Sarah Booth is heartbroken about the small hobby farmers who don’t have enough feed for their animals since the floods.

“I don’t have cattle but all I could see was heartbreak,” the Wyrallah woman said.

Ms Booth has 60 families waiting for animal feed for cows, horses, pigs, goats and sheep.

“Unfortunately, due to the consistent wet weather our farmers have not been able to provide quality grounds or grass for their cattle. What little grass is around is totally waterlogged and not providing any nutritional value,” Ms Booth said.

The hobby farmers are not eligible for feed from other sources because they may not earn enough from their farm to qualify.

“I have a load of hay in Goondiwindi and I can’t get it here,” she said.

The stumbling block is getting it to where it is needed. And with fuel so expensive, more money is needed to truck the feed.

“I was aiming to get access to the Natural Disaster Transport Subsidy for donated fodder through the Rural Assistance Authority however this subsidy is only available if the donated fodder is entirely for primary producers,” Ms Booth said.

“This obstacle has been devastating as I had another five trucks and donations ready to commit to our feed run.”

On top of that, the trucking industry is being hit with higher diesel prices, no rebates and are not able to access the subsidy from RAA to transport our donated fodder, she said.

Ms Booth sought help from Rotary.

They have provided me the platform to request donations through ‑ Aussies Lead For Farmers Feed DRSA Inc  which is has called for donations to assist with providing an equal amount to our transport companies that the Natural Disaster Transport Subsidy would have provided, she said.

The Rural Assistance Authority was contacted for comment.

Can you donate?

If you are able to donate to Ms Booth’s  Hobby Farms Feed Appeal here are the details.

If you don’t require tax deductibility, donate here to:

• Account: Rotary International District 9640 Ltd.
• BSB: 084462
• Account number: 816279059

The name of the donor needs to be included on the deposit.

If you do require tax deductibility here’s how to donate:

• Account: Keith Wilson Relief Trust Fund
• BSB: 633000
• Account number: 175308303

The name of the donor needs to be included on the deposit and the details below emailed to PDG Sandra Doumany at srmd@bigpond.net.au.  

• name of the donor
• amount of the deposit
• donations to be spent on Aussies Lead For Farmers Feed DRSA Inc

More information at the Aussie Lead For Farmers Feed. DRSAInc Facebook page.

This article appeared on indyNR.com on 4 July 2022.