Aussie Hay Runners and the Heyfield Lions Club have stepped up and stepped in to help farmers in the Benambra region struggling to continue feeding their stock.
Fifteen trucks laden with oaten hay, squares and rounds, and some clover and rye rounds, rolled into Benambra last Friday, with the 440 bales divided up between about 45 local farmers.
Organised between Heyfield Lions Club’s Ray Akers, Aussie Hay Runners’ Linda Widdup and Benambra Neighbourhood House’s Trudy Anderson, over the weekend the truck drivers and farmers shared a night time meal together and then breakfast before unloading hay at various farms.
“From the Benambra turnoff out to the east of Benambra we’ve missed out on an autumn break and had very little rain and growth,” Trudy said.
“When the hay trucks rolled in, they were honking their horns and basically there were just tears, tears of joy, tears all round.
“It was emotional, the relief there was feed and also knowing that someone is thinking of the community and actually acting on it.
“A lot of people are doing it tough, everyone is feeding out their last bales.”
The trucks parked up at the old airstrip and the community bus was used to take the drivers into the Benambra Rec Reserve for their meal, which Benambra Neighbourhood House catered for, sponsored by the East Gippsland Livestock Exchange.
“It was a superb night, really heart-warming” Trudy said.
“Some of the truckies brought their kids, there were a couple of female truckies, and it’s always enjoyable to talk to people from somewhere else about something different.
“The Heyfield Lions Club sourced the funding to purchase the hay, which was export quality, and everyone is so grateful.”
She said the local angling club ran the bar and the area had also received help from Rotary.
Ironically, the wet weather in northern New South Wales hampered the ability to get trucks in to where the hay was so Aussie Hay Runners got together additional loads from Wagga Wagga.
Any donations to help the Heyfield Lions Club get hay together for those in need can be sent to: BSB 633-000 account number 207864562 using the reference AHR.
