Latest news with #NeedForFeed
West Australian
a day ago
- Business
- West Australian
WA farmers are lending a helping hand to replenish South Australia's drought-impacted farmers' hay stocks
WA farmers are poised to lend a helping hand to replenish South Australia's hay stocks as the state continues to grapple with some of the driest conditions in decades. Green snail has prevented local farmers from supplying their drought-affected neighbours recent years, however, recent animal feed entry conditions have been adjusted by the SA Government to help provide its farmers with some relief. The SA Government granted conditional entry to hay from areas of WA with a lower risk of the pest infestation on May 30. Farmers Across Borders - Hay — a volunteer group of farmers and truckies from WA — plans to take its first convoy in the coming weeks in partnership with Victoria Lions Club's Need For Feed program, containing 1000 bales each of barley straw and hay. WA spokeswoman Sam Starcevich said while conditional entry had been obtained, the group still faced many hurdles. 'It's made it a bit easier for delivery but there are still regulations and procedures we must follow,' she said. The SA Department of Primary Industries requires each consignment to be accompanied by a Plant Health Import Certificate and a Biosecurity Declaration that clearly identifies the origin of the hay. Additionally, all consignments must be sealed/covered during transport to prevent spillage and a detailed manifest must be submitted to PIRSA prior to arrival, in accordance with existing procedures. Upon arrival in SA, consignments are inspected by either a business registered with PIRSA or PIRSA Biosecurity Officers. The SA Government has also waived biosecurity inspection fees which will assist drought-impacted farmers importing fodder from interstate. The PIRSA website has been updated with the revised WA green snail zones and covers the requirements for commercial hay imports. Ms Starcevich said the convoy would not make a huge dent in the organisation's stockpile, which would be kept strong to assist WA farmers should they require it. A Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development spokesperson said they have assisted the SA Government by providing snail distribution data to help inform important requirements. 'While WA's cropping area is considered largely free from green snails – which are generally found on the coastal fringe between Lancelin and Busselton – there have been isolated detections near Albany, Kendenup and in the Beverley and Northam townsites,' they said. Green snails feed on leafy vegetables, cereal crops, pasture grasses, nursery plants and cut flowers. It is a reportable pest within the state. WA has and will continue to export hay to NSW and Victoria despite green snail. 'NSW and Victorian regulations for green snail allow for hay to be sourced from WA cropping areas that are outside a 25km buffer from a detection,' the DPIRD spokesperson said
The Advertiser
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Advertiser
Influencers with more than 1.5m followers join forces for farmer support
Some of Australian agriculture's biggest social media influencers have combined to share an important message about the floods and droughts. TikTok accounts @big_farmer_andy, @brownhatt, @farmerbelle, @.tylenwallace, @zoecarter_aus, @tara_farms and @. came together to create a video sharing the realities of the situation in rural Australia, as well as pointing towards some key charities helping farming communities. Between them, the seven stars have a combined following of 1.5 million people. The video has also been shared on Instagram, where they have a combined 460,300 followers. In the two days since the video has been up, it has accrued more than 445,000 views across the two platforms, along with 40,000 likes and 800 comments. They say the "historic flood and drought events have devastated rural communities". "These catastrophic events haven't only claimed the lives of hundreds of thousands of livestock, they've claimed the lives of many farmers who have suffered in silence to the end," they said. "Countless livestock are missing, been displaced or have perished. "And a lot of farm infrastructure has been irreparably damaged, with high costs for repair." They also point to the stress this places on primary producers, saying one farmer dies by suicide every 10 days, on average. "We can't just sweep this under the rug and move on as if nothing is wrong," they said. "Even after the first drop of drought-ending rain and after the floodwaters have subsided, our primary producers will still have to pick up the pieces - their houses destroyed and their business in tatters, their animals displaced or perished." They end the two-minute video with a call out to "donate to the right charities or [lend] a hand to those in need". "Together, as a community, we're unstoppable," they said. "Don't forget to check in on your mates ... no one has to do it alone." The video then points to Need For Feed, Aussie Hay Runners, Farm Angels, Aussie Helpers and BlazeAid as charities they support. Some of Australian agriculture's biggest social media influencers have combined to share an important message about the floods and droughts. TikTok accounts @big_farmer_andy, @brownhatt, @farmerbelle, @.tylenwallace, @zoecarter_aus, @tara_farms and @. came together to create a video sharing the realities of the situation in rural Australia, as well as pointing towards some key charities helping farming communities. Between them, the seven stars have a combined following of 1.5 million people. The video has also been shared on Instagram, where they have a combined 460,300 followers. In the two days since the video has been up, it has accrued more than 445,000 views across the two platforms, along with 40,000 likes and 800 comments. They say the "historic flood and drought events have devastated rural communities". "These catastrophic events haven't only claimed the lives of hundreds of thousands of livestock, they've claimed the lives of many farmers who have suffered in silence to the end," they said. "Countless livestock are missing, been displaced or have perished. "And a lot of farm infrastructure has been irreparably damaged, with high costs for repair." They also point to the stress this places on primary producers, saying one farmer dies by suicide every 10 days, on average. "We can't just sweep this under the rug and move on as if nothing is wrong," they said. "Even after the first drop of drought-ending rain and after the floodwaters have subsided, our primary producers will still have to pick up the pieces - their houses destroyed and their business in tatters, their animals displaced or perished." They end the two-minute video with a call out to "donate to the right charities or [lend] a hand to those in need". "Together, as a community, we're unstoppable," they said. "Don't forget to check in on your mates ... no one has to do it alone." The video then points to Need For Feed, Aussie Hay Runners, Farm Angels, Aussie Helpers and BlazeAid as charities they support. Some of Australian agriculture's biggest social media influencers have combined to share an important message about the floods and droughts. TikTok accounts @big_farmer_andy, @brownhatt, @farmerbelle, @.tylenwallace, @zoecarter_aus, @tara_farms and @. came together to create a video sharing the realities of the situation in rural Australia, as well as pointing towards some key charities helping farming communities. Between them, the seven stars have a combined following of 1.5 million people. The video has also been shared on Instagram, where they have a combined 460,300 followers. In the two days since the video has been up, it has accrued more than 445,000 views across the two platforms, along with 40,000 likes and 800 comments. They say the "historic flood and drought events have devastated rural communities". "These catastrophic events haven't only claimed the lives of hundreds of thousands of livestock, they've claimed the lives of many farmers who have suffered in silence to the end," they said. "Countless livestock are missing, been displaced or have perished. "And a lot of farm infrastructure has been irreparably damaged, with high costs for repair." They also point to the stress this places on primary producers, saying one farmer dies by suicide every 10 days, on average. "We can't just sweep this under the rug and move on as if nothing is wrong," they said. "Even after the first drop of drought-ending rain and after the floodwaters have subsided, our primary producers will still have to pick up the pieces - their houses destroyed and their business in tatters, their animals displaced or perished." They end the two-minute video with a call out to "donate to the right charities or [lend] a hand to those in need". "Together, as a community, we're unstoppable," they said. "Don't forget to check in on your mates ... no one has to do it alone." The video then points to Need For Feed, Aussie Hay Runners, Farm Angels, Aussie Helpers and BlazeAid as charities they support.
ABC News
6 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".
