tough, and help them pick themselves back up again.

“It just gives them a bit of breathing space,” Mr Isbister said. “They’ve got some fodder, the cows have got some feed, it just gives them time to do some planning for the next six or 12 months.

“After that initial impact when everything’s falling apart, you just need that extra support to get you up and in the right frame of mind to move forward.”