Australian farmers, east and west, north and south are facing challenges on the land.  As we head into summer, the drought has reached drastic proportions right across the country.  Imagine no water, cattle dying, crops withering and red dust coating everything you touch.  We have to think about farmers livelihoods, they put the food on everyone’s table.

So far Rural Aid have…

•  Helped over 4500 farmers have registered for various types of assistance.

•  2000 farmers have received Buy-a-Bale hay, currently numbers growing at 30 a week.

•  1000’s of hampers, water trucks, fuel cards and vouchers.

Since 1 July 2018 Rural Aid have…

•  Employed 11 mental health counsellors with committed funding of $5.5m over 3 years.

•  More than $20m in total cash donations has been accepted by Rural Aid.

•  Over 2200 counselling telephone one-on-one calls or face to face visits to farmers in 4 months.

•  $3m paid for hay distributed to farmers in need.

•  $2.3m paid in freight to deliver the hay.

•  $6m for bill relief for farmers.

•  Forward commitment to purchase $11m of hay and transport for next 6 months.

•  More than $1.2m provided to farmers in the form of gift cards which can be spent locally.

•  Expanded their team by 7 people so they can respond to enquiries and provide help faster to those most in need.

Rural Aid have moved 76 and 88 trailers respective, almost 3500 tonnes of hay in the last two weeks alone, delivered to over 300 farmers.  This is amazing work by hay teams, truckies and hay producers who are all pulling together, a super support effort.  But the battle continues.

Read the blog of a drought-stricken cattle farmer Paula Stevenson
http://paulastevensonwriter.com.au/day-266/

My thoughts into words…

It’s a hard way to earn a living.  You can help dedicated farmers to keep growing our country’s food.  Consider Farm-sitting, Farm Army volunteering, Farm Rescue groups, buying hay bales or donating to—
Rural Aid www.ruralaid.org.au
Buy-a-Bale www.buyabale.com.au

As Rural Aid wraps up another year, their 2019 calendars are now selling.  Help out by placing an order for this great Christmas gift and have it mailed—
Calendar Grab a 2019 calendar

♥ Gretchen Bernet-Ward