An aerial view of the stockpiled hay at the Rochester Recreation Reserve. Photo: Rapid Relief Team
Hundreds of tonnes of fodder and bagfuls of support were distributed to farmers from a Rochester emergency relief centre on Thursday, December 15.
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The project, organised by the church group Rapid Relief Team, harnessed teams of volunteers to co-ordinate the distribution and provided food and drinks to flood-weary farmers living within a 150km radius of Rochester.
Support agencies and factory field staff also attended to make contact with farmers who came to collect the bales of hay.
“This won’t solve all my problems, but at least it shows someone cares,” one of the farmers said as the bales were loaded onto trucks.
Now the water has mostly receded, the region’s farmers are counting the cost of the massive flooding.
The 700 tonnes of hay will keep farmers going for only a short while.
Farmers lost both hay stocks and pastures due to the prolonged flooding. Many are planning on renovating their pastures and will use the seed given away last Thursday to start the task.
Dairy cattle on John and Jean Haisma’s Fairy Dell property try to find something to eat in the floods.
John and Jean Haisma’s dairy farm at Fairy Dell suffered inundation for three weeks.
At up to 1.5 metres deep, the water from the nearby Campaspe River topped the fences.
“There was so much mud. It was hard to see the animals under so much stress,” Mrs Haisma said.
VFF representative Peter Costello talks with John and Jean Haisma at the Rochester relief centre on Thursday.
Kieran Grinter, from Carag Carag, also saw his farm under water for 21 days.
Rapid Relief Team operations manager Mick Dunn said RRT’s Farmers Community Connect relief event aimed to show farmers that they had strong support as they try to recover from the flood disaster.
“Bushfires, pandemic and now floods — it’s been a tough time to be working on the land,” Mr Dunn said.
“Farmers are the backbone of our regional communities and they deserve a hand up when they’re down.
“We have asked the local community what extra support was needed, and what we could do to help.
“Alongside donated hay bales to help feed stock in the short-term, RRT also provides local support services including mental health support, rural financial counselling and veterinary support.”
Mr Dunn said it took time to recover from such a traumatic event as the floods, and the support services were there to help.
More about the relief effort and the church behind the charity in next week’s Country News.
Graham Taylor from Picola had about 280ha of his 288ha farm under water. “It came in so quick, this time,” he remarked about the speed of the flood. Parts of his farm stayed under water for five weeks and in some areas, more than a metre deep.“This is a fantastic set-up,” he said of the Rochester relief centre.
Dylan Toohill (left) with driver Tony Dicker. The Toohills had 260ha of their Nanneella farm under water. “It’s just killed the pasture,” he said. He’s already re-sown about 60ha. He picked up 18 bales from the Rapid Response Team centre at Rochester.
Water spread across the Haisma property at Fairy Dell last month.
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