Latest news with #Moorland
ABC News
4 days ago
- Business
- ABC News
NSW farmers struggling to feed livestock in wake of Mid North Coast floods
Hay is precious on the Mid North Coast, where paddocks have turned to mud. Two weeks after record flooding swamped Tony Buttsworth's farm at Moorland, he's handfeeding hundreds of dairy cows with fodder. They're consuming around nine bales a day — as there are no green pastures left to graze on. But the lifelong farmer is worried about what will happen when the hay runs out. "At the moment, everything is just mud and slop and will take a long time to recover … we won't have any feed here until November or December, as grass," he said. Mr Buttsworth is grateful to have received some supplies through the generosity of Australians. Nearly two weeks ago, he appeared in an emotional interview with ABC News. At the time, he was filled with fear — and too exhausted to hide it. "There's nowhere dry for the cows, there's just no feed," he said tearfully, on May 25. "I don't know how to get out of this one." That prompted a show of support from friends and strangers — including some who provided feed for his cattle and others who started a GoFundMe page for his family. When Mr Buttsworth learned of the efforts to fundraise for his farm, he asked for the money to be donated to Need for Feed, an Australian charity that helps farmers in times of flood and drought. Over the weekend, the organisation rolled into the Mid North Coast with 15 trucks of fodder — enough to help around 50 farmers. Need for Feed founder Graham Cockerell said he has since received 150 more requests for help from primary producers from the region. He believes his team of volunteers will need to make regular hay deliveries to the region for the next three to six months. "The biggest problem is going to be supply and the cost of that supply," Mr Cockerell said. Hay is becoming increasingly scarce, and the cost has sky-rocketed in recent months, due to droughts in South Australia, Victoria and parts of New South Wales. "Six weeks ago, when we were trying to buy a heap of hay for South Australia, we were paying $200 to $250 a tonne," Mr Cockerell said. With supplies running low on the east coast of Australia, the organisation is considering paying top dollar to import fodder from Western Australia. There have also been calls for more government support for flood-hit farmers. This week, the state and federal governments announced they would split the bill to provide $25,000 grants for primary producers and small businesses affected by the disaster. Premier Chris Minns said he hoped the grants could be scaled up to $75,000 in the weeks ahead. "I genuinely do accept that this is a start," he told NSW Parliament this week. NSW Nationals leader Dugald Saunders said farmers had received $75,000 grants after the 2021 floods and that level of support "should be the starting point". "A dairy farmer who has a million dollars' worth of damage — to offer them a $25,000 grant, quite frankly it's a slap in the face," he said. Mr Buttsworth agreed larger grants would be needed to help primary producers fix their damaged properties. "$25,000 won't do much for many farmers who have been completely wiped out — some will never get going again," he said. The NSW government has not yet requested the highest level of disaster support from the federal government, as it is conducting further assessments of the scale of the damage. NSW recovery minister Janelle Saffin said this was in line with new federal guidelines, which required disaster grant funding requests to be made in stages. "This is a start … that's what we can do, put it out there, and then we'll see what else we can do," she said. In a statement to the ABC, federal Emergency Management Minister Kristy McBainsaid the Commonwealth "will continue to work hand in hand with the NSW Government and of course we will consider any additional funding requests from them when it is asked for".
BBC News
28-03-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Clitheroe's Moorland Senior School closes due to soaring costs
A private school in Lancashire is no longer financially viable and is having to close at short notice, its head teacher has Harrison, who is also proprietor of the Moorland School in Clitheroe, wrote to parents and carers on Wednesday to say the senior school would shut its doors on explained Moorland could no longer operate because of factors including the imposition of VAT on school fees, falling numbers of full-fee paying students, uncollected fees, and higher operating local independent schools, including Westholme in Blackburn and Scarisbrick Hall in Ormskirk, have agreed to support students preparing to take GCSEs and A-Levels this summer. 'Hardest decision' Moorland School, established more than 100 years ago, offered either day or boarding provision and, according to its website, had 288 pupils. It charged annual fees of up to £36, his letter to parents and carers, Mr Harrison said closing the senior school had been "the hardest decision of my life" and apologised for the "incredibly short notice" to all wrote: "The impact on our pupils, their families and the staff has been a major consideration [but] sadly the school must live within its economic means."Despite our best efforts, our senior school has been operating below where it should be for budgetary purposes." 'Deteriorating affordability' Mr Harrison said he and his family had been "custodians of Moorland for nearly 40 years and we are absolutely heartbroken that we have had to make the decision".He blamed "deteriorating affordability, falling numbers of full fee-paying parents, higher operating costs, VAT on school fees, the added costs of employers' National Insurance and ultimately owed fees that remain uncollected".Mr Harrison confirmed that Moorland School's nursery, infants and junior sections were continuing to "flourish" and would remain contacted by the BBC on Friday, an automated email response from Mr Harrison said he had "retired from the teaching profession, and as such is no longer an active director at the school".The BBC has asked Moorland School and Lancashire County Council to comment. Listen to the best of BBC Radio Lancashire on BBC Sounds and follow BBC Lancashire on Facebook, X and Instagram and watch BBC North West Tonight on BBC iPlayer.
